Breck Epic Stage 6: Gold Dust. (Bruises, Belt Buckles, and Bourbon)

Day 6.  We all woke up stiff and sore from 5 hard days in the saddle, and were greeted with our shortest, fastest stage yet.  "Only" 30 miles, and 3500' of elevation gain.  The goal today was to finish safely, have fun, and move up in the overall placing.  Richard pointed out that I had the best chance to do so based on the fact that the rider in front of me only had about 2 minutes.

Chip and I set out early to get a good warmup, since the stage started with 10 miles of climbing.  We checked in, stayed warm in the sun and did laps up and down the starting climb to get our legs going.  It's amazing how your body continues to respond after days of abuse!  The start was in waves today based on category, and our wave was 3 minutes behind the pros.  The "gun" went off and we all climbed quickly up the start climb to the single track.  The course was on pavement, then turned onto a long singletrack climb, before a slight descent and then climbing up a dirt road, Boreas Pass.  Theoretically this is good terrain for me.  Unfortunately I went out a bit too hard and lost several places through the flowy singletrack climb.  I began to make up time on the dirt road and descent however.

Right as we finished the descent, Rob Batey, and the lead group from the 40+ men caught me and we flew through the Gold Dust trail through the valley on the back side of the course.  It was like being in a flume as I followed Rob and his friend Jeff who likes in Breckenridge and knows the trails.  This dumped into a wet and rooty descent before turning back onto itself and climbing back up to Boreas Pass.  I got into a groove, and while not fresh, I was able to roll in my "big" ring most of the way to the top.  I left everything I had on that climb, finished my second water bottle, and gel and sprinted over the top.  We were greeted by shots of Oscar Blues Dales Pale Ale (which I took of course!): Check out a video of Stage 6.

We flew down the descent on the road, and I tucked in behind a clydesdale sized rider.  We turned back onto a rocky singletrack descent and I checked my speed going into the rocks.  The lead rider flatted and I passed him and continued on to pass another 7 riders before the finish.  We ended on another flowy and fast singletrack descent to the finish.  In the end I placed 15th on the stage (my best placing yet) and made up 15 minutes to move from 19th overall to 16th.

Let's just say we earned these buckles, the bourbon we drank, and the bruises we're taking home!  It's been an amazing week.

Breck Epic Stage 5: Wheeler

Wow.  What a stage!



Today's stage was up and over Wheeler Pass, then onto the Colorado Trail.  I felt so much better than yesterday and was really excited for the Wave/TT style start where groups of 10 were sent off every minute.  After my lackluster performance on the high climb yesterday I refocused and got a really good warmup since we started straight out of the gate with an 8 mile climb, ascending 3000'!  My legs felt quite good and I was able to get my heartrate up.  Chip and I were paired together and we started in the 8:10 wave (10 minutes behind the pros), about 100 riders deep.  Chip took off and started to pick riders off from the waves ahead of us.  I dropped my chain about a mile into the course and had to stop to fix it.  It worked out as I paced off several slower riders as I made my way back up to Chip en route to the first Aid Station around 4 miles in.

We turned onto a gravel road and began the 9% average grade climb.  I was feeling really good and settled into a rhythm, but it didn't take long until we reached the last few miles of hike-a-bike up to the summit of Wheeler Pass.

 

Our reward was bacon, Skittles, and Cokes!  And of course the magnificent views!

As we hit the descent, Chip let me lead and this lasted all of about 5 minutes when I slid over a rock and off the trail, gashing my left shin and pretzling myself up with my bike.  I recovered and made my way to the bottom of the 30 minute descent before cleaning myself up and refueling at the next Aid Station.  Chip powered on and crushed the last 10 miles of the course!  I limped in, but still posted a solid time.  Two mistakes in two days, cost me about 10 minutes, but I still finished 17th and moved into 19th overall.  The terrain and descents were well worth it today.  Simply amazing!

Breck Epic Stage 4: Aqueduct

Today's stage was the longest, and I would argue the hardest of the week.  It started in downtown Breckenridge with (yet another) paved 3 mile climb before hitting a doubletrack climb.  I got to the start with Chip 30 minutes early and we were toward the front which made the start much better today.  Up the first climb I was in the top 50 and had my best start of the week.  Top 50 doesn't sound like much, but when you have to line up behind EVERY race leader, including the team competitions, that's pretty good!  I maintained my position after Chip took a guy out behind him and caused a crash right in front of me!  This was the first of 4 minor climbs to start the day, before one MASSIVE 6 mile climb that gained 2000' of altitude, going up to 12000'.  The climbs were interspersed with some absolutely phenomenal singletrack and twisting descents that were an absolute blast!  I was feeling good and maintained a solid position going into and over "Vomit Hill" which was a brutal combination of 15%+ grades and hike-a-bike sections.  The reward for cresting this beast was a donut handup!  What's up Mike Stearns?

Following V.H. was a super-fun descent through singletrack in an open field, before hitting a rolling climb.  I continued to push hard and ended up with a rider I met yesterday.  He led down the descent and onto a paved section.  Unfortunately there was no paved section on today's course.  We missed a turn and lost 5 minutes before getting back on course.  Chip and I ended up together again going into the second Aid Station before the long climb.

I felt great starting the climb and settled into my rhythm as I started to pick riders off.  The doubletrack dirt road turned into gravel and this is where things started to fall apart for me today.  I don't know if I didn't eat or drink enough, if it was the altitude, fatigue, mental, or what, but I couldn't get my heartrate over140bpm and I started giving up places hand over fist.  I probably lost 30 spots and another 5 minutes on this climb.  I stopped at the top, and finished off the water in my Camelbak as well as two pack of energy chews before the descent.  It was pretty lonely out there and I didn't see another rider for a good 10 minutes.  I started to hearing cheering and hollering from behind and got overtaken by a couple of riders from Chattanooga.  They were having such a good time it rubbed off on me and I started to find my groove again.

We turned onto another dirt road and hit the final Aid Station of the day.  I pounded a banana and some GU Roctane, hopped on my bike, and took a nature break.  I got my second wind and started picking off riders up the next climb.  I continued to pick up steam and my legs came back as I caught a dozen riders in the last 10 miles, ripping up the last climb and onto the final descent.  Unfortunately I lost about 10 minutes for 21st and slipped into 20th place . . .

Aside from a wrong turn and a little bad patch, it was another fantastic day on the bike!

Breck Epic Stage 3

Stage 3!  Check out the cool Google Earth Flyover.

The weather today called for a 60% chance of showers.  Not ideal when you're going up and over the Continental Divide (at 12000') two times!  However I prepared for it and took my Camelbak, stocked with clothes and gear.  However the only rain we saw is what's falling outside the window right now as I write this.

Today was the most fun I've had so far this week.  It was also the most I suffered:



The stage started with another 3 mile paved climb before turning into a bike park/flow track that climbed another few miles.  It was a steady grade and the goal today was to get in a nice warmup and not blow on the first climb like I did yesterday.  I wanted to steadily move up throughout the day, instead of suffering and just hang on.

After the first climb we dropped down to French Gulch Trail before hitting the first "real" climb of the day up to the Colorado Trail on Glacier Ridge Rd.  While the climb was steep, narrow, and bumpy, and ended with a hike-a-bike, the views were worth it!

After a Skittles and beer handup we rolled onto a fabulous descent for 3 miles.  I made up a lot of ground, but had to pass several riders that passed me at the top when I stopped to put my jacket on, pee, and eat some food.  The next climb started after the second Aid Station, and it was my kind of steady, dirt road climb.  I continued to make up time on the riders ahead of me and felt my energy start to flow into my legs.  However I still had trouble getting my heartrate over 150bpm (where 170 is normal for me on a long climb).  The altitude continues to hurt me this week!

The climb dumped us onto the Colorado Trail before the best descent of the day.  We were rewarded with more long range views and I stopped to put my jacket on again while taking in the scene.  After some rollers, we hit the descent which was fast and rocky.  Only two riders passed me, as I continued to pick off riders all the way down.

I stopped at the 3rd Aid Station, pounded a banana, and filled up with GU Roctane.  We started the final long climb, and I felt great and started out fast.  This didn't last long as the climb ratched up to 20%.  The loose surface had me hiking a couple of times toward the top and I started to curse the course at this point!  I gutted it out but lost a couple of spots here.  Fortunately we ended on the same bike park we started on, before dropping through some phenomenal singletrack (similar to what we have back in Asheville!).  I ripped through the finish and skidded to a stop with a huge grin on my face!  What a day!  17th and up to 16th overall

- Chris

Breck Epic Stage 2

Ouch!  37 miles and another 5000' of climbing.  It was a little more fun than yesterday, and despite the longer course, I was only about 5 minutes slower.  I was 23rd yesterday and 18th today, so a move up relatively speaking.



Today, was a ton of fun.  After a few miles of climbing on pavement and dirt, we turned onto a fast dirt descent.  Unfortunately my legs took a while to get going and the first hour was pretty miserable for me.  The climb hurt a lot, and I just couldn't get my heartrate up.  I've been averaging 15-20bpm less than at home out here.  Given that we spend most of the days between 10000' and 11000' this isn't a huge surprise.  It is however challenging to have to ride so far below what you know you can do.  I've found that if the grade is 5%-10% and I can "big ring" it, then I can roll really well.  Once it pitches up and I've got to go above threshold, I really suffer.

I forgot all about that suffering though after the descent when we turned onto some fast, flowy singletrack in and out of the trees.  We motored along for a few miles and I was in a nice group of 4 that was absolutely flying along!  I was almost giggling I was having such a great time!  This section dumped out into the first Aid Station and I filled up my water bottle.  I didn't carry a Camelbak today, just two bottles on my Specialized Epic FSR and a jacket in my back pocket.  The temperature was a bit cooler than yesterday (around 65), but the course was more open and it was sunnier.

After the Aid Station is was more fire road climbing, but was a nice section that I could roll on.  I was able to make up some time and started to pass people before we hit a really sweet singletrack climb up the Colorado Trail.  This was a long climb, about an hour total and I was able to settle into a nice rhythm.  It hurt, but you pretty much just went as hard as you could until the top.  Near the top I felt a few raindrops, so took the time to stop and put my jacket on  before the phenomenal descent back down into the valley.  The descent was super-fast, switchbacks, and a few drop offs.  I had one rider pass me near the top and he rocketed away before we hit "the gulch" which was several miles of riding through a 12 inch wide ditch.  I was able to pass several riders here as a lot of them had flats, etc.

We reached the second Aid Station and I finished my Perpetuem and grabbed some GU Roctane for the last stretch of the race.  We hit a paved stretch and as the hail started, I zipped my jacket up and got into a tuck as I motored by another few riders.  We then turned onto some nice neighborhood singletrack that wound through a golf course before dumping us into a really fun and flowy section that rolled up and down.  I had my best moments of the race and not only was I feeling good, but I was really flying through the trees and around the berms here.  This dumped onto another dirt climb and I had to pay a bit for my efforts over the past 2 hours.  The first hour and last hour of the race were really my worst moments of the day.  I held my own but suffered a bit up the last climb before a flying and fun descent back into Breckenridge!

Tuesday is up to the Continental Divide 2 times!  Wish me luck and fun.

- Chris

Breck Epic Stage 1

So stage 1 is in the books!  It's gonna be a rough week . . .

Today's course started with a "neutral" rollout right up a nice 2 mile pavement climb.  This shattered the field immediately before cutting onto a sweet single track decent, then a nice rolling singletrack trail before hitting a steep, loose double track climb.  Most riders were walking, as it was rideable, but after one rider spun out, then everyone was hoofing it!  After a short descent it was up a long fire road before heading into a high meadow and then up a long, tough double track climb.  This did the final job of blowing the field into bits and it was here that I noticed that once I hit 11000' then about all I could muster was 160bpm for any length of time.  This set my limiter for the day . . . at the top we descended a fast, loose, and rocky descent before blasting through a creek and heading up a winding climb.

At the top of this climb I took a nature break, had a snack and then hit a fast, long fire road descent.  The only obstacle here were some pot holes that were a little tough to negotiate as the morning shadows played on the road.  I blew through the first rest stop, as I had all that I needed in my Camelbak:

From here it was more climbing, of what was some of the best part of the course.  Rolling, fun singletrack!  We then hit a fireroad descent that was probably the least fun of the day.  I started to fall apart a bit and had to stop and take in some more calories.  After a bit of a gingerly ride down I started to feel better as we hit some pavement and I passed about a dozen riders as the sugar hit my system.  We then had a roller coaster of a finish up a singletrack climb and then down through a flow park to the finish!  36 miles of fun and pain!  Check out my ride here.

Breck Epic Prep

Today's the day before we start the Breck Epic 2015!  My friend, Chip Hoover, invited me back in the early Spring with some of his college friends; Eric & Richard Schurke, and Eric Burke.  The race is spread over 6 days, 240 miles, with 40,000 feet of elevation gain.  I'll have some other friends as well out here, like Rob Batey!

This race will stretch my limits, since not only do I not do a lot of mountain bike races, but I can't tell you the last time I rode 7 days in a row, let alone on a mountain bike, let alone racing . . .

So here's the schedule for the next week:

5AM: Wake up

5:30AM: Eat breakfast (Bobo bar & Justin's nut butter), coffee

5:30-7:30AM: Relax/read

7:30AM: Dress

8AM: Ride to start

8:30AM-1PM: Race!

1PM: Drop bike off at Avalanche Sports to get washed and tuned

1:30PM: Recovery shake & shower

2-4PM: Nap

4PM: Snack

5PM: Rider meeting

6PM: Dinner

9PM: Normatec "space legs" sesh and get in bed

9:30PM: sleep

Or as my wife says, "Sound like your perfect vacation!"

Let's do this!

- Chris