Breck Epic - Stage 1

I would say that today's first stage was a "survival" stage.  Looking at the course profile on paper it looks nothing like a difficult day; and by difficult I mean one that you are looking forward to it being over.  We covered 40 miles and climbed just over 4600 ft.  A tough day but, much tougher than I had anticipated.

  early on during Stage 1

Going into the first stage my plan was to be a little conservative, and I can honestly say that I stuck to my plan.  After looking at my GPS device I noticed my average HR was 145 and my max HR was only 157.  I wanted to stay right around or below my threshold and those #'s reflect that perfectly.  I am hoping that this will pay off towards the end of the week with my legs still feeling fairly fresh to put in a surge during stage 4-6.

I didn't have too many issues today other than 1 flat within the first 8 miles.  At the time I was with the lead group but had to stop and fix the flat and saw many riders pass.  I eventually passed most of those riders but wasn't able to catch back to the lead group, nor did I expect to either.  I settled into a good tempo rhythm and hoped for the best.  Finished 8th overall, 21 min back from the winner.

local Breck rider Josh Tostado

descending near the finish

pushing on near the finish

The word for today was "rocks".  I don't think I have ever ridden 40 miles having my tires hit so many rocks.       I don't think that there was a section where I didn't see a rock.  I would say that the hardest section of the course were the jeep roads; loaded with loose rocks the size of a helmet.  Without being able to choose a good line I tried to ride straight through the rocks but just ended up getting bounced around like a pinball.  There were even a few hike-a-bike sections, which I do feel are a necessity in a true mountain bike race.  The mindset of the day though was "please don't flat again, please don't slice a tire, just get to the finish".  And that's why I named this stage a "survival" stage, just finishing and not loosing too much time.

an easy section of singletrack with rocks

Overall I felt that my breathing didn't have any effect on my performance, however, it definitely felt like my legs would not respond as I wanted them to.  Picture Uma Thurman in the movie "Kill Bill Vol. 1 sitting in the car and trying to get her big tow to move.  That's exactly how I felt with my legs, trying to get them to spin a little faster but just wouldn't.

Well it was an epic day in the saddle and the best part is that there are 5 more days to come.

video from Blake Harlan - Stage 1

The storm before the storm

Getting ready for what should be an adventurous week of riding here in Breckenridge, CO.

While the storm of the race approaches, so did the rain gods as heavy rain and drizzling rain soaked the ski village; even a few thunder crackles were heard during the afternoon.  Much like the high dessert in Central Oregon, the high alpine trails here in Breck seem to soak up the rain quite well, so this should make for some pretty sweet  trail conditions come race day/s.

If you are interested in following the race, you can follow along with the gang over at Cycling Dirt  who will be covering the event with highlights from each stage (including results, interviews, and videos).  Here is their 2012 Breck-Epic Preview.

Breck Epic

I found this article and thought it was appropriate to include in my report since I am competing in one of their "toughest" races in the world, the Breck Epic.  A few other races on the list that are familiar among us Americans is the BC Bike Race, Leadville 100 Run, and Kona Ironman Hawaii.  Another race that was listed on the site and one in which I hope to participate in next season is the Trans Pyr; an 8-stage mtb race through the Pyranees mountains in northern Spain.  The race covers over 500 miles and almost 67,000ft of climbing...Ouch!  Hopefully more on this later

For this article here is the Breck Epic...

The 12 Hardest Races in the World

Breck Epic - Colorado

The crux of the six-day Breck Epic mountain bike stage race comes on day five during the grind up Wheeler Pass, a craggy ribbon of trail that rises above treeline on the west side of the event's host city Breckenridge, Colorado. While much of the trail is rideable, there's a sustained section of soul-crushing hike-a-bike. "That's the moment of dread for most of our racers," says event director Mike McCormack. "The sense of accomplishment from surviving that is pretty huge." Same goes for the rest of the 240-mile race, which never dips below 10,000 feet, has 37,000 feet of total climbing, and crosses the Continental Divide four times.

Heading to higher grounds

In just a few days, I will be embarking on a completely new experience.  I will be heading to Breckenridge, CO, which site at an elevation of 9600 ft., and competing in the Breck Epic.  The Breck Epic is now in it's 3rd year and offers a 3-day and 6-day option.  I am doing the 6-day race; which when it's all over I will have climbed over 37,000 ft (the same amount as the Tour of Utah...but on a mountain bike) and rode over 240 miles (all between 9600 - 12,000 ft elevation).  I have only competed in one other event above 8000ft.  (Brian Head Epic 100 in Utah).  Racing for one day at high elevation is one thing, but to repeat racing efforts for 6 days will certainly be a new challenge.

My home town, Bend, OR, sits at an elevation of only 3600 ft..  I've been told that in order to really benefit from living at elevation, you need to live at at least 5500 ft.  I have raced in five (5) multi-day MTB stage races (the longest being 9 days), so I am confident in my abilities to push myself for several days. The only question going into the Breck Epic will be if my lungs can withstand the lack of oxygen while trying to push myself like I normally do.  Day 1 will be a good gauge of how I respond, and will set the tone for the rest of the week.

Here is a You Tube video of what I can expect to see in a few days.

Stay tuned for race reports beginning Aug 12th.

Shit happens

Where to I begin with this weekends Oregon XC Championship race down in Jacksonville, OR.  Let's start at the start of the race.  For starters their was only 5 of us that toed the line to claim Oregon's 2012 state championships   Sad, I know.  However, all 5 riders were strong enough to claim the title.  I didn't have the luxury to pre-ride the course so I went it the race blindfolded, so to speak.  I don't like NOT knowing what is around each corner.  As the gun went off (actually it was the race director saying "GO") signaling the start of the race, Evan Plews and I jumped to the front and set a good pace.  I took the whole shot into the first singletrack section, and this is where the "shit happens" begins.

As I mentioned earlier NOT knowing what is around each corner is not something I enjoy.  With that said, I continued at the front only to have my front wheel slip out from under my body, and before I knew it I was on the ground.  "What just happened", was my first thought.  Then instinctively, I picked my bike up and jumped back on to stay close to the rest of the riders.  Low and behold, as I mounted my bike and began riding again, I realized my handlebars/stem had been bent to one side.  I continued to ride this way and shortly after we popped back onto the fireroad, I stopped to adjust my handlebars.  I would have to stop once again later to do this because what I initially thought was straight really wasn't.

We climbed up a fireroad for a few miles and I worked my way back to Brig who was in 2nd while Evan was at the front.  I slowly pulled away from Brig but couldn't bridge the gap to Evan just yet.  With constant up-and-down riding (very similar to east-coast style of riding), we worked our way around the foothills of Jacksonville.  In the course description, there was a "monster" climb labeled Jed's climb (named notoriously for a local rider named Jed who rode his bike to/from work via this hill climb.  How bad could it be?  When we hit it I knew we were on it.  Fortunately, it wasn't that long, but damn it was steep; steep enough to have me on the tip of my saddle leaning over my handlebars.  I hope everyone else hurt like I did climbing that damn thing...thanks Jed!  With temps in the 90's, the sunscreen I put on earlier was dripping down my face and into my mouth.  Nothing like tasting salty sweat!  At least it was my own...

Brig and I would sort of yo yo back and forth with me pulling away on the climbs and him catching back up to me at the bottom of the descents.  Towards the end we rode on a trail that had huge banked burms, lots of deep ruts, and more steep up and downs.  Near the bottom of this descent we rode some freshly made trails that was pretty sweet but short lived.  More of this would have been nice.

More shit happens.  At the bottom of the descent, we had popped out onto Reservoir Rd, which we were to climb for a few miles, then descend to the finish on singletrack.  Well as soon as I was on the road, my rear tire got sliced by a rock and was instantly flat.  Stan's seal did no good keeping air in this one.  As I prepared  to install my tube, I realized the valve stem was not ling enough to go through my Enve rims.  So.........I was left hopeless in my attempt to chase down Brig and Evan with any hope of winning the race.  It was an unfortunate flat because I was feeling good on the climbs and felt I could have pulled back Evan on the final climb.  As it turned out Brig finished 1 minute behind Evan.  As I walked my bike back down the road to the start/finish (about 1.5 miles...ugghhh) I saw Evan and Brig both crossing he finish line.  In the time it took me to walk down the road they completed the remaining miles of the course.  I couldn't have flatted at a more worse time.

Congrats to Evan for taking home Gold.

Upcoming events

With the first "peak" of the season under my belt (Furious 3), it's time to focus on the 2nd half of the season. For the past few weeks I have been recovering and building back up for what should be a very busy few weeks.

The madness kicks off this weekend down in Jacksonville, OR, host of the Oregon XC and Super D Championships.  I will only be competing in the XC event; I'll let Adam Craig do his thing in the Super D.  Damn I wish I had his DH Skills.  The event is named the Stage Coach XC due to the location down in Jacksonville, OR.  Named Southern Oregon's first town in 1966, Jacksonville was later designated as a National  Historic Landmark.  Apparently, Jacksonville, OR was a gold-mining mecca in the mid-1850's.

After rippin' it down in one mining town, I head to Breckenridge, CO (another mining town) for my first attempt at high-altitude racing to compete in the Breck Epic.  Covering nearly 240 miles and ascending over 37,000 ft. might seem daunting, but then add in the fact that the race will occur at elevations between 9,600 and 12,000 ft. and it becomes horrific.  Beauuuuutiful!  We as athletes like to challenge ourselves, that's what keep us motivated and continuing to punish ourselves on a daily basis.  You definitely cannot get the same "euphoric high" sitting behind a desk typing away on a computer.

After driving home from the Breck, I have only a few days before shredding more dirt up in Washington State near Olympia, WA...that is if I still have any oxygen left in my body.  This used to be one of my favorite stomping grounds when I lived in Washington, so I am psyched to ride there again.  Always full of epic singletrack, the Capitol Forest 50 should be the icing on the cake as for the the racing in the month of August.

Stay tuned for race reports from each event and will hopefully share some video as well.

Furious 3 - from another racers' perspective

Here is a race report from Evan Plews (Ibis), from the Furious 3 race up in Canada.  Evan finished 4th in GC.
Check out his report here...

Furious 3 Videos

Here are a few more videos that were compiled by Kevin Pennock and his crew at Ride Guide.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Here is a final full recap of the race from the Fernie Mix ( a local Fernie, BC magazine)

Furious 3 - Stage 3

Final results here

Start of stage 3

Wow, I didn't think today could have been any better than Stage 2 but I was wrong.  Stage 3 consisted of mostly singletrack and very few forest road riding.  A short 2k start on pavement through a neighborhood led us to the first singletrack section.  Entering this section in good position was critical.  I heard later after the race that some riders had gotten bottle-necked and had to walk.

Shawn Bullin was feeling good today and shortly after entering the singletrack moved to the front and pushed the pace hard.  I was able to get by a few riders to move in to 2nd position and had to work hard to chase him down.  I was able to catch him shortly after exiting the singletrack on a forest road, but wasn't able to maintain the hard pace he was pushing.  Knowing that I only had a 2.5 minute lead on him in the overall GC, I couldn't afford him to get too far ahead.

Lots of technical rolling terrain today kept us on edge the entire time.  Even though the weather was sunny and warm today, the trails had dried out a bit but had turned even more slippery than previous days, and the rooty sections became even more challenging.

Today we had to climb Hyperventilation Trail again (a steep 4 mile singletrack climb) and this was where I thought I could make up time on Shawn.  At the top of the climb, one of the spectators had mentioned that I was 2 minutes behind.  With only about 8 miles to the finish I had to do everything I could to maintain my overall lead.  The majority of the race was downhill on some super gnarly trails.  High speeds and narrow singletrack made for a great way to end an epic 3 days of riding.

I finished a close 2nd behind Shawn on today's stage, but was able to hold on for the overall GC victory. 

Solo Men Open Podium:  

L to R: Mike Vine (not present), Sloane, Shawn Bullin

Furious 3 - Stage 2

Race results here

What can I say about today's stage other than purely epic!

This mornings race began at the Fernie Alpine Resort, just a few km outside of Fernie BC.  Steady rain continued all morning and never let up the entire race.  We started on a gravel road with a gradual climb on xc ski trails.  It didn't take long for the main pack to separate and by mile 5 there was a small group of 8 of us.  The first singletrack section was a very technical section that was a combination of steep ups and downs.  Fortunately, the section was very short and before the legs completely filled up with lactic acid we hit another fire road climb.  During this climb a few more riders fell off and it was down to 4 of us!

  

It stayed this way for a long time, until we started to climb on singletrack near Island Lake Lodge and the Fernie Provincial Park when one rider wasn't able to maintain the pace.

Myself, Shawn Bunnin, and Mike Vine strolled through the first aid station and neither of us opted to grab any food/hydration.  More steep climbing on singletrack would be the theme for the next 40 minutes or so.  With the trails extremely muddy, riding over roots became difficult at times.  Around mile 20 three of us stopped at Aid 2 to grab a bottle to provide the energy to finish the final 8 miles.  

We descended near the town of Fernie and rode some city trails for a few miles before reaching the final singletrack section (same as final singletrack as yesterday but in reverse direction).  At this point the race for the win was "on"!  Shawn Bunnin made the move that would stick to win the race.  I stayed close but couldn't gain, so I finished 2nd today by a few seconds, leaving me even hungrier for a stage win tomorrow!