Final Day - I guess we still had some gas in the tank - Stage #6

Quote for the day from my brother:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-Aristotle

What a fun day! A perfect way to finish up a 6 day stage race. One of those courses that make you fall in love with mountain biking again (even after 6 days of riding)

Funny how a 33 mile ride can seem "easy" after 2 super long "epic" days. Today started with a single track climb (same section as Stage #1) and then a long section of the Firecracker 50 race course backwards. We then got on a nice dirt road climb for 6 miles to the first pass over the Continental Divide. Nick pulled to the front and started to lay down a very solid tempo. Before I knew it we had passed a group of 10 and the were now on the train.



The first time over the divide - looking back at the town of Breck.



Here is Nick pushing it over the top.



Over the summit we turned down a super fun single track and dropped all of our elevation gain in big banked turns on tacky dirt. Remember yesterday I said riding down hill and trying to take photos was not a good idea? Yea the camera took a big digger into a rock field today. So no more photos - sorry. To be honest I don't think I would have taken any more photos because we were pushing the pace all day.

We finished 2nd today (our best finish) and increased our lead over 4th place by 10+ minutes. We had a great day and we both still had a ton of power after 6 days.

We Finished the race in 3rd place and had no crashes and zero bike problems. All I can say is if you are thinking about doing a race like this or just want a super fun bike that rips downhill and can climb with the best hard tails - check out the Ibis Mojo - http://www.ibiscycles.com/



Thanks for reading - time for a few beers and a nap.

Next up for Team303Racing - ????

The Belgians are coming - The Belgians are coming........BreckEpic Stage #5

......That is until Nick dropped the hammer and torched the last half of the course with me hanging on his wheel! We padded our margin by 15 minutes today, and extended our lead to a little over 36 minutes.

Today was another "EPIC" day. One of those rides that you do once or twice a year because it takes so long and beats you up. We topped out above 12,500.

Today will be a story with pictures because I am exhausted!

The Police Escort roll out - Started in town and headed to the base of the ski area.


TEAM 303 - In the new white kit, not so dirt friendly.

That is the town of Breck below - We started with a long single track climb up the ski resort.

Still climbing - At that chair lift we turn and start down hill. - But not for long!

After a little single track and some fire road we hit a long rocky single track climb, on our way to 12,500 for the first time of the day.

This is the first aid station, Nick is at the aid station table and just to the left of the picture are the Belgians. Here is where Nick started to drop the hammer.

We are headed to the top of the ridge line just to the right of the tree.

You can see the trail just to the right of the tree - good luck riding it. This was the start of a solid 50 minute hike a bike. Brutal.

Still hiking, above tree line now.

Yes that says 12,505 Feet.

A nice little single track was waiting for us at the summit. Little did we know that we still had a lot more to climb.

Nick crossing a swampy meadow - deep mud and slick rocks.

Here is what was waiting around the corner - the trail goes up between the snow fields and over the top of the little peak in the middle of the picture.

Here we are climbing the last huge climb - you can see riders above us on the trail at the top of the photo.

Looking back from the summit - The single track trail is just below the snow field and crosses the side of the mountain.

Bombing down the back side of wheeler pass - we dropped from 12,500 to 9500 feet in 2 miles. It was steep and fast. Trying to take pictures and ride down hill is not a good idea.

Some more single track headed back to Breck. A fast 10 miles with some tough little grinder up hills.

At the finish, a coca cola, some water mellon, and shade was a welcome site.

Tomorrow is our last day - another 35 miles and 7000 feet of climbing. We will cross the divide 2 times.

Our first real "EPIC" day - BreckEpic #4

Today was planned to be the "big day" of the race, and it was in more way than one.

Here is today's stage profile.



I got up a little earlier this morning to have have plenty of time to stuff myself with enough calories to take me through what we had planned to be a 5-6 hr day on the bike. Nick got up a little after me and was not feeling well at all. (Later he told me he went back in to his room to lay down because he thought he was going to puke)We decided that we were going to take it very easy for the first climb and see how we felt.

Here were are at the start line waiting for the gun and the police roll out. Thankfully today the Police escort kept things slow for a while to get in a little warm up.




The Belgians lined up next to us for the start. Once we started moving we moved up the out side of the pack and got a little better starting spot. We hit the dirt and the pace started to pick up. We stayed on a mellow pace and let people pass us if they wanted to, no one flew by us so we thought everyone was worried about the stage as well.

Here is the start of the first climb. Most days stay bunched up for the first half hour to hour before everyone settles into their place and things get pretty strung out.





After the first climb and aid station we turned on to what can only be called a goat track or a small hiking trail. We were on this up to 12,050+ feet. Two sections were next to impossible to climb and we were reduced to pushing our bikes up a 25% slope.




Over the top we were faced with about 150yard snow field. You can see the tire tracks in the snow. The best way we found to get down it was to un-clip one foot and skid down. The single track (still a goat track) was very rough with tons of rocks and stream crossings.





After two more super long climbs and some nice single track downhill, we made it to the finish with very tired legs.

Turns out we put the screws to the Belgians today and beat them by 21 minutes to take our position back on the podium.

Bouker has been send us inspirational quotes for the past few days, they have been awesome so I thought I would share - Thanks B.

Here is Tuesdays -

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt

Todays quote -

"The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

Our quote for Thursday -

"Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from indomitable will."
-Mahatma Gandhi


Today's GPS file - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8283131

Here are a few more photos from the day. Tomorrow is another long day that tops out above 12,200, the highest elevation so far.

I feel like a kid at summer camp - BreckEpic Stage #3

Remember when you went to summer camp and woke up everyday with nothing to do but hang out with friends and play all day long? That is what I feel like this week, besides the fact that I am staying in a condo, watching the "Tour de France" every afternoon, and taking a nap about 3:00. it still feels like camp. But I miss my wife.



Today we started a little late - about 9:10 with another police escort for a neutral start. We started right away climbing through the neighborhoods just east of down town Breck. After about a 20 min climb we turned down a very steep single track through tight trees and lots of roots and rocks. The rest of the stage was very rocky and technical (unlike yesterday)super steep climbs and Lot's of fire road descents that were loose and sketchy.

After stage #2 we were in 3rd place and had a small lead of 2:40 min. in front of a team from Belgium. We started the day with the Belgians right on our wheels, they got a jump on us on one of the steep climbs and we lost sight of them for most of the day until we had a long down hill that we let it roll flat out. We came around the corner right before aid station #3 and the Belgians were only 20 yards in front of us. We blew through Aid #2 and got a small gap on them. After a small down hill we hit a sharp turn and a very steep up hill section, Nick tried to power up the hill and his chain exploded. The Belgians were past us in a few seconds and we could see them put the hammer down knowing that it was going to take us some time to get Nick's bike back together. Thanks to a passing rider "Crazy Correy" who gave us a quick chain link we were back on our bikes in just a few minutes. We tried to push the pace and catch back up to the Belgians but we couldn't close the gap. It is really fun to have another team so close that every stage is a race within a race. Turns out they only finished 54 Seconds in front of us, so we should keep our 3rd place overall going into Stage #4

Tomorrow is being called the "Queen stage" - It is said to be just under 50 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing and tops out above 12,000 feet more than once - ouch!

Here we are at today's finish - not as much mud as yesterday. Sunny and warm all day.



A few more photos -

BreckEpic Stage #2

It rained off and on for most of the night but we woke up Monday morning to perfect blue sky's. The temp at 7am was a brisk 38deg. We packed up and made our way to the start. The race provided us with great recycled grocery bags to use to stage whatever we wanted in 2 different spots on the course.



We started right at 9AM and had a police escort out of town and on to the dirt roads before a left turn and a super steep climb to start the day. The trails were in great condition with just a few puddles here and there from all the rain.






The further we got back in the woods the puddles and sloppy trails were everywhere! We started another long climb with long consistent pitches at 24%! After the long climb we were rewarded with some of the best flowing single track I have ever been on. This section of the Colorado trail is absolutely amazing.





It was an awesome day and we ended up finishing 3rd in our division and made up some time on a few teams that out climbed us yesterday. We are sitting 3rd overall and happy with the days racing. Another tough day tomorrow and we were told it is supposed to be very rough with steep climbs - sounds great....

BreckEpic Stage #1

July 5th 2009:

We checked in about noon and picked up our gear bags and race info. Our start time for the opening stage was 3:51PM -

About 2:30 it started to pour rain and the sky was absolutely black. We got dressed and ready to roll out of the condo when the sun came out and we were blessed with a perfect Colorado blue sky afternoon.

Turns out that we waited a little long for the rain to stop and left ourselves with no time to warm up.

The course started with about 50 yards of grass and then a hard right turn on to a tight very steep single track. Because of all the rain the course was wet and very slick.

Nick set a nice pace and we worked our way from about 9200 ft up to 11,300 to the finish. We took it very easy on the climb knowing that we had 5 full days of racing ahead of us.

A quick ride down to town and some rest for stage #2 at 9am Monday.