Breck Epic 3-Day Numero Dos

Well today was the start of the 2nd day of racing for me. I could tell I went a little too hard yesterday because my legs were a bit sore. Which is not always the best day to start out a stage that they label as a "big one." Either way though I felt pretty good once we got moving and Adam and I agreed that we would ride the stage together so that we were not lost out there in no mans land like yesterday.

We started out quite similar to yesterday with a neutral rollout heading up French Gulch Road. We then made our way up the first climb to 11,100 feet on Humbug Hill. From there we had an awesome but very crazy descent down French Gulch. With all of the rain they have been having the gulch had many places of erosion where you were either pinballing off rocks or walking your bike through huge washouts. Still a blast though.

From there we began our first super tough climb. The Little French Pass climb which hits just over 12,000 feet in elevation. We climb up and go over the saddle between Mt. Baldy and Mt. Guyout. Hence why today's stage is called the Guyout Loop. This was super tough as we were riding up streams, tons of bumps, oh and it felt like you were breathing through a straw. The toughest part was the last .25 miles or so where we had to hike a bike. Felt very similar to the Columbine climb in Leadville.

Once we crested the top we had an awesome descent over and ice glacier. Conveniently I got a good picture of Adam falling on the snow about 10 feet before it ended. If you look closely you can see him about to hit the deck.


From there we had an awesome descent down to the next aid station which was a blast. Up until the make shift bridge we went across which was made out of pine trees. As I was crossing it some crazy guy tried to pass me and the logs moved so I fell right into the freezing water.

At the bottom of the descent we immediately started to head back uphill again. This time it was to the top of Georgia Pass which tops out at about 11,800 feet. Luckily though it was about a 4 mile road climb. So Adam and I just hunkered down and clipped it out.

The best part is yet to come. After crossing the Georgia Pass we had 4 miles of Colorado Trail descending. This was by far some of the best riding I have done in Colorado. There were tons of rocks and roots and it was awesome. But my hands were pretty beat up so by the end I was ready to be down to the road.

After that we had one last big climb of about 1500 feet up American Gulch. It was steep, hot, and we were tired. Enough said! At the top though we were treated to some great rolling terrain, fast descents, and awesome singletrack to bring us home to the finish.

Today we ended up doing 39 miles or so of riding with over 8500 feet of climbing...BOOM! Definitely a great race and by far epic! Looking forward to tomorrow as it will be a lot of riding the Colorado Trail the opposite direction from what we did yesterday. Luckily I have ridden most of the loop so I will know what is in store.