Today wraps up the 3rd and final day of racing for me here at the Breck Epic 3-Day. However, the 6 day folks are still in for some more tough rides over the next two days. So today's stage was called the Keystone/Aqueduct Loop, because we went up by the Keystone skiing area. The totals for the day included 43 miles of riding with more than 8000 feet of climbing.
The stage was a much different than yesterday. Overall a much faster paced race and you had to do a lot more pedaling over the length of the stage. It started out similar to two days ago where we went up Heinous Hill, which is a super steep, granny gear pushing climb. A really good way to warm your legs up when they are pretty tired and would rather not move to begin with. Then we got to descend down Galena Gulch, which was a rocky, steep, fast, and super fun downhill descent.
From there we hit the Colorado trail andstartedthe next climb which was mild and fairly rolling terrain. But our luck would soon run out when we encountered Vomit Hill. The name implies just that, you want to vomit. It was a super steep climb that was mostly hike a bike, but nonetheless it was so steep that it was over as quick as it started.
From there we descended down to meet up with the Aqueduct Trail. Which was a big chain ring grind all the way around the ridge of the mountain before we got to the second aid station on Keystone Gulch Road. It was a lot of fun and a good way to finally get the legs up to speed again. I was lucky enough to have a guy to help set the tempo for us and I just sat on his wheel. I was familiar with the loop so I basically tour guided him through the trails and he just pedaled like an animal. So needless to say it was a win-win situation for the two of us.
Just before the aid station we had a crazy stream crossing on a bridge that was shaking and moving while riding it. Crazy fun.
Once we hit Keystone Gulch Road it began a 7 mile fire road climb to the top of West Ridge where we would once again meet up with the Colorado Trail. This climb was a much needed relief to the racing. You could settle into a good pace and actually pick your gears versus being stuck in granny gear like some of the previous climbs. At the top we peaked out at about 11,100 feet and we were rewarded with a 5 miles of screaming fast downhill. I have said it before and will say it again, the Colorado Trail is amazing!
After all of that fun I had to buckle down and put my game face on. As we still had one more nasty climb left after we hit aid station three. The first mile was a teaser as it was only about 2% grade. Then it kicked up to a leg crushing steepness. It was a good 15+ minutes of granny gear, quad busting goodness. But after that we were basically home free. Only one more shorter 400 foot climb and then it was all downhillto the finish. Coming down the Minnie Mine Trail was awesome as I hit 38 mph coming down the singletrack!
Ended up finishing in around 4 hours and 10minutes which was very solid as I was hoping to ride under 4:15. I was super pleased with my performance as I felt like I was on the gas all day today and really pushed myself. My effort today helped to place me up in GC to a 5th overall in the mens open category. At the finish the super awesome aid station guru fixed me a nutella, peanut butter, banana, and marshmallow puff sandwich. It was delicious. I have to say that the backdrop to the finish was quite impressive in itself as well.
Once we hit Keystone Gulch Road it began a 7 mile fire road climb to the top of West Ridge where we would once again meet up with the Colorado Trail. This climb was a much needed relief to the racing. You could settle into a good pace and actually pick your gears versus being stuck in granny gear like some of the previous climbs. At the top we peaked out at about 11,100 feet and we were rewarded with a 5 miles of screaming fast downhill. I have said it before and will say it again, the Colorado Trail is amazing!
After all of that fun I had to buckle down and put my game face on. As we still had one more nasty climb left after we hit aid station three. The first mile was a teaser as it was only about 2% grade. Then it kicked up to a leg crushing steepness. It was a good 15+ minutes of granny gear, quad busting goodness. But after that we were basically home free. Only one more shorter 400 foot climb and then it was all downhillto the finish. Coming down the Minnie Mine Trail was awesome as I hit 38 mph coming down the singletrack!
Ended up finishing in around 4 hours and 10minutes which was very solid as I was hoping to ride under 4:15. I was super pleased with my performance as I felt like I was on the gas all day today and really pushed myself. My effort today helped to place me up in GC to a 5th overall in the mens open category. At the finish the super awesome aid station guru fixed me a nutella, peanut butter, banana, and marshmallow puff sandwich. It was delicious. I have to say that the backdrop to the finish was quite impressive in itself as well.
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