Breck Epic Stage 5

By Singletrack Dirt
Jul 09, 2009

Today was the fifth stage of the Breck Epic. Epic indeed. After some singletrack climbing and descending on the Breckenridge ski hill, surprisingly good singletrack in fact, we hit the Burro Trail. This is a tennish mile rocky rooty trail that kept us working, especially given the steady rise. This was followed by some steady climbing on dirt road that brought us into a breathtaking alpine amphitheatre and the Wheeler trail. To the south was the northern face of Quandary Peak, one of Colorado’s 14,000 foot peaks. It’s hard to describe just how amazing this scenery is. I’ve heard talk of some killer north facing couloirs on Quandary and I saw them today. After five days of racing this god-forsaken singlespeed, a lazy early summer ski day sounds pretty damn appealing. In fact, the Jeff Carter rule of hiking states that ski descents are the only reason to hike at all. There used to be two reasons, but I’m engaged now.

So this Wheeler trail is beautiful and a great place to take your bike for a walk, because all the gears in China aren’t riding that climb. Again, the Breck Epic delivers the Big Ride in race form. Yeah these aren’t the 6 hour days of the Transalp, but it also isn’t riding a 3% grade up a paved road for two-and-a-half hours either. In fact, thus far, I’d say this race combines the beautiful high alpine riding of the Transalp with the luscious singletrack of the BC bike race into one tasty package. I love it.

So after nearly an hour of hike-a-bike, we topped out on the East facing flanks of the Ten Mile range and rode some soggy singletrack that kept us from taking in the views. Having ridden this trail before, the view is of the Gore range, a fairly remote range north of Summit. Cross the service road, lots of photographers, and see my good friend Catherine cheering us all on. Then we boot up to Wheeler pass where we are greeted by a nearly fifty mile-an-hour wind. Then it’s a three thousand foot descent to Ten Mile Canyon and the bike path. Loose high alpine trail gave way to bermed turns and stream crossings. Hit the bike path and watch the geared bikers pass me by. At one point I try and catch a draft from a fifty year old lady with a lunch box on the back of her cruiser, but she, too drops me. The singlespeed does have its limitations.

In the singlespeed category, I pretty much saw my last-day podium hopes vanish as Jake simply rode away from me today. In fact he was second on the day. I have really enjoyed this competition and will come out as strong as I can tomorrow hoping for a miracle. There has been great camaraderie amongst all the singlespeeders and they are a great bunch of guys and girl. On the eve of the final stage, I can say this has been one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life, watching this incredible event come together in the mountains where I ride whenever I get the chance. As the fatigue of the week has set in, my ability to lay down witty blogs appears to be falling off. Thanks for reading.

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