Last week was a busy and
fun one; full of shenanigans, bike industry debauchery, and finally some
racing. I headed up to Breckenridge
bright and early on Tuesday morning for a few days of heckling at the Breck
Epic. The Breck Epic, for those who
don’t know, has quickly become one of the Big 3 (in my opinion) stage races in
the US. It draws riders from all over
the world to ride mind-blowing singletrack, lung-busting climbs at huge elevations,
and amazing views for 6 days, all centered in downtown Breckenridge. The course on Tuesday took riders over the
Continental Divide two times; first over French Pass, then over Georgia Pass,
before descending the Colorado Trail off of Georgia. My plan for heckling/racer support was to set
up an espresso station atop one of the huge climbs, and try to force feed
espresso shots to as many asphyxiated riders as I could. On Monday afternoon I secured this puppy:
Introducing the
AeroPress. Quite possibly the best
camping espresso maker ever made. Come
Tuesday morning, I loaded my bag with 30+lbs of gear and ventured out into the
cool Breck morning en route to Georgia Pass.
I set up shop right where the riders entered the Colorado Trail after
climbing for an hour or so. Much fun was
had that day, with Jeff Kerkove being one of my first takers. It was amazing to see the gratitude some of
the slower riders had for my being there, especially after many had ridden
through a cold hail storm.
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| Photo courtesy: Liam Doran Photography |
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| Photo courtesy: Liam Doran Photography |
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| Photo courtesy: Liam Doran Photography |
The next day I headed out
on the Colorado Trail, almost right from town, en route to the top of the West
Ridge climb, which was one of the hardest climbs the riders would face all
day. This time around I had perfected my
backwoods espresso-making/serving technique in order to provide shots to any
who would accept. It was another super
fun day. My favorite taker was Kyosuke
Takei, who in the midst of chasing down Todd Wells and Alex Grant (who were
riding with other-worldly speed) came by demanding a shot of espresso! Sue Haywood also made my day, as she crested
the huge climb looking like death, and not able to even make words simply
gestured for me to hand her a shot. I
gave her a push and some words of encouragement; the chick is a beast. By far though, my biggest takers were singlespeeders and Europeans; go figure.
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| Kyosuke railing post-espresso! |
This may have been the
first time I’ve experienced a race as a spectator/heckler/supporter and it was
such a good experience. I intended the
espresso shots and yelling to be sort of a sick joke, but it turned out to be
appreciated by so many.
Next up was the Steamboat Stinger 50; a race I had been looking forward to all year simply based on its popularity. In its short 3-year run it now attracts many
of the top Pros in the area and sells out in minutes. I knew there was something to like. That something happens to be about 90% singletrack
in each 25-mile loop. Looking at the
level of competition in the Pro class, which numbered ~110, I decided to forego
the singlespeed to race with gears and the state’s fastest Pros.
I showed up in beautiful
Steamboat Springs late Friday afternoon ready to race at 8am Saturday. This meant no pre-riding of the course, which
could have made a difference in a race this fast and furious. I lined up in the massive pack right at the
front, but as the start went off, way faster than I was expecting or used to, I
lost a bunch of positions. Coming from 3
NUE races this summer I wasn’t used to the XC start pace. Judging from this race photo, I was back in
36th spot right after the start before hitting a brutally steep climb.
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| Where's Waldo |
Shortly thereafter the
course turns into doubletrack climb for about ¼-mile where I was able to pick
up a bunch of lost spots. This entire
race was one of opportunities either taken or lost. Each 25-mile loop consisted of two major
climbs and two long sketchy singletrack descents.
Being mostly tight
singletrack, passing was as difficult as any race I’ve been to. Upon hitting
the singletrack on the first major climb of the day I didn’t take the
opportunity to get around another rider, which proved to be a mistake. Within minutes he was carrying a train of
riders, and we all lost valuable time.
Finally I did get around and distanced myself from the field. That was until hitting the long singletrack
descent; the trails were super tight, twisty, dusty, loose, off-camber, and
sketchy! My bike handling was absolutely
horrendous, and before long I was the one carrying a train of riders. As bad as I felt about holding them up, this
was an unfortunate opportunity taken.
There were some pissed off riders behind me for sure. The rest of the race was a lot more of the same, and I never did start
feeling the groove of descending the constantly turning singletrack; get held
up by riders on the climbs and lose valuable time, then get passed like I was standing
still on the descents. I felt like I was driving a school bus around the trails. As frustrated as I
was about my bike handling, I was elated at how my body was reacting to the
super fast pace, basically XC pace for 50 miles, and I never did wear out until
the very end. With how strong I was
climbing all day, I think I could have been a bit further up the field if
certain opportunities were taken, but hey, that’s racing. I came in 20th Pro/Open in a who’s-who
field of Colorado pro mountain bikers.
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