Justin and I made the long drive to Breckenridge, Colorado, to compete in this event on challenging high-altitude single-track. With typical stage lengths of three to four hours with six thousand feet of elevation gain, it was tough to recover each day so that we could race at full speed later in the week.
I had an amazing week, winning all six stages and the overall against the field of more than 50 riders in the men’s 50-59 category. The altitude certainly limited my power output, and I took the approach of trying to minimize explosive efforts that would put me into the red zone. Many of the climbs are steep and rocky with limited traction, so I changed out my typical 34-tooth front chainring for a 32. I kept to a 100 grams/hour schedule for carbohydrates and was able to push hard for the last part of each stage. My bike performed well with no mechanical issues, and I used 2.4” WTB Macro tires with inserts, which successfully prevented any flats.
Justin raced with the pro men, and he had completed the Leadville 100 MTB race (105 miles, 12,000 ft of climbing) the day before the Breck Epic started, which meant there was lots of fatigue in his legs! So for stage 1, Justin ended up riding with me since his “legs were not working.” His recovery efforts were successful by stage 4, where he had his best result of the week, finishing on the podium in 4th place. He ended the week in 8th place overall, which was impressive given his Leadville effort.
If anyone has any interest in doing this event in 2026, let me know since I have a discount code to share and can hopefully provide lots of advice for racing at over 10,000 elevation. The event will be in its 17th year and is extremely well organized. The experience of riding the high alpine single-track in Breckenridge should not be missed!
