Breckenridge 100 2011 - Loop Three

Loop Three

Even with the bonus downhill before Carter Park, I was starting to lose energy.  I just didn't feel like I had that explosive power I had during the beginning of the race.  My stomach felt fine, and I was eating gels but in hindsight maybe I should have eaten some solid food.  I had packed the Honey Stinger Waffles with the intent of eating them between Loops.  I guess I just forgot about them as I grabbed the different gels and left the feed zone.

You leave Carter Park starting Loop Three of the Breckenridge 100 mountain bike race climbing up on the paved Boreas Pass Road until you reach the entrance to Blue River Trail.  This single track trail was laced with mountain flowers in full bloom.

The single track ended and we continued to climb up a paved road with large summer homes.  I was amazed at all the flowers on the side of the road.  There were blues, yellows, pinks, etc.

I could hear the thunder rolling off in the distance, knowing the impending moisture was only minutes away.  Sure enough, the blackened skies opened up and then rain began to fall.

I took my helmet camera off and slid it into my jersey pocket so I didn't get any video/photos of the Indiana Creek climb.

The falling rain was a welcome feeling washing away some of the days accumulation of salt off my body.  I am not sure if it was from the rain or not but I began to crave a nice glass of ice cold water.  Sure I had just received another 2 bottles of CarboRocket 333 and it tasted good, but water was what I desired.  In fact during the rain soaked climb up Indiana Creek there were various creeks we had to cross.  I was tempted to get off my bike and dump out the CarboRocket 333 and fill my bottle with the clear crisp rushing water coming down the creeks.  I was almost read to refill, then I realized I was in an area with tons of old mines.  Then I thought sure enough, maybe the water would have some kind of hazardous element invisible to the eye that would cause me harm during the race.  So I figured I could wait until the top of the climb for the aid station.

Indiana Creek was a hard climb for me.  The dirt was wet and muddy in places where you needed traction to continue with the climb.  Luckily I had enough balance to stay upright after the initial slip of the rear tire, before it would find harder/dryer ground to hook up upon.  Like I said before I just didn't feel like I had power to put in to the pedals.  But I kept going on and once again the scenery was beautiful.  The dirt was red and hidden from the sky beneath the canopy of pine boughs.  In fact the rain sure cleaned up the surrounding vegetation and the natural colors began to shine.  But I won't lie, Indiana Creek sure sucked out a lot of the remaining energy I possessed.

The crest of Indiana Creek put us back out almost to the summit of Boreas Pass Road.

Gone were the dark shadows and hidden dirt roads beneath the trees.  Now the vistas were long and the surrounding peaks snow speckled and distant.  I could see the summit of Boreas Pass Road off in the distance marked by the Section House.

The Continental Divide was coming up quickly and was that drink of water my lips so desired. Josh Tostado was already on his descent back to Carter Park.  Wow, hear I am still riding on Loop Three and the fast guys are getting ready to finish.  He was descending so fast down the Boreas Pass Road that he would have produced a smoke screen had the roads been dry.

I stopped off at the aid station and had my fill of the cold water.

I had quite a few cups of the blessed liquid before I grabbed another gel and crossed over the Continental Divide.  What goes up must come down and after a short 1/4 mile of dirt road it was time to open up the fun factor on the Gold Dust Trail.

The downhill was extremely fast.  One thing about downhills for me, the are almost like pumping my body full of more energy.  I was feeling good and the twisting trail flowing over the different tentacles of tree roots and rocks upped the excitement.

I tried to remember in my mind how Loop Three all fit together as I began to gather myself mentally for the rest of the 30+ mile loop.  For some reason everything I was riding on now was a cloudy mess inside my mind until the return to Continental Divide.

Gold Dust Trail is an amazing trail.  Of course it helps to start the trail with an amazing downhill.  The middle of the trail is a giant anaconda of turns.  Strangely enough the trail sits almost inside what feels like the tube of a water slide.

I am not sure if the gully is natural as it snakes across the landscape or if it is man made.  As you can imagine a trail like this naturally provides itself with plenty of wall hits, jumps, etc. to keep yourself entertained.  Yes, I know what you are thinking and yes even when I am tired I still look for the "fun" parts of the trail.  I am not sure how long the Gold Dust Trail is but it felt like it went on for miles.

Mentally I could not see where I was geographically because I couldn't see any surrounding mountain peaks.  The twisting trail didn't help me either as I felt completely lost and backwards.

  The ending parts of Gold Dust were what could be described as the "rock garden" of the race. (I must have turned the camera off during those parts)

There was a mile or so of some slow, technical, boulder maneuvering that was required to navigate.

Right as I exited Gold Dust onto the dirt road descending down into Como a friendly push from behind came from Chad Ambrose.  He said "isn't this the hardest race ever?"  I agreed and said, "it sure is one of the most fun though."

More water at the aid station, which wasn't cold, luke warm actually.  Here it felt like I was on the some of the middle sections of the Leadville Trail 100 riding along the dirt road with the surrounding large mountain valleys meadows.  I asked one of the aid station workers how the rest of the course worked so I could know what was ahead of me.  This loop was the only loop I really was riding blind.  I had riding previously sections of loop one and loop two last year.

What I could have really used at this aid station was a nice cold Coke.  From here on I lost a lot of time and didn't have any power to keep up my speed on the relatively calm dirt roads.  Phast Dan came by on his Single Speed (only rode the B-68) as did many other riders.  Since we all had a black marker imprint on our left calf with our age and distance it was nice to see that I was getting passed by the B-68 riders instead of riders from my age and distance category.

I really wished I could have pushed a bigger gear climbing up the 7+ mile dirt road climb back up to the Section House/Continental Divide.  But I needed a second wind.

I know this may sound funny, but I sure felt good on the single track sections going down or even on the flat to undulating parts.  But the long dirt road climbs were leeching all the energy out of my body.  Sonya Looney passed me like I was moving backwards.

She was flying up the hill much faster than the other B-68 riders who were passing me.

There is one good thing about climbing slowly up the Boreas Pass Road to the Continental Divide, you get a lot of time to study and absorb the surround terrain/scenery.

Colorado really is an amazing place.  The ice cold water at the aid station sure hit the spot for the 2nd time.  Now I knew mentally I was almost there.  A quick descent down the dirt road and the race would be over.  In the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't be as simple as a long dirt road descent back to Carter Park.  I knew there would be some sort of a climb right before the end.

No time to waste time at the aid station, back onto the pedals I went.  Boreas Pass Road is a long, very long descent.

I really felt bad for the riders still climbing up the road beginning their Loop Three as I my watch showed I was approaching 11 hours out on the bike.  Sure enough just as I thought, one last climb, Baker's Tank.

Just as I expected my legs to go back into the dark place they were in during the painful Boreas Pass Climb, they didn't.  My legs turned back on.

I think they knew the end of the race was near.  Although many people may complain about the technical tree root filled descent towards Carter Park, I reveled in it.  Here I was in my element for one last moment during the race.  One last descent in arguably the 100 miles of the most amazing trails I have ever laid tires on.  The lines in the trail were clear.

The tree roots and rocks were not an issue as the Yeti ASR 5C soaked up and held true to every my every command.

Baker's Tank Trail put us out close to Carter Park where only a few switch backs separated me from the finish line. 

A quick turn into the finishing gates, and a sprint to the end.

Finished 11:11. 

12th out of 58 (31 finishers) in my age group.
51st out of the approximate 300 riders.

My Wife and Kids greeted me and my son had a plate of pasta waiting for me pushing it right into my face.

My Dad took my bike and I sat down and polished off a cold Cherry Coke recounting my adventure to my family.

What a race.

A big thanks to:

My WIFE
Dad
Kids
Brother
and Family

and The Rocky Mountain Endurance Series/Warriors Cycling Events for putting on one of the best Mountain Bike Races ever.

(Loop One report can be found here)
(Loop Two report can be found here)