Breck Epic Stage 6 - Gold Dust

32 miles   3800 feet 

As my good friend John Switow has told me over the years when doing a race, as long as you can get to "25 to go," miles that is, you can finish the race/ride. Well, today was close enough to 25 that I knew I was gonna finish this thing.  The easy day, they say.  It was nothing but easy, but I would take this over another Wheeler Pass kind of day.  Weather was once again on our side.  And once again we started in waves.  Two big climbs, two big descents.

I felt weak, but the single track start brought what little bit of energy I had built up during my 9 hours of sleep the night before.  I even had to slow down a bit for Dave to catch back up.  We started off by going up Aspen Alley and Baker's Tank. When we hit Boreas Pass road dirt road climb, I imploded pretty quickly.  Turning the pedals over at 11,000+ feet had me struggling to breathe.  Not just the thin air but I could tell my lungs were struggling to process the oxygen.  Every inspiration hurt and I had to fight back a spastic cough.  Dave was again patient and I just focused on his wheel for those 3 miles.

At the top, I stopped just long enough at the aid station to grab a gel.  As we were leaving, a coed team arrived. They were currently sitting in 6th. Even though we had a good hour lead, seeing them fired me up!  The Tasmanian devil in me woke the hell up and I was ready to give'r.

A little descent on road and then we hit the Gold Dust Trail.  This was a descent littered with baby heads.  Fun, but you had to be on your toes so that your front wheel wouldn't be taken out by one of them.  Then the trail leveled out and we were pedaling through what looked like an old canal or flume back in the gold mining days.  It was smooth and flowy.

We popped back out onto Boreas Pass Road and began the 8 mile climb back up to the aid station. I don't know if I was riding like a scalded dog or suffering like a dog, but I went as hard as I possibly could. An hour later we hit the top.  Never once during that climb did I look back, but now I did and did not see them in sight.  Small victory!

The final 7 miles were all downhill, mostly on dirt road and pavement.  Their was a short section of trail called Broken Wheel that was a lot like middle Black in Pisgah, before all the improvements.  A deep rowdy rutted trail that had your brakes smoking by the time you finished it.  We finished back up at the ice rink on the Blue Heron and Southside trails, short but sweet single track to the finishing banner.

Our bike racing "marriage' survived over 6 brutal days

I ... was ... so ... happy ... to ... be ... done!  We secured our 5th place with a time of 3:39.  The night before Dave had emphatically said that he was NOT going to be out there for 4+ hours today.  And ... you're welcome!

Thank you Dave for suggesting this race over Leadville.  Despite my illness, which turned out to be Covid, I had a great time.  But for that virus, I know we would have given 3rd place a run for their money.

I give this stage race 5 stars.  Mike put on a great job, not only behind the scenes, but during the daily briefs, which had me laughing with his comedic flair.  But he was also super serious and concerned for our safety.  And it showed with all the medical people on staff.  The volunteers were friggin' amazing, from the aid station workers to those who manned the bike wash.  The final night banquet food was overflowing and never ending and delicious!  And the trails humbled me.  I went in assuming one thing and came away being a better mountain biker.  They were fucking technical and hard, but so much fun!