For those doing Breck Epic, figured we could have a thread/space to discuss. I’m signed up for the first three days and might add on the rest pending fitness and wanting to take the rest of the week off from work.
I live in Breck so altitude won’t be something I have to adapt to. I ride the trails weekly, so I have the familiarity of it as well.
I’ll be on my epic evo 7 and right now, I might just stick with the Ray/Ralph combo as it’s been my daily driver tires the last two or so years. I will have a spare or two just in case and might experiment with a tougher casing.
Training wise, I’ve been sticking with two hard workouts a week: threshold and vo2 with a ton of endurance and some sweet spot here and there. We are racing locally up here, so every two weeks I do a 60-70 min xc race in addition to the two hard workouts.
No idea what my ctl is, probably around 70, hope to get that to 90 by August. TSS has been slowly ramping up and I’ll try to average around 800 rest of the way. I’ll probably utilize the drop bags with bottles vs carrying my uswe pack.
The one thing I can’t remember is the start being mass after the pro men/women go. There are so many categories, age groups etc, that a hiccup I have will be knowing who is in my group or not.
Maybe it has changed since I last rode it in 2023 but back then it was mass start for everyone at once, so all groups including pro lined up together and started together. Definitely tough on Day 1 to mark who is in your AG but once you get through a day or 2 you should have a good idea.
I’ll be racing it as well - looking forward to it! Will also be on an EE7 and TBD on tires. Probably Mezcals or Rick XC. Did it on Rekon/Rekon Race in 2023 as I was a duo but planning for faster tires this year.
They start everyone together - the pros categories get to line up at the front along with anyone who has a leaders jersey. When they do the BreckEpic Womens Tour (BEWT) - on the first day they got their own start which was awesome. Hard to do multiple starts on the other days, but I think it was put on the wishlist.
I am also doing it this year! 4th time. At the moment I have an Epic 8 with FA and will be running fancy 1100 gram wheels with fancy thread spokes. If I can find the right color, I might get the Epic 9, I really want a super light pure xc race bike. My Epic 8 is ‘heavy’. Not sure on tires yet - for some reason I am really getting along with the Team edition Aspens, but will try Barzos soon. The main thing I need to figure out is my gut - getting all the calories and not spending significant time on the toilet like last year I wish everyone great preperations!
I think Aspens are great up there and are definitely my backup choice as I trust and know them - just wish they were faster rolling and/or lighter, although that would at the same time take away from some of what I love, the volume and durability.
I’ve run both pretty extensively. I think if I were running them for Breck I’d go to a 120tpi in the rear and would be a toss up on the 120 vs 170 for the front.
Nice to get some chatter going! It’s such a cool event and I’m privileged to have it literally in my back yard.
I’ve ridden all of the stages, but haven’t raced it. Putting three big days together is what I’m concerned about, but I do recover well and my fitness is decent. I’m really good at eating, staying on nutrition, eating right after big rides etc.
This weekend I’m going to stack at least two of the stages back-to-back. I’m a fairly decent mtb’er, descender, love the french pass descent and CT off of Georgia is so good. Stage two West Ridge/Reds; that’s a locals’ favorite loop I ride probably 10 times a summer. Our local Wed night race does a variation of it in a month or so.
The Ray/Ralphs have been stellar and I ride them pretty hard. Usually go through two sets a summer and that includes high alpine riding. The set I have now if they make it, will need replaced right before the race. If I can find some conti’s I’d like to try the more durable casing on the dub and Tri but am thinking of a Barzo/Mezcal combo too. But at this point, I might just stick with what I know.
Aspens and Ricks are two of the top combos as lot of us run up here.
Thanks for the intel on the starts. I figure things really sort out on the long climbs. I don’t have aspirations for a podium, but just want to put together three days I’m proud of.
Speaking of preparations, suspension needs serviced, would love new modern wheels, and a new rear axs derailleur for some peace of mind my hobby solder job on the pins on my dead one last. So far so good though.
I’ll probably run bottles and utilize drop bag with a bottle in each just in case. I thought about just running my uswe and no bottles since I train with it all the time and it’s just so easy to drink. But I’d rather have the weight off my back for four hours.
The drinking is a tough one for me. Having the pack allows me to drink more - it’s just easier. Utilizing the drop bags is a no brainer as well - they are SO good at getting those to you, you might loose 20 seconds tops. If you put 3 bottles in the drop bag - chug one at the aid station and grab 2 of them to go, that leaves you with 5 bottles for the day which feels like the minimum for 4+ hours at 10k feet. I know most stages have 2 aid stations - the racer in me can’t stop twice
I have done it on 4 bottles a day and got headaches from dehydration - I simply couldn’t catch up afterwards even with lots of salt in my bottles.
Totally agree. Just over two hours into my stage 2 ride last week, I thought, damn, it’s nice to have the pack because grabbing my bottles to drink on Galena Ditch and going up West Ridge is a pain. Thankfully have time to sort this out, but August will be here before we know it! The more (carbs) the better in my mind. Right now leaning towards the pack at the start.
My durability has been increasing and I have felt decent on my five hour rides where I’m pushing just below threshold on all climbs, tempo on flats, and noodling descents (it’s so dry here right now, it’s like ice skating out there!).
I’m going to put on a smaller chain ring and check the ego at the door. I’m going to need the extra gears to be able to keep it smooth going up Heinous and Penn Gulch.
I’m on a much needed rest week after my last block of 800, 900, 750 tss. CTL is creeping above 80 finally(!), TR FTP is still low (but going up) and the next prediction is close to what Garmin has me at. I’m losing weight (149 pounds!) and with garmin’s ftp has me around 3.6 w/kg at 9,800’.
I’ll look to replicate that 3 week block next, maybe squeeze in a gravel race like FoCo Fondo.
New shock on the epic evo finally. I’ll get the fork serviced in a few weeks and I’m still thinking about upgradfing from eagle axs to transmission but that’s not a huge need right now. I might buy a gx axs rear derailleur for peace of mind though. Also - I don’t trust my Stan’s Valor wheels, I may also snag some Roval Control SLs or Hunt race xc to have.
Yeah it’s good to go. All trees as of last week cleared down French Pass into park county and the CT down georgia pass was also good to go. The Great Flume is also clear. Town of Breck cleared about 50 trees. I’ve ridden most of the first 3 stages and nothing alarming out there minus the fact it’s super dry and we recorded one day of rain in the last month.
Have fun. I’m sure you’re aware, but we’ve been getting hit with smoke and AQI has been pretty rough. Not sure how it is if you’re in the front range, but I usually commute to work, but have been driving due to the smoke this week. If you get out early it should be much better though.
Smoke/AQI has been decent last week. Two days of off/on rain, but it’s pretty much moon dust out there. Have done the first three stages more or less, and to no surprise, loose. French Pass descent was as fun as ever, but the second steep section is pretty rough. I went far left in the ‘grass’
Colorado Trail down Georgia Pass was riding really well. Still can’t make that one tight right turn near the bottom where it gets a bit chunky.
Things I’ll change: Swap to a 32 or 30t chainring. The 34 I have is solid, but I would like to spin just a bit more. Tires: Still rolling the Ray/Ralph super ground comb but with how loose/dry/sandy the climbs are starting to get with the increased moto/side by sides out there, I might flirt with Trinotals race/rapid or Rocket Ron super ground combo. Rolling resistance vs puncture/grip in these type of races are always tough. Fixing a flat is the slowest, but also, to what point do we measure rolling resistance and the benefit when it’s steep fire/jeep road climbing for miles under 10 mph with the payoff being also kinda steep/loose trail.
I need to practice plugging a tire and also make upgrade my plug kit/co2 game.
Training going well. Just finished first week of the last big block and pushed 14 hours and felt pretty good. I haven’t done a proper 14 hour week in years. I might not be at the pointy end for the age groupers, but my plan is to pick people off as they fade unless I start to fade.
I will be super interested to hear your experience after the race. I’m trying to think of a big scary goal for 2027, and this one is on the potential list!
It obviously gets a lot more traffic, but I was surprised at how well the F50 course was riding despite how dry it’s been so that gave me a bit hope for some of the rest of the course.
I’ve been running Vittoria race casings lately but still have reservations about them surviving and might make a switch back to Ricks or Aspens..
I wish everyone great preperations!