I’ve done a few sub-9s at Leadville and got my ass kicked at Breck this year and was mid/back of pack. Major caveats were that I didn’t prepare nearly as well and my kids got me sick at the start. Still, I thought it was a great event and will be back next year for redemption.
If you’ve got experience with ultra-endurance events and do well at altitude I think you’d be able to do fine at Breck as long as you prepare for long days. I was forecasting 3-4 hour stage finishes based on my Leadville times and it was more like 5-6 hours on the tough stages. There were others out there for 8+ on the harder ones (3-5). Stages 1 and 6 are easier.
In terms of technicality, it varies a good amount by stage. Overall it’s a way more technical than Leadville of course but there’s also a lot less people so there’s often space to take your time or just walk a super technical part if you’d rather skip it. I had to do a lot of walking on Wheeler, both up and unfortunately down.
Wheeler (stage 5) is the bogeyman stage. It’s kind of like doing Columbine twice (or at least 1.5x) back to back, only with a much gnarlier goat trail equivalent and a descent where a handful of people in the Leadville field would literally die on in a given year. It’s manageable if you know your limits and walk though. My biggest lesson learned there was bring your most comfortable walking shoes that day, I may even use flats on that day next year.
Thanks. I’m curious on how you feel about what kind of bike to ride. Would being over, or under biked be better. I have a specilaized Epic, but the course seems a bit too technical for that. The alternative for me is quite a bit heavier but with a lot more travel.
Epic Evo, Blur TR, Oiz TR, etc are the type of bike you ideally want for the course. Other than buying a new bike, if you could swing it logistically you might want to consider bringing both bikes and swapping between stages depending on the course. A fair number of people do that.
If you only could bring one it’d depend on how much heavier your bigger bike really is, how comfortable you are with technical descending on the Epic, and overall just what your goals are. If you aren’t concerned on time and just want to have fun then I’d take an Enduro bike over an Epic. Quite a few people do ride Enduro bikes there, it’s not a traditional XC race.
Sign up. It’s a great event. Best mtb event I’ve ever done.
As far as how hard, each day is roughly like a ‘normal’ 50 mile mtb race, maybe with more climbing. For 6 days in a row. It’s rougher than a lot of mtb races. For me in the PNW, it’s not as technical as our local trails, but it’s more technical than a typical xc race.
Re equipment, I think a 100mm rear travel is fine but I’d want 120 in front. I like more durable tires than typical XC tread. Tires are one of the more frequent mechanical issues there.