Gold Dust Loop – 54km, 1,000m total ascent
At the race briefing Mike promised us that our faces will hurt from all the smiling during stage 6 and he wasn’t lying. Stage 6 was one of those great days out on a bike. I had a good overall lead on Mike so decided to just enjoy the stage and not ride myself into a daze. I would put the effort-reward ratio at 30:70. For a change it felt like we were riding all the trails in the right direction.
I know most people get bored reading the blog and stops after the first paragraph so before getting into the stage detail I want to thank all the people involved in the Breck Epic. Mike, the man with the big cowboy hat and horse for a dog, that had to answer my constant questions about starts, medics, bags etc. The rest of the crew with a special thanks to the course markers – it has been one of the best marked courses I have raced on. Timing crew – having to listen to me complain about my team name (btw there is still one M too many). Volunteers at the aid stations– without them we would all have died of thirst 20km into stage 1. One person would scream your number as you approach and another would have your bag ready for you just to snatch your stuff and be on your way – super efficient. ‘Bearded man’ at the finish (sorry I was always in a daze at the end so never asked for your name) – your sandwiches saved me from bonking between the finish and the bike wash and that little Johnson after stage 6 was great.
Great competitors – Mike Schilling really made me work hard for it and was a true sportsman and ambassador for Breckenridge (it was great he kept on thanking people for coming to the race). All the other racers – every time after a big crash people would ask whether I was fine and mean it (at some European races they would just bunny hop over you and be on their way). Supporters on the trail – ‘looking great’, ‘good job’, ‘go get him’ all the encouragement made me push a little bit harder.
Lastly but most important. Nadene, race support, having to deal with 5:40 alarms, my stinky feet from being in wet cycling shoes, effect of too much protein in energy drinks and bars, my insomnia and all the other things you had to do for me. Best part of my day was to see you waiting for me at the finish line.
After my long rambling I’ll keep the stage 6 update short. The start on the road was fast as we knew we had to get to the Barney Ford trail before the single track bottle necks. Some more climbing followed on single track before we dropped onto Boreas Pass road. A long steady gravel road climb followed up to aid 1 at the Continental divide. The decent down Gold Dust had me smiling from ear to ear as I just let the bike go and prayed that I don’t crash. A long section in irrigation ditches felt like the bike was on rails as you used the banks to blast through the corners. This was big ring riding all the way. The section back up Boreas Pass to the feed station had us battling a bit of a head wind. Funny to see that most MTBers don’t like drafting as you could see guys riding with 20m gaps between them. Being a lazy cyclist I teamed up with Peter Paelinck from the Belgium crew and we took turns to battle the head wind. After the aid station it was all downhill and mostly on single track. Once again I couldn’t stop smiling and was slightly disappointed when I saw the finish line as I just wanted to ride a bit longer.
Congratulations Werner on a fantastic overall result and a stunning week of racing – MarathonMTB.com