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Showing posts from August 20, 2023

'23 Breck Epic - Stage 5 and 6

  Stage 5: Wheeler Mountain 25 miles 5300 feet 5.89 mph 4:15 time 21st 40-49 Karel heard the horror stories about Wheeler.  Although his body was extremely tired, he mentally prepared himself for a lot of hike-a-bike up the Wheeler trail. The state was set up as a "time trial" so that the early single track wouldn't get too crowded. Although his mind was in a good place for the uphills, he was not mentally (or physically) prepared for the downhills. He said it was the scariest routes he has ever done and he just wanted to finish. I think his stats tell the most. When it takes over 4 hours to ride 25 miles and when you can accmulate 5300 feet in only 25 miles, you know it's a really tough course. Here's Karel's recap of stage 5.  Since I had completed my big workouts, I was really looking forward to seeing Karel in action today. I left our place around 7am and drove to the trailhead on McCullough Gulch Road. A little after 7:30am, I started my 3 mile, 2300 f...

'23 Breck Epic - Stage 3 and 4

 Stage 3: THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF MT. GUYOT 42.6 miles 5:00 time 6115 feet 8.5 mph Crossing the Continental Divide twice today. 17th 40-49 AG The fatigue was building going into stage 3. This stage required a lot of hike-a-bike. Here's Karel's recap of the event.  Before stage After stage I left our place shortly after 7am to drive to the Buffalo Trailhead in Silverthorne for my run/hike workout. It took ~30 minutes to get there and I wanted to arrive early as the AllTrails reviewers said the trail parking lot is small and fills up fast. I arrived around 7:45am and there were several spots open. I packed a lot of snacks and drinks for the day as I knew I would be exercising for most of the day.  My plan was to do a long run of ~2 hours on the trails before hiking up Buffalo Trailhead. I chose this trailhead because it had an elevation gain of ~3000 feet in 3 miles. For my upcoming ICON tri, I cover 3000 feet in the last 6 miles of the marathon. This was a great o...

'23 Breck Epic - Stage 1 and 2

Stage 1: Pennsylvania Creek  37.7 miles 3:42 time 5207 feet 10.1 mph 10th 40-49 AG The stage started at 8:30am at the ice skating rink a few miles away. We set the alarm for 6am. Karel left around 7:30, which he said later on was too early. As he was warming up, I got ready for my ride. I left around 8:00 on my road bike to see Karel one more time before he started. During Karel's race, I went out for my ride to Loveland Pass.  Pre Race Post race Here's Karel's recap of the event.   This was a really big deal for me to go out on a ride by myself on roads that I didn't know. Unlike Karel, who will ride anywhere, I am not as adventurous on two wheels. As I'm riding, I'm thinking about not getting lost, wondering if I am allowed to bike on certain roads and worried about the unknown. I have gotten a lot better, hence why I had the confidence to go out solo and climb a mountain.  I plugged in a route to Loveland pass on my computer that I found on Strava. Becaus...

'23 Breck Epic - Travel, Fri, Sat

  8/10 - Thursday We got up around 2:45am to leave for the airport at 3am. We are so thankful that Karel's mom is here through all our trips to take care of our furry crew. We made the 30 minute drive to the GSP airport and Karel dropped me off w/ our suitcases and bike cases before parking the car in the economy lot. I've booked all of our GSP trips for the first flight out as it makes for smoother travel with less chance of delays/cancellations. The check-in process was smooth and no issues (or charge) with our bike cases on Delta since we have all of our checked bags/bikes at 50 lbs. I love traveling with Delta as they are reliable and always kind and helpful.  TSA was quick thanks to our pre-check status (highly recommend for the one-time payment of $85 for 5 years). We were through security shortly after 4am and waited for the Centurion lounge to open at 4:30am. I was able to get a little work done on the computer in those 30 minutes. Thanks to this credit card , we have ...