Stage 5 - Wheeler Pass
24.5 miles
5259 feet elevation gain
4:12
The Wheeler pass stage is hard to describe. I've only seen parts of it when I was spectating in 2023 but based on Karel's feedback, it is a trail that he would never ride on a mountain bike. It's rocky, technical and sketchy. Karel mentally prepared himself for the stage but he woke up incredibly sore, tired and empty. With over 5000 feet elevation gain in 25 miles, much of the ride over 12,000 feet and another 4+ hours of racing, Karel questioned how he would be able to pedal, let alone get through the stage.
I was really looking forward to cheering Karel on and also looking forward to a run (well, hike/jog) up the mountain. I set out at 7am, dropped off Karel's bag at the aid station drop off and continued up the mountain. I jogged when I could but the 6 miles and 3200+ feet of rocky uphill required a lot of walking. I'm finally feeling a bit acclimated to the elevation which did help me out today. I carried 2 x 10 ounce flasks - one with water and one with Never Second and I also carried 2 x 16 ounce flasks in my USWE vest - one with water and one with Never Second.
I decided to head towards Peak 9 as this would allow me to see Karel around mile 6.7 of his ride and I would be able to run back down without getting in the way of the other riders. I continued to check my phone to make sure I was going the right direction but I must have gotten on the wrong trail to start (which looking back is kinda silly because it was a straight forward rocky road all the way to the top) and I ended up on the wrong trail. I ran back down to the intersection and then I found myself stuck. It was getting close to 8;30 (Karel's wave of 10 riders went off at 8:36am and it would take him at least 80 minutes to get to the top. I had two options, run back down the mountain for 1.3 miles or crawl up the mountain under the gondola. I was feeling adventurous and remembering all of our recent XTRI events, so I slowly made my up the mountain. Below is a picture of what I climbed. Probably not the best decision but I was laughing at myself as I was crawling up and holding on to tree branches and rocks to not fall down.
I finally made it back on County Road 751 and finished up the 2 mile climb on very rocky terrain. I wasn't able to jog much because of all of the rocks so it was a fast walk up with 20 min/miles.
I finally made it to the top of Wheeler Pass. Elevation ~12,300 feet. 6 miles in 1:48 (18 min/mile) and 3570 feet elevation gain. The views were incredible. There were a few other people at the top who had biked or walked after driving half way.
I stayed up there for 52 minutes and watched Karel come through. I could tell he was struggling with feeling so tired, sore and low in energy. I watched him take a tumble as he was trying to pass another rider right as he was going from one trail to the next.
Below is a picture of the trail that he went through before I saw him.
After cheering for Karel and the other riders, I made my way down the mountain. The first few miles were slow due to all of the rocks but then the road turned to gravel and I was able to run much faster. I really enjoy off-road running, especially ones where there is a lot of elevation changes.
I ran 5.9 miles down the mountain in 54 minutes (9:08 min/mile pace). In total my run (hike/jog) was 12 miles, 2:44, 3576 feet elevation gain and 13:40 min/mile.
When I got back to our Airbnb, I took a quick shower and had a recovery drink and banana and got on my bike and made my way up to the Grand Lodge on Peaks 7 (2.2 miles up). I waited around 10 minutes and Karel rolled in. As to be expected, he was exhausted. He told me he took a really hard fall and cut up his shin and had some cuts on his arm. There are a lot of crashes, mechanicals and issues every day so I consider Karel pretty lucky that he hasn't had anything major happen to him over 5 stages.
Karel and I rode down the mountain and back to the Airbnb. His bike had a few issues that he needed to fix in the afternoon due to the falls and the roughness of the trail. One more stage to go!