Breck Epic Stage 2 - The Colorado Trail

Post day 2 feelings are much better than after yesterdays stage. The legs responded well today and they feel good...for now. The day started in town and as the norm to string out the masses, climbing is first on the agenda. This was not so bad but what really strung it out for me was a brief downhill section. The single can't keep up to geared bikes on the road so coast i did with a couple of other single speeds. The climbing then began in earnest on a gravel road. Before too long it was onto the sketchy jeep trails and that was where the grunts began. The crowd and the rocks made for a climb not conducive to utilizing momentum so there were a few spots where i had to hike briefly to get past roots or rocks. Very little time spent on the feet though so that encouraged me. The trail leveled out for a short break and then began to climb again. Made it up that and a super sketchy descent with baby head rocks all over. Survived that and took in some single track.

I was feeling pretty good still and keeping a good pace and then my chain fell off. Rats. Gotta stop and get that back on which is a bit frustrating when the rhythm get thrown off. get that on with the quickness and got going again. Rolling on and the chain fell off 4 more times so i found some shade and took the tools out. Got that tightened up, took a few pix

Got to climbing after that and it went up and up and up to 11,200 ft. Stopped twice briefly to catch my breath but predominantly road that beast. Getting near the top, it started to rain a bit. That was incentive to get off that dang mountain!! By the time i reached the descent, it was sleeting. Fricken cold Yo! Was going down a bit to fast at one point and bounced into the side of the trail and went down. Wasn't too bad but got a scratch on the forehead. Helmets save much recovery time FTW!. Got back on it and it was raining and sleeting and the trail was getting full of water. Descended through more sketchy parts and the trail was a little halfpipe of death. Caught the side of it and fell again. This was a bit rougher on the knee but all the parts were there and the bike survived. Got back on and rode it off. The rest of the way had a little climb and downhill through the trees and then a longer climb up a logging road. After that it was the descent to the finish.

Today took just over 4.5 hours while yesterday took just over 4 hours. It surprised me that this stage took longer since i felt that i was moving steady since there was little time off the bike...outside of repairs. There was around 5000 feet of climbing over the 37 mile course. Hopefully the sleep will come willfully tonight since me thinks tomorrow will be a big day.