RACE UPDATE: Thursday, August 18, 9:01pm

GOLD DUST START TIMES

GOLD DUST INFO

• Start and Finish: Steven C West Ice Arena
• Start times – please click link above
• Aid Stations: two, but they’re in the same place (mile 10 and 22.5). You’ll pass it twice. Please drop just ONE bag (we’ll tote it across the road after you pass the aid station the first time.)
• PBR handups: yes. Ride wisconsinably tho.
• Margaritas: at the finish. Dahn Pahrs is going for the record. He also said he was bringing supplies?
• Boreas Pass Road: this may not sound very nice, but we don’t have a lot of time–you’re sharing it with gapers. Ride safely.
• Broken Wheel Trail: this is at mile 25. After today, you’re all certified badasses, but this is still rutted, fall-line and boney. Be careful and PLEASE take the line that the boys have marked for you.

BANQUET INFO

• 6pm at Beaver Run – follow the course markers to the banquet room. Let’s party.

GENERAL INFO

• Gotta bail early? No prob – we’ll have buckles, pics and awards if you need to hit the road. Just connect with Grace or Mike.
• Finisher banner – take your pic under the Epic finisher banner before you leave!
• Enduro and Vertical Challenge tees: come see us in the war room after your finish and pick yours up if you haven’t yet!
• Enduro and Vertical Challenge awards: will take place at the final banquet. We’ve got piles of goodies from POC Sports for ALL of you!
• Enduro Results (so far)   Vertical Challenge Results (So far!)   GC Results and stage results

RACE PHOTOS!
John Vargus, owner of Orange Seal, captured the magic and wonder of Wheeler today, including a surprise visit from Mr. Rockin’ to the Oldies himself, RICHARD SIMMONS! Take a spin through and take and re-post whatever you like, with no usage restrictions other than tagging @orangesealedcycling and @breckepic.
Richard Simmons Wheeler Portfolio

Joe Frost has ALSO been a busy boy. He’s been snapping photos all week long and has graciously offered these to the field free of charge. Visit his Flickr page – you’ll find some amazing shots in there! Please credit Joe appropriately and tag @BreckEpic!
Joe Frost Breck Epic Portfolio

2023 LOYALTY DISCOUNTS
You knew these were coming, right?. 2023 dates are set (Aug 13-18, immediately following Leadville) and early bird pricing is in place. If you raced this year, we’ve prepared a special discount just for you. Enter “Loyal22” at checkout for an additional 15% off current early bird pricing until Oct 30. Quick note tho’–pricing goes up on August 22nd and again on October 30. This discount is for you ONLY, but your pals back home are welcome to enjoy the early bird specials.
REGISTER FOR 2023 HERE

Vail 100 
You’re all super fit right now. Come see us in Vail for some head-t0-head action between the MTB and gravel crews. We have 30, 50 and 100-mile options with solo, duo and even a handfiul of e-bike categories. The courses are challenging, but non-technical. They are also STUNNING. Find out more at Vail100.com!

RACE UPDATE: Wednesday, Aug 17, 8:15pm

WHEELER START TIMES!

Also, under the heading of “feeding the good dog,” I had a few women approach me this evening to tell me how great the guys were when passing this year. They said that they haven’t experienced anything negative at all. That’s rad. And makes me really proud of this group. Res firma mitescere nescit!

See you in the am!

COURSE INFO

2 aid stations for Wheeler. First wave at 8:30am. Start is at Beaver Run, finish is at Peak 7, recovery station is at the white event tent.

Click the link above to find your start time.

GENERAL INFO

• FREE espresso from Orange Seal! Bacon at the top(ish). YUM.
• Epic Enduro and Vertical Challenge results! Check out those cumulative times! We wanted to start small this year as sort of a beta test. In 2023, we’re going to open this up to every racer for FREE. You can all thank Cyndi Wong. She’s crazy smart and has been incredible generous with her time.
• Tomorrow is the LAST time to purchase banquet tix.
• Merch sale tomorrow – see Robin in the tent!
• Links to images coming!

2023 REG IS OPEN. EARLY BIRD PRICING IS LIVE.

Spots are limited. Plus there are a zillion deferrals already. Got friend with FOMO? Send ’em our way.

RACE UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 16, 10:30am

• Where will 3-day awards take place? We’ll do those AT Mi Casa. Dinner starts at 6pm.
• What time is the 3-day stages 4-6 rider meeting? 4PM in the big event tent. Please plan on staying for the 5pm meeting as well.
• Is tonight’s 5pm meeting mandatory? YES. Lots of questions. Here’s where we dig in. No awards ceremony tonight, so it’ll be quick.
• What time is the merch tent open? The merch tent will be open at 3pm. If you want stuff earlier than that, stop by our war room and ask for Robin – she’ll dig it out for you.
• “I’m a 3-day, stages 1-3 rider. Can I jump into another stage this week, and if yes, how do I do that?” The answer is YES, but please stay tuned for the mechanics of how we’re going to accomplish that.
• Will Kat Nash and Sonya Looney still hold the women’s meeting on Wednesday? Yes – at 4pm in the main event tent.

More coming. Got questions? Send ’em to us.

RACE UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug 16, 7:42am

GUYOT STAGE – canceled today. We will run Guyot tomorrow and remove the Aqueduct stage from Epic ’22.

This is the right call for our riders and staff and equally importantly, for the trails. Rain and lightning are slated to arrive at 11am and continue throughout the day.

Mandatory rider meeting at 5pm this evening. 3-day rider banquet this evening at 6pm at Mi Casa.

Some of you aren’t receiving text notifications, others aren’t receiving emails. This is a challenge, but between the two modes of communication, we think we’ve reached everyone. My apologies if we haven’t. Please bookmark THIS page for real-time updates – when something notable develops, we’ll post it here first.

I’ll update this page throughout the day with an FAQ.  The whole crew will also be in the venue, me included. Please stop by if you want to say hello.

MM

RACE UPDATE: Monday, Aug 15, 10pm:

Folks – the weather does NOT look good for tomorrow. I’m making the call right now that we’re NOT sending riders over the divide for Stage 3 on Tuesday, August 16.

We have a few options, but need to see what the weather does. Rider safety is paramount, as is the need to NOT damage our trail network.

If we go with Option B or C below, we’ll move the race start to 10am. Bag drop by 9am. Staff on site at 7am, please.

More to come in the AM. We will make the call by 8am and distribute that information via text, email and HERE.

Now you get to sleep in.

MM

 

OPTION A

• No race
• Ride Guyot on Wednesday, remove Aqueduct stage from 2022 race
• 3-day riders (stages 1-3) awarded as results stand (welcome to jump into another 2022 stage as Gran Fondo rider)

 

OPTION B – ABBREVIATED COURSE – SHORT VERSION

• Begin in Lower Washington (MILE ZERO)
• Police escort to French Gulch Rd
• French Gulch Rd to Reiling Dredge Trailhead
• Reiling Dredge Trailhead to Minnie Mine Trail
• Minnie Mine Trail to Back Door Trail
• Back Door Trail to Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26)
• Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26) to Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66)
• Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66) to Little French Flume
• Little French Flume to French Gulch Rd
• French Gulch Rd to Wirepatch
• Wirepatch to Yellow Brick Rd to Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66)
• Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66) to Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26)
• Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26) to Side Door Trail
• Side Door to Minnie Mine Trail
• Minnie Mine Trail to Reiling TH finish

 

OPTION C – ABBREVIATED COURSE – MEDIUM VERSION

• Begin in Lower Washington (MILE ZERO)
• Police escort to French Gulch Rd
• French Gulch Rd to Reiling Dredge Trailhead
• Reiling Dredge Trailhead to Minnie Mine Trail
• Minnie Mine Trail to Back Door Trail
• Back Door Trail to Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26)
• Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26) to Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66)
• Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66) American Gulch
• American Gulch to South Fork Swan Rd (GH 89) to Great Flume Trail
• Great Flume Trail to American Gulch Road to Little French Flume
• Little French Flume to French Gulch Rd
• French Gulch Rd to Wirepatch
• Wirepatch to Yellow Brick Rd to Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66)
• Lincoln Park Rd (GH 66) to Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26)
• Prospect Hill Rd (GH 26) to Side Door Trail
• Side Door to Minnie Mine Trail
• Minnie Mine Trail to Reiling TH finish

Great day on Sunday, everyone. It almost feels like normal again after a very strange couple of years. Thanks for hanging in there with us and thanks for being so appreciative of the staff and volunteers. Since a few of you are experiencing issues with texts and emails, we’re going to post all race updates here in order to take the worry about your week. It’s gotta be a little disconcerting spending 6 days wondering if you’ve missed a critical piece of info, so to address that, we’ll post here first before sending any text or emailed updates. Bookmark this page!

Welcome Orange Seal & Shimano
It’s Superweek here in Colorado for offroad cycling. Leadville kicked things off while Epic and SBT started on the same day. We have a few amazing partners who’ve dug deeply to support their riders and the cycling community. Please welcome Orange Seal (our title partner) and Shimano. The former will help keep your wheels and tires in great shape. Shimano is here to scope things out for a larger Shimano Multi-service presence next year. Please say hello and thank them for supporting Epic’s riders!

Weather Update
At the moment, we’re looking good for an 8:30am start. However, there’s a system rolling in that’s due to hit around noon. THIS is our plan to keep you safe;

• We’ll make the call based on time of arrival, severity and expected duration.
• The Aid Captain at Aid 1 (Good Times Dog Sled Tours at 13 miles) will be instructed to redirect you there if we feel that shortening the course makes sense.
• Some riders will make the cut and be allowed to continue up and over West Ridge, some may not. This is entirely dependent on the timing of the storm’s arrival.
• The abbreviated route will take you back down Tiger Road to Tiger Dredge approximately 2.5 miles to Aid 2 at which point you will be directed BACK on course and pointed towards town.
• This redirect places you ON the road WITH motorized traffic. USE EXTREME CAUTION and please check in at Aid 2 before crossing Tiger Road to Summit Gulch Road.
• Any rider who is re-directed will be assigned a time based upon order of finish. You are STILL racing.

This potential change is done with your safety in mind. Hypothermia is real and deadly at this altitude. First your extremities stop working as your body steals heat from them to move it to your core.  This means that you can’t safely operate your bike.

Of additional concern is the need to keep our trail network in good shape. The soil composition in Summit County is very high in mineral content. It drains very well, and a group of XC riders, even those who are racing, is very light impact. There is no fall line terrain, there are no jumps. STILL…it’s important to respect the place and to take care regarding its preservation. We need all of you to have VERY good trail manners. This means riding through puddles instead of around them, NOT skidding your tires around corners or in braking areas, and being mindful of the need to protect and preserve.

OUR EXPECTATION OF ALL OF YOU is that there is no poopie-ness directed towards any member of our staff. You wouldn’t chirp someone who’s cutting you out of a burning car, would you? Same thing here. If you need to vent, come find me and we’ll talk about it. We understand that some of you may be frustrated when and if this takes place. But I would much rather have you frustrated and alive, than exposed to unnecessary danger and possibly at risk of shuffling off your mortal coil.

CO TRAIL RACE AND CT/CDT THRU-HIKERS
You WILL see other trail users today, just as we’ve spoken about in nightly meetings and race communications. The CO Trail Race will be sharing the CT with us today, but we estimate that only a handful will be on the section we’re using. Maybe 10-20 TOTAL. They’ll be moving slowly and on heavily loaded rigs. If we’re the huskies (fast moving, light) they’re the malamutes (slower, heavier). Keep in mind that we’re all brothers and sisters out there, enjoying the same terrain for pretty much the same reasons. As in every Epic since 2009, the expectation of civility and kindness directed at other trail users has not changed, when you see these folks, celebrate their unique awesomeness with a wave, a big smile, and a “Hell YEAH!”

Women’s Wednesday @ Epic
We’ve been speaking with Kat Nash and Sonya Looney about how to encourage more participation in our women’s fields. They’ve had some great ideas about what to do with content and promotion that would enrich, inform and empower. There’s no time like the present, so we’re going to begin NOW. Kat and Sonya are going to hold a 60-minute gathering on Wednesday at 4pm in the main event tent, right before the afternoon rider’s meeting. ALL women are invited. This includes riders, volunteers, race or athlete supporters, or any woman from the Summit community that wants to sit down in an informal setting and pick the brains of these two amazing humans.

Race Leaders
Way to punch it out today! We would like ALL race leaders to start in the leaders’ corral tomorrow morning. Let’s see those jerseys!

Realtime Results
Do you love that we’re not printing paper results and stapling incomplete sets of them to the results board 17x per day? Me TOO! Riders can find results in real time HERE. There’s also a nifty button at the top to submit any changes or questions.

For Sale to a Good Home
Breck Epic hoodies and banquet tickets for 3 and 6-day rider banquets have hit the on-site company store. Visit Robin in the back of the event tent to get yours while they last. Only a few hoodies remain after this evening and banquet tix are only available until Tuesday night. On Friday we always get 50 requests to purchase tix, which places us in a very tough spot with our hosts and Beaver Run. Please don’t be that guy/girl.

Enduro & Vertical Challenge Info
It’s been a long time (over a year!) since we could spell EPIC-ENDURO-SUCCESS without a huge SUCK in it. But we did that today, thanks to Cyndi Wong. She’s not only made the Epic Vertical Challenge and Epic Enduro work seamlessly, she ALSO told me to welcome more people in! Here’s a look at today’s results. If you want to get in, all you need to do is sign up through the Epic Store, create an OmegaTrackr account after that, and upload your race files to your Strava account. 

• EPIC ENDURO RESULTS – Stage One, Pennsylvania Creek
• EPIC VERTICAL CHALLENGE RESULTS – Stage One, Pennsylvania Creek

#WhatTheMuck
Are you giving those personalized Polar bottles a workout? Snap a pic of yours and tag it with #WhatTheMuck for a chance to win a case of your own custom bottles!

Massage
Need those kinks worked out? Not THOSE kinks…the ones in your legs, shoulders, back, or glutes! Give the Beaver Run Spa a shout and mention Breck Epic for racer discounts. They’re bringing more therapists online as the week progresses. (970) 453-8757

Bike Service Plans – Avalanche Sports
Avalanche Sports had a few no-call-no-shows this year. They have the bandwidth to take on 4 or 5 additional race bikes this week. If you need great service and a bike that starts every morning with a smile on its face, give ’em a call! 970.453.1461

Social Channels
Lots of race updates and even more amazing pics going up from Eddie Clark and Carl Schofield on Epic’s social channels. Come join the fun and don’t forget to tag @BreckEpic! Did you get an amazing pic or two this year? We’d love to see them!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

REGISTER 2023
Got a pal that’s FOMO this year? Dates are set (Aug 13-18, 2023) and 2023 reg is open. Early bird pricing is LIVE! Prices increase on Monday, August 22. Small fields, amazing trails, good competition, cool vibe. Tell those fools to REGISTER HERE.

 

images courtesy @eddieclarkmedia

Local teen takes Stage 1 win; Nash reclaims dominance over women’s field

Lachlan Morton slowed by puncture as Lasse Konecny takes late lead 

By Shauna Farnell

The flat tire fairy has plagued Lachlan Morton lately. A late race puncture cost the Australian pro the lead in 2022 Breck Epic’s Stage 1, paving the way for local teen Lasse Konecny to swoop ahead in the last few miles and take the stage win on Sunday.

“I caught him like right next to my house,” said Konecny, 18, who lives in Breckenridge’s Wellington neighborhood and who is working his way up the ranks in mountain biking, having taken second in this year’s Firecracker 50 race and competed in his first World Cup cross-country race this summer in Snowshoe, West Virginia. “I kept trying to catch him, but he was really strong today. I didn’t think I would do it, but I had a little bit of luck on my side. I didn’t realize he had a flat. I passed him and from B & B [trail], I didn’t look back until I finished.”

Konecny won the 36-mile Pennsylvania Creek stage in two hours, 50 minutes and 15 seconds, more than two minutes ahead of Morton, who led the entire race until he punctured his tire descending Gold Run, about six miles from the finish at Carter Park.

“It was a fun day until then,” said the 30-year-old EF Education-EasyPost rider, whose resume (on both fat and skinny tires) includes winning the Mount Evans Hill Climb, the Tour of Utah and Tour of the Gila stage road races, the Telluride 100 and completing last year’s entire Tour de France route unsupported to raise money for World Bicycle Relief.

Morton succumbs to mechanicals

Morton, who held at least a minute lead over Konecny at the halfway point of the race, was hoping for redemption Sunday after a series of flats also curtailed his Leadville 100 race on Saturday, putting him in sixth place.

“It’s been all year,” he said of his mechanical difficulties. “I tore a sidewall with about 10K to go. I tried plugging it today, but it was too big. I just had to ride it. I got caught with like 5K to go. No plans for the rest of the week, just ride hard and have fun, as always.”

Reigning Breck Epic champion Keegan Swenson was busy winning the SBT GRVL race in Steamboat Springs on Sunday after claiming another Leadville 100 victory Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s nice to not have Keegan here,” said Konecny, who crossed the line with style points, popping a wheelie, as did his younger brother, Nico Konecny. Nico, 16, handily won Sunday’s race among the men’s open three-day field with his time of 3:03:09.

Lasse said staying within striking distance of Morton on Sunday was a huge confidence boost. “He’s a legend. It’s cool to keep it going with him. Honestly, the goal the next few days is to survive. I went kind of deep today to see if I could take the stage win, but other than that, each day the plan is to take it as it goes and have fun.”

Stage 1 began at Stephen C. Ice Arena and took riders up to Boreas Pass, down Aspen Alley, up Pennsylvania Creek to Baker’s Tank, down Nightmare and Sally Barber, up Little French, through Lincoln Meadows, down Gold Run, up V3 to descend and finish at Carter Park. After a couple of days of heavy rain and a storm that kicked up mid-day Sunday, riders crossed the line mud splattered, but smiling.

Nash leads women by nearly 14 minutes

“I’m really excited to be back here,” said Katerina Nash, who was the first woman to finish with a time of 3:26:44 and the was the 2019 Epic female overall champion. “I haven’t done that much racing since 2019 with the pandemic. When the opportunity came up, I was like, I just want to go back to the Breck Epic. It’s a real mountain bike race. It’s logistically pretty easy. You can stay in one place, yet you get to race for six days.”

The 44-year-old Czech cycling veteran and former Olympic cross-country skier was struck down by Covid earlier this summer, but says her endurance has improved over the last couple of years riding recreationally on her home trails in Truckee, Calif. Her Stage 1 finish time put her in the middle of the pack of pro men, where she remained throughout the day.

“The women’s [pro] category is small, but what’s great for us is we’re always mixed in with the guys,” Nash said. “It’s worse for a strong guy to not have any competition. For me, I’m always around some guys. You can push yourself as hard as you want or get caught in the emotion of riding with guys and go too hard. I was in a tiny group for half the race and rode the last 10 miles with one of the Spanish guys. I really like riding with other people. It was smooth today. I hope it keeps going that way.”

Only five pro women are racing the six stages of the 2022 Breck Epic. Fellow veteran Sonya Looney, who is now a mother of two and who last tackled the Epic in 2011, was the second woman to finish Sunday in 3:40:33.

“It’s been a couple years since I was able to race,” said Looney, who took time off to have children. “I’m just grateful to be here. The last time I was here, it was one of my first stage races. I love the Breck Epic. It’s just fun. There’s so much singletrack and such a good vibe.”

Cheers to team Spain and guy in donkey costume

The Spanish guy riding with Nash was Ruben Lopez Cueto, part of a contingent of riders from Spain competing in the Epic for the first time.

“It’s holidays and we want to know another mountain and other singletrack,” Cueto said, describing Stage 1 as “really hard.” “Tomorrow I will push with less gas.”

Although a couple of riders collapsed onto the grass of Carter Park after crossing the finish line, the field of nearly 500 competitors – including a guy in an Eeyore costume who was impressively near the front of the pack after 20 miles – looked strong on day 1.

The 2022 Breck Epic continues with Stage 2 on Monday, a 42-mile route that starts in downtown Breckenridge and takes racers on a loop covering several miles of the Colorado Trail.

Breck Epic returns for six days of two-wheel backcountry badassery

Mountain bikers from 25 countries and nearly every U.S. state descend on Breckenridge for the 13^th annual Breck Epic Aug. 14 to 19. A six-day stage race that covers about 230 miles of high elevation backcountry trails, the Epic is an independently run race aimed at community values, environmental stewardship and a deep appreciation of pedaling in stunning, high elevation terrain. It has developed a global reputation as one of the most classic mountain bike competitions of all time.

For its 14^th year (minus one skip in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic), the courses are similar to those used in past Epics, famous for their scenic climbs and fun, thrilling descents for nearly 40,000 vertical feet up and down over six days (and don’t forget that Breckenridge sits at 9,600 feet above sea level).

Stage 1 spans 35 miles through Pennsylvania Creek, starting at Stephen C. West Ice Arena and ending at Carter Park. Stages 2 to 4 start in downtown Breck and end at the B&B trailhead just outside of town. Stage 2 takes riders 42 miles out across Tiger Road and along the Colorado Trail. Stage 3 involves a 40-mile circumnavigation of Mt. Guyot. Stage 4 is a 42-miler heading out to Soda Creek, Keystone and the Aqueduct route. Stage 5 is a monster time trial starting from from the base of Peak 9 to a 24.6-mile loop up the Burro Trail and Wheeler Pass, returning on the Peaks Trail. Stage 6 wraps up with a 30-miler starting and finishing at the ice arena, heading up Boreas Pass to Gold Dust Trail, returning via Indiana Creek.

To keep it real, organizers have shrugged off invitations to fold the Epic into a larger scale event or series and is capped at less than 500 riders. The six-day solo racers include a handful of the world’s top mountain bikers. Everyone who does this race, including the duo, relay and three-day solo riders, is, by nature, a hard-charging badass.

Of the top tier badasses (the pros), notably absent this year is two-time reigning overall champion Keegan Swenson, who is currently leading the Life Time Grand Prix series and will tackle the Leadville 100 MTB race – of which he is also the reigning champ – on Aug. 13. You know what this means … that the door is wide open for someone else to slay on the men’s side.

Meanwhile, big news in the women’s field is that 2019 Epic champion, World Cup and Olympic veteran Katerina Nash is returning as are former champs Sonya Looney and Jen Gersbach, both of whom last conquered the Epic a decade ago and are now mothers.

The 2022 Epic will see two-wheel endurance riders of young and old, including many new faces. Each rider is embarking on this adventure for different reasons, some to land some cash (it’s a $10,000 purse for the pros), some to prove to themselves that things like diabetes or a knee replacement cannot take them down, others for sheer love of dirt. And it doesn’t get any better than this: a real mountain bike race in a real mountain