Aqueduct aka when do we go downhill?

Consider us warned... Everyone we talked to regarding Stage 4 offered up various amounts of hard climbing and pedaly sections. It seemed that there was lots of climbing with minimal descending. A few people even said there were some sections that made them cry. So we were well prepared to utterly hate the 41 miles and another 6600 feet of climbing ahead of us. We also knew that this wasn't a stage that we would shine on - neither of are good on the pedaling sections. So it was settle in, hope not to lose to much time and ride our bikes. Work together on the climbs and have fun on the few moments of descending that we would get. That was the plan.

Here is where I need to stop rambling about the course and the riding and talk about Amber for a bit. Breck Epic was her idea. A random thought that popped up and gradually solidified last year that we would ride Breck Epic together. Racing something like the Breck Epic is more fun as a duo, with someone always there to share in the suffering of the climbing and the glorious fun of the descents. Amber volunteered last year and got a first hand look at the reality of the suffering and technical nature of the race. That only encouraged her even more that it would be something that we would be able conquer. Place didn't matter - as long as we had fun and rode our bikes strongly for six days in a row. We both knew that we'd have good days and bad days - that each of us have strengths and weaknesses. We would have to work together to balance everything out in order to finish. And so far, we've been doing just that. It's been a hard but great four days so far. 

What makes this even more amazing is that Amber has only been riding a bike for a shade under three years. That's right! Less then three years into pedaling a bike and she is not only racing the Breck Epic, she is crushing the Breck Epic. I don't know many other rider who would be willing to take on a challenge like the Breck Epic after only three years of riding. We might not be in the lead, but we are having fun racing and learning about riding hard. Amber has proven her chops as a climber, easily pulling me up the steeper hills we faced today and putting the guys to shame on some of the climbs yesterday. She rode up things everyone around her were walking and made it look easy. On the two burly descents yesterday, we held our own and even passed some of the other racers. I think every guy who started in the second wave today who caught us had nothing but compliments for our descending. We've gotten to the point that some of the men riding around us will let us lead down the hill or make an effort to let us around. We've been riding with several other duo teams and having a blast every day. The Canadians riding with us have even started yipping when we yip!

But anyway, today was a hard day. We knew it would be a hard day. We started strong on the road and stayed steady on the initial climb. There were some duos that were racing hard in their class so we let them go. We weren't racing against time, so didn't need to get in their way. We got another chance at a fun descent from day 2, and  made some good time through Aid 1. The plan was to just ride through and I was happy we did - it was crazy busy! Then came the climb up the Colorado Trail. We settled in and rode smart up the climb. The first riders in the Epicurious 3 Day started catching us on the CT climb. On fresh legs, they were easily able to make the passes, even on the downhills. The nasty CT switchbacks led to a new trail for both of us - and one that quickly tipped straight up hill. Aptly named Vomit Hill - it was a mix of pedaling and pushing. I missed the doughnuts at the summit of Vomit Hill - I was too busy trying to get back on Amber's wheel for the descent! 

After the drop back into the Ranch area came the pedaling, rolling singletrack into Keystone. We were following the old Aqueduct around the edge of the ridge before dropping down to the second aid station on the service road into the heart of the Keystone Ski Area. A quick stop for food before the grinding climb up the service road. We made decent time on the road, but I was already dreading the steeper ascent up the West Ridge to the CT. At least the double track was easy riding! I settled into my own pace and let Amber ride her own. It was easier that way - we could each pedal smart. I was able to keep her in sight, but she was definitely was pulling away. Finally, after an hour of climbing, we got some descending. The only descending of the whole day it seemed! We caught one of the Coed Duos who'd blasted out of the start on the descent. She was on the rivet on the descent, so we just took the chance to catch our breath. The finish was getting closer, but there was at least one more monster hill left to conquer. Another quick stop at Aid 3 and time to buckle down for the final climb. As Amber so aptly put it as we made the turn off Galenea Ditch - another "Bag of Dicks" road climb up to the finish! This one lived up to the term. Crap, crap, crap! I didn't quite have enough in the tank to make it all the way to top and ended up pushing just a little. We had a few other riders in our sights - people we wanted to be ahead of prior to descent of Side Door. That meant digging deep. Very Deep. But we got it done. Amber led down the descent and into the finish.

Tomorrow is Wheeler. We get to take out bikes for a nice hike up a mountain to tree line, followed by what sounds like a sketchy descent back into the trees. Should be fun!