Taking our bikes for a hike! Wheeler Pass
After four hard days of racing it finally arrived. The shortest yet perhaps hardest stage of the race Wheeler Pass. "Only" 25 miles, but those miles involved climbing up to and traversing along the Continental Divide before plunging back down into the trees. Amber and I both knew that if we had a chance to take a stage, this would be the one. It's the one that suits us the best - minimal long pedaly sections like the Aqueduct stage that we both suffer with, but hard climbing, Hike-a-Bike and then alpine singletrack descents. We were both facing several sections of trail that we'd never seen before and that would be the major limitation what we had coming into the stage. Trail knowledge on those alpine descents can mean minutes - especially on the long one that we would face today.
But first - the time trial start from the base of Peak 9. We watched the leaders blasting out of the start house and pondered warming up. Pondered. The prior four days and 150+ miles of riding (racing?) led to opting out of the warm up. We spun around a little and then called it a morning. There was plenty of riding left to do and the climb up Burro would be a great warm-up. Finally, our start time arrived and we gathered with the rest of our group. At the whistle, the field took off and we quickly found ourselves in the reverse hole-shot. Yep. We were not motivated much to start pedaling! The climb up Burro to Spring Creek Rd was a technical rooty half single, half double track. A few riders from the starts behind us caught up and passed, but not as many as we expected given how casually we started. Should we have done that warm up and started a little harder? Perhaps. It's always hard to tell at this point in a race, start hard and crash hard or start easy and still crash hard?
Our causal start did set us a little further back in the conga line of riders pushing their bikes up towards Wheeler Pass. And unlike other alpine singletrack, there was no room to pass at all - once you were in the line, that's where you were staying. Our group was a good one though - we were telling jokes, admiring the view and generally having as much fun as you could have while taking your bike for a hike. Finally we got onto the ridgeline and were able to pedal again. Amber and I set our sights on getting around a few of the men in front of us, knowing that we would be able to out decend them when we finally got a chance to go downhill. The alpine traverse to Wheeler Pass is one of the most stunning views you can have - huge mountain on all sides, the city of Breck spread out below. But there was no time to pause for photos. The wind was whipping up and we wanted to keep moving.
The first hurdle - the descent off of Wheeler Pass. I've ridden it twice - both times back in 2012. Amber hadn't ever ridden it and I was a little nervous about the intial descent. It's a steep drop with a hard left exposure, lots of loose rocks and rutted terrain. Not an easy drop in at all - and it doesn't get much easier once you get into the trees. But she rocked it - handling the terrain better then I did my first time around. Time to face the long traverse back into the sky. This one was more a mix of riding and pushing, with even bigger views to distract us. We kept pushing the pace as much as we could tolerate, trying to get some distance between us and the guys around us. We wanted a clean run at the next descent. I didn't even stop and put on my wind coat because I didn't want to stop moving and lose the place we were holding in the field.
Miner's Creek - the descent Nick had warned me to be careful on. Perhaps Amber and I are weird - at least for women- but that was easily the one of the best descents in the entire race. It was a hard, thinking descent, but we were loving every minute of it. We missed two switchbacks and one rut but managed to ride the rest of the trail - and that's without ever seeing an inch of the descent! At least until we got down to the chundery, rocky road that threatened to rattle my teeth loose! That part was hard. They'd also added some distance to the back end of the course, taking us all the way down Miner's Creek Road instead of the trail as the aid crews couldn't get into the station location last year because of the weather.
The last stretch of trail today was the hardest for me. The gradual climb up Peaks Trail back into Breck. I knew it would be hard. My climbing legs were definitely going on strike and Peaks Trail was adding insult to injury. Amber kept pushing the pace, climbing away from me on all the punchy little climbs. I had to dig deep to get back on her wheel and take the few descents on the trail to catch my breath. I knew why she was pushing so hard, so put my head down and rode. Time. We didn't know where we were on time and if we had a chance. There was no giving up until we crossed the line.
And it was close. So close. We finished a mere 2:16 behind the leading women's team - the closest finish of the entire race. Could we have found those minutes somewhere on course? Maybe. A harder start and having some knowledge of the descents would have helped a lot. But even being that close was awesome - we lost nearly 30 minutes on yesterdays pedaly stage.
Tomorrow is Stage 6 - the final day of the race. In the women's duo GC, the order is pretty well sealed. So I'm bringing my camera and taking some photos! After five days of racing, I have no photos to show of the amazing scenery we've been pedaling through. I aim to change that tomorrow.
But first - the time trial start from the base of Peak 9. We watched the leaders blasting out of the start house and pondered warming up. Pondered. The prior four days and 150+ miles of riding (racing?) led to opting out of the warm up. We spun around a little and then called it a morning. There was plenty of riding left to do and the climb up Burro would be a great warm-up. Finally, our start time arrived and we gathered with the rest of our group. At the whistle, the field took off and we quickly found ourselves in the reverse hole-shot. Yep. We were not motivated much to start pedaling! The climb up Burro to Spring Creek Rd was a technical rooty half single, half double track. A few riders from the starts behind us caught up and passed, but not as many as we expected given how casually we started. Should we have done that warm up and started a little harder? Perhaps. It's always hard to tell at this point in a race, start hard and crash hard or start easy and still crash hard?
Our causal start did set us a little further back in the conga line of riders pushing their bikes up towards Wheeler Pass. And unlike other alpine singletrack, there was no room to pass at all - once you were in the line, that's where you were staying. Our group was a good one though - we were telling jokes, admiring the view and generally having as much fun as you could have while taking your bike for a hike. Finally we got onto the ridgeline and were able to pedal again. Amber and I set our sights on getting around a few of the men in front of us, knowing that we would be able to out decend them when we finally got a chance to go downhill. The alpine traverse to Wheeler Pass is one of the most stunning views you can have - huge mountain on all sides, the city of Breck spread out below. But there was no time to pause for photos. The wind was whipping up and we wanted to keep moving.
The first hurdle - the descent off of Wheeler Pass. I've ridden it twice - both times back in 2012. Amber hadn't ever ridden it and I was a little nervous about the intial descent. It's a steep drop with a hard left exposure, lots of loose rocks and rutted terrain. Not an easy drop in at all - and it doesn't get much easier once you get into the trees. But she rocked it - handling the terrain better then I did my first time around. Time to face the long traverse back into the sky. This one was more a mix of riding and pushing, with even bigger views to distract us. We kept pushing the pace as much as we could tolerate, trying to get some distance between us and the guys around us. We wanted a clean run at the next descent. I didn't even stop and put on my wind coat because I didn't want to stop moving and lose the place we were holding in the field.
Miner's Creek - the descent Nick had warned me to be careful on. Perhaps Amber and I are weird - at least for women- but that was easily the one of the best descents in the entire race. It was a hard, thinking descent, but we were loving every minute of it. We missed two switchbacks and one rut but managed to ride the rest of the trail - and that's without ever seeing an inch of the descent! At least until we got down to the chundery, rocky road that threatened to rattle my teeth loose! That part was hard. They'd also added some distance to the back end of the course, taking us all the way down Miner's Creek Road instead of the trail as the aid crews couldn't get into the station location last year because of the weather.
The last stretch of trail today was the hardest for me. The gradual climb up Peaks Trail back into Breck. I knew it would be hard. My climbing legs were definitely going on strike and Peaks Trail was adding insult to injury. Amber kept pushing the pace, climbing away from me on all the punchy little climbs. I had to dig deep to get back on her wheel and take the few descents on the trail to catch my breath. I knew why she was pushing so hard, so put my head down and rode. Time. We didn't know where we were on time and if we had a chance. There was no giving up until we crossed the line.
 |
| Following Amber's wheel towards the finish. Photo Michael Kane |
And it was close. So close. We finished a mere 2:16 behind the leading women's team - the closest finish of the entire race. Could we have found those minutes somewhere on course? Maybe. A harder start and having some knowledge of the descents would have helped a lot. But even being that close was awesome - we lost nearly 30 minutes on yesterdays pedaly stage.
 |
| Amber and I match! And we added a Podium Puppy this time! |
Tomorrow is Stage 6 - the final day of the race. In the women's duo GC, the order is pretty well sealed. So I'm bringing my camera and taking some photos! After five days of racing, I have no photos to show of the amazing scenery we've been pedaling through. I aim to change that tomorrow.
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