The Breck Epic

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Stage 1- Prologue

Cory Wallace / 05.07.2009

The first ever stage of the inaguaral Breck Epic took place today under threatening skies in the village of Breckenridge, Colorado.



The small ski resort is set at 9,600 ft and from there the mountains head up to 13,500 ft. Over 150 competitors made it to the start today for the 9 mile hill climb prologue which burned the lungs of many riders who are a little winded by the high elevation to say the least.



Over the next 5 days the riders will complete aproximately 40 miles a day on the spectacular singletrack surrounding the area. The logisitics of this event seem pretty straight forward as each stage will start and end in Breckenridge where base camp is set up for the week. Riders from across the USA, Belgium and Canada have made the trip to test these locally famed, legendary trails with big names such as Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale), Travis Brown (Trek) and Alison Dunlap (Luna) present.



Riders set out indivdually today to rudely awaken their bodies on the steep prologue. Bishop took the stage victory in a time of 35:04 with Travis Brown 20 seconds down.



Having come from the low elevation Canadian town of Jasper, I felt like my lungs were going to explode as the high altitude was in full effect. Having ridden in the 12,000 ft mountains surrounding Mexico city in the past I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into but my lungs are still cursing at me.



I must say that the crisp alpine air and the spectacular moutain scenery makes it all worth while and apart from the few locals and the other riders lucky enough to live up high we are all in the same boat of lung suffering for the week. Overall there is a very positive feel from the riders as event organizer Mike Mcormack and his superb team are on top of things and are going over the top to make the riders feel at home in this spectacular location in the middle of the Colorado Rockies.



Tommorow\'s stage will take the riders on the 45 mile Colorado Loop which climbs up to 12,000 ft and will take the riders along some steep alpine ridges as the trail will snake around the still present snow patches.



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