XC Racer Blog Post

Breck Epic Prep

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BY: Katie Carmichael

Published: 3rd August, 2014


A week today and I’ll be on the start line for day one of the Breck Epic - a six day stage race, with each stage starting and ending in Breckenridge, Colorado. The stages are between 30 and 50 miles long, and I’ll be climbing from the town’s base elevation of 9,600 feet to over 12,500 feet some days.

In recent years I’ve got to know the mountain biking around Breckenridge, and it is incredible. There’s a huge mix - lots of manmade, maintained trails, in and around town, trails built under the ski lifts, giving the option for lift access, and miles and miles of backcountry riding through forests, above the treeline and over mountain passes.

Paul and I first heading out biking in Breck in 2002. We cruised for nine miles in the sunshine down to the nearby town of Frisco, forgetting that we’d have to regain the height on the way back. We knew nothing of chamois or chamois cream in those days, nor were we familiar with the dramatic changes in weather that you can get in the high country. Unable to sit in our saddles for the return journey, we pedalled home furiously, as lightning struck around us.

It wasn’t until we had a bit more experience under our belts that we ventured out biking in Breckenridge again. In 2011 we took our bikes out for a couple of weeks in the summer. Three days into our holiday, and suffering from jetlag, I was up at 5am, googling ‘mtbing in Breckenridge’ when I came across details of a race that was taking place that day. With entries on the day, I managed to convince Paul that this would be an ideal way to get to know more of the local trails. So, we signed up for the Fall Classic, a 32 mile race with 4,600 feet of climbing. We were on our trail bikes, with camelbacks on, but to give ourselves maximum advantage we ditched our baggies.

32 miles at race pace is probably not the recommended way to acclimatise, but it was a lot of fun and I surprised myself by placing third. There was a great atmosphere, with a barbecue and after race party in town. We met other riders who took us out to show us more of what the area had to offer.

In 2012 we were back again, and this time entered the B32, part of the Breck 100. With another great race experience, the seed was sown for entering the Breck Epic.

This year it seems that there is going to be one category for women. With 20 entered, and some top riders taking part, I’m not expecting to trouble the podium, but I hope that there will be a good race for positions.

I’ll be riding my Scott Scale 29er, with Maxxis Ikon TR EXO tyres. I’ve lightened the bike up with MTZOOM handlebars, top cap and QR skewer, KCNC seatpost, clamp and stem and ESI Racers Edge silicon grips. I’ve also gone for Alligator Aries rotors (in green to match the bike) and MOUNTZOOM ti rotor and caliper bolts, and an Outfront mount for my Garmin – more secure than using the bands (and available in green!). I’m going tubeless so I can keep my tyre pressure low. At the moment I’m running at 18psi up front and 20 at the back. I’ll see if I can get away with less. I’ve swapped the wheels out and have replaced them with ZTR Crest rims on DT Swiss 240s hubs.



The bike is super light now. I’ve managed to lose over 2lb off it with the changes made and it is weighing in at just 21.45lb – and it’s riding great. I’m trying to lighten myself up too, though I’ve left it rather late in the day. No booze or chocolate for me until post-race when a blowout is planned.

As far as training is concerned, there have been a few weeks of back to back rides, getting out for a couple of hours on Friday, either before or after work, 4-5 hours on Saturday, 3-4 on Sunday, and another couple on Monday. Fortunately, the weather has been kind, and save for a couple of wet rides, which, putting on a positive spin on things, were ideal for testing my wet weather gear, I have mostly been riding in sunshine on dry, dusty trails. I’ve tended to stick to trail centres, but with some of the off piste trails thrown in. A good knowledge of the trails means that I can plan a ride to hit my target HR zones when I want to, and when I am heading out with little in the way of spares and fuel, I know that I am never too far from the car (or that another rider is bound to come by at some point…). The hours on the bike have flown by and I have taken a lot of confidence from how good I’ve felt both on and off the bike. There have been a couple of post work sessions when I have cycled my 2 and a half miles from work wondering where I was going to summon the energy from for a two hour session, but somehow, every time I’ve got out on the bike, thoughts of tiredness have disappeared, and I feel like I’ve put in some pretty solid sessions.

My fuelling has gone well on these rides. I have been using Accelerade 4:1 carbohydrate protein formula to good effect. It boasts that it extends endurance, speeds muscle recovery, reduces muscle damage and enhances rehydration. I can get 240 cals in a 750ml bottle, and there are 10g of protein in that. I find that a drink with a bit of protein in it somehow feels more filling than a straight carbohydrate drink. I do find it difficult to take on enough calories relying just on drink though. I’ve been aiming for 150-180 per hour, which I find is a lot of liquid, so I have been supplementing this with nakd raw wholefood bars – basically just fruit and nuts mushed up. They have about 100 cals per bar, are easy to open, stay intact and can be transported pretty easily stuffed in the thigh gripper on my shorts.

On a long ride I find I have to be pretty disciplined when it comes to fuelling. I plan how much of a bottle and how many bars I am going to have per hour and then I make a plan for when I am going to take it on board. I tend to try to sip my drink every 5 or 10 minutes, and have a bite of bar every 15 minutes. There is some flexibility, but not a lot! If I find myself on fire road a bit ahead of the fuelling window then I’ll take something on – but I find that it really helps to have a plan and stick to it, and so far, the strategy has worked for me. I did try using gels on one of my rides recently, but I found it difficult to know when to take them and got a bit out of sync with my drink, and I have to say it was the weakest of my training rides. It may be that with more practice I might manage to fuel like this, but in the meantime I’m happy with the bars and drink combo. I have been asked if it is necessary to be quite so strict about this, but it’s important, I think, to know and like a plan for fuelling. There are going to be feed stations along the way on this race, with all sorts on offer, and I know that if doubts start to creep in about how I am feeling and how I am going then I might be tempted to dip into the caffeine gels and different energy drinks to see if they will give me an edge. Trying something new under race stress would inevitably lead to further doubts – is that caffeine going to make me jittery for the rest of the ride, is that drink making me bloated? Best to stick with what I know.

Recovery has been important and I take the eating and resting part of training very seriously! After every ride I have been sure to have a good snack ready at the car – usually a sandwich with a good bit of protein, always savoury. If I can stomach it I’ll have a protein shake, but sometimes after 5 hours of drinking sweet energy juice and snacking on fruit bars I find it difficult to face more sweet stuff. Other times, though, I am so hungry that I will devour anything! It’s safe to say that aversion to sweet stuff wears off pretty quickly, and there has been some serious amount of cake eaten over the last few weeks. I’ve been sure to rehydrate well in between sessions too, and have popped a Nuun electrolyte tab in a glass of water after rides, just to keep the salt levels up.

I’ve also been enjoying cold baths between sessions. With the good weather we’ve been having it’s been a bit warm for getting a cold enough bath, so I’ve resorted to freezing Tupperware tubs of water so that I can put huge ice cubes in my bath. I do love my cold baths and would highly recommend them! 12 minutes is the target time, but I have found myself kicking back for up to 20 minutes. A cup of tea helps to take the edge off the initial shock. Recovery tights are also a favourite with me. I have the Skins RY400. You choose your size based on height, body shape and weight. I’ve got a couple of pairs so I can put some on straight after my ride, then a clean pair once I’m showered, which I can wear for the rest of the day and overnight.

The one thing that I haven’t managed to achieve is putting my feet up. The advice is to try to elevate your legs above your heart, but with the hours out on the bike, the rest of the time tends to be spent trying to keep on top of life. I have been getting to bed pretty early though, so I guess that helps!

All in all, the recovery strategy has worked, and my legs have felt pretty good on each ride. I haven’t felt too exhausted either. Interestingly, it tends to be two days after the end of a big block that I feel most tired. I don’t know if that is normal, or if it might be a result of fitting all of ‘real life’ into the rest day which follows a block.

I’ll be trying to replicate what I’ve been doing in training as much as I can during the race. I’ll have a couple of days of acclimatisation, arriving on Thursday night with the race starting on Sunday. Paul will be left to build the bikes up on Friday while I go off to Safeway to get the shopping in and stock the fridge. I’ll try to cook a couple of meals in advance so that we (I use this term loosely) can reduce the amount that we have to do post race.

Not long to go now.  I've got a few training sessions before I head off, including the third session in the environmental chamber at Napier University,  to get acclimatised to altitude, about which more soon...

I am just a wee bit excited!




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