The Breck Epic Mountain Bike Stage Race is currently underway and riders are being faced with conditions much different from years past pushing the riders to their limits. Jeff Wu gives us some insight into Stage 2 and Mountain Flyers explains Stage 1 and here is what Stage 3 will throw at the racers

From Team Alchemist Leader Jeff Wu

Perhaps we should consider ourselves blessed that this race has had perfect conditions the last 3 years. Or perhaps we’ve been working on credit all this time. But when you do business with a loan shark, payback’s a’comin’, one way or another. And we got all paid up today, and then some.

Breck Epic Number Plate. The number you are given
approximates the number of four letter words you
are likely to fire off during any given stage.

Conceived nearly a decade ago, and delivered in 2008, the Breck Epic is the premier ultra-endurance mountain bike stage race in the U.S., and arguably, North America. 90% of the race takes place over 10,000?, with a sizable chunk above 12,000?. But the thin air isn’t the only feature that makes this race special. It boasts more singletrack riding than the Trans Alps, Cape Epic, and Trans Rockies — combined. Another unique feature is that the trails around Breckenridge are so abundant and scenic, that each stage not only has it’s own distinctive flavor, but they also all begin, and end, in town. So if you aren’t the camping, migratory, gypsy type (read, author is not that type), you can set up your race headquarters in any nearby condo, sleep in a real bed, and avoid any prison-style shower encounters.

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So, about Stage 2 . . .

The start on Washington St. was a gloomy, drizzly affair, no doubt ready to burn off and become more seasonable by mid-morning. As we made the turn off onto the first climb, Mike was there to greet us. ”Bright blue sky just beyond!”.

His words of encouragement were somehow mitigated by the volunteer standing next to him. ”It’s going to f**king pour.”

Somewhere in between was certain to lie the truth. The drizzle became a steady rain, which at times, became a downpour. It was only made tolerable by the fact that the first couple climbs were so intense that you may as well have been wet from sweat. But as we crested Vomit Hill (yes, there is a Vomit Hill, and I imagine you can guess why it is so named), I realized that the impending gravity-hungry descent was going to be, chilly. It only got colder from there.

Read the rest at Team Alchemist.com

Learn how you can win a free entry in the 2013 Breck Epic Stage race

Cycling Dirt Coverage

Read more on race and others

According to CyclingNews, Banned racer, Michael Weiss, is banned from sanctioned races from Nov 2011 to Nov 2013 for visiting a plasma lab and last week he won the prestigious Breck 100.

From CyclingNews

It's unofficially THE mountain bike race weekend in Colorado. Racers have a tough decision in picking one from all the great venues. The Warriors Cycling Breckenridge 100/68/32 is Sunday in Breckenridge, while the Leadville Race Series Silver Rush 50 and the Winter Park Epic XC 3 go off on Saturday. Winter Park also hosts a short track race on Sunday as part of their weekend racing.

Breckenridge 100/68/32

The Warriors Cycling Breckenridge races are all fantastic. High mountain singletrack, serious amounts of climbing, fast descents, world-class scenery, and low key race atmosphere combine to make the 100, 68, and 32 premiere races in all of the west.

The 100 is the 5th race of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Race Series. Riders from around the country and world travel to Breckenridge to tackle challenging three loops. The first loop of the 100-miler, which starts at 6am, goes up and over the mountain range that is home to the Breckenridge ski resort. Racers are forced to hike several sections where steep grades and sometime snow makes it unrideable. After they drop down on the west side of the mountain near Copper Mountain they circle around back to town. After returning to the finish area near, racers head out on lap two east of town.

The 68 and 32-mile races utilize lap two. Both races begin at 10am on Sunday. The 32-miler ends after the one lap. The 68 continues on to finish off lap 3 of the 100. Laps 2 and 3 are a great combination of dirt road, fast Colorado Trail singletrack, grinding climbs, and even a downhill, bermed singletrack section.

The leading endurance mountain biking magazine, XXC Magazine, put together a quick review of the race:

Sunday’s Breck 100 has the notable reputation of being what may be the hardest 100 miler in the N.U.E. series. That’s not just a race hack like me talking either, take a look at what N.U.E. winning machine Gerry Pflug had to say about his 2011 Breck 100 race … “Out of all the NUE races I have done, the Breck 100 definitely ranks as the hardest in my mind. I felt completely beat after finishing my first two attempts at the Breckenridge 100. I did not want to feel this way for the start of my attempt at doing four NUE races in a row, so I tried to better prepare myself for the race this year and I thought I was ready. But, the thin air of Breckenridge once again left me feeling completely conquered after the race and actually worse than ever this year.”

Read more at XXCMag.com

Leadville Silver Rush 50