BreckEpic Stage 1

Way back sometime near the end of 2015, I decided I should probably race the BreckEpic stage race.  Drew did it in 2014 and said that if I wanted to do a stage race to conquer the lingering fact that I didn't complete that other one we did (BC Bike Race in 2007), this would be the one.  I needed a goal. We signed up.

So did some of our friends.We rented a condo.

Yesterday we took a little spin to test the legs at altitude, and make sure the bikes were working, and, most importantly for me, see if the cold I was coming down with was going to be a factor.

looking down to Breckenridge CO

 Things seemed ok.

the start banner and my Bonnie Blue bike

Until last night.  The cold moved to my chest and I coughed until midnight, when I finally felt so bad that I was keeping Drew up that I moved to the living room recliner so I could prop myself up.  That helped. I got about 6 hours of sleep.

Regardless, we made it to the start line.  

And that's where the smiles stopped. :-)

The stage was hard, but honestly, not as hard as I thought.  I tried to keep my heart rate down, knowing I have 5 more days at least as hard as this.  My throat was really sore and vision in my right eye got fuzzy only an hour into the race, but generally my legs and lungs felt OK, considering the ~10,000 feet average elevation of the stage.

I ended up completing the 35 mile, 5100 feet of climbing stage in 4:40, which is good enough for 4th place in the women's 40+ age category.  I didn't expect to be that high, so I'm worried I went too hard today.  We'll see tomorrow.

As for the rest of the gang, they all survived.  Brad kicked butt. Andy did too.  Drew came in ahead of me a ways, and Jim, with his recent crash, limped in a bit after.