I decided to sign up for the Breck 68 this year. I wasn’t originally planning on doing this one and had planned on doing the Front Range 40 in the Fort; but that one was postponed to the fall due to the fires we’ve had.

Since I’ve done the Leadville 100 multiple times, one of the first questions people ask is, “How does it (Breck 68) compare to Leadville?” If you want some measureable sort of stats, Breck 68 (really 70 miles) has an altitude gain of 8514 feet or 121.6 feet per mile of racing. Leadville 100 (really 103 miles) has an altitude gain of 11,142 feet or 103.2 feet per mile of racing. So, mile-for-mile, Breck has more climbing.

Know that elevation gains are based on barometric pressure readings, so others may have slightly different amounts of elevation gains for the events. The measures previously mentioned were for Leadville 2011 and Breck 68 in 2012.

Breck is held at elevations between 9,600 feet and roughly 11,437. Leadville begins at 10,200 and climbs to roughly 12,600. Leadville has some flat and rolling sections, Breck is either climbing or descending – no flats or rollers.

Leadville has nearly zero singletrack and is mostly fire, forest service or jeep roads. Breck is loaded with singletrack. While Leadville does require a certain minimum of mountain bike skills to safely navigate the course and not hold other riders up, those with limited mountain bike skills would be very unhappy at Breck. Breck has tree-lined singletrack; rough, rocky climbs and descents; stream crossings, narrow trails that are open and have exposed mountain slopes to one side; steep, loose climbs; steep and rocky descents; smooth singletrack that winds through the forest; riding in an old mining flume drainage and on top of another one - plus more.  Breck has the sort of stuff that makes mountain bike riders smile and giggle uncontrollably – that is when they aren’t suffering.

There are any number of websites that attempt to quantify difficulty of courses by heart rate, power, suffer scores, etc. What none of them can easily quantify is the beating a body takes from navigating rocky, technical courses. My triceps were screaming for mercy on the last technical downhill.

In the simplest of words, the Breckenridge 68 course is more difficult than the Leadville 100 course and most certainly the Breckenridge 100 course is more difficult than the Leadville 100 course.

As I told someone yesterday, mountain bike courses are a matter of taste and preference – not a matter of “good” and “bad.” It’s similar to differing tastes in food. I love hot Mexican food and my friend doesn’t like it at all. It doesn’t mean either of us are good or bad, heroic or wimpy – just different preferences.

I enjoy both races and would not hesitate to either of them again.

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Questions and discussion can be found on my Facebook page.

Cycling and mountain bike training plans can be found here.

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On a pre-ride adventure for Breck 68 I showed you bear claw marks in a previous post and below are a few more shots from the pre-ride. Exploring the mountains on a bike is such a joy ~

Sallie Barber mine shaft - or what's left of it.

I rang the bell and rode extra fast past the fireing range...

Mine shaft turned toilet at the Como general store.

Historic roundhouse at Como. From the informational board, "Hard-working D, SP&P locomotives could be serviced in either Denver or Como. Built in 1881 by Italian stonemasons, the Como Roundhouse originally housed six engine bays where engines could be locall be rebuilt and an iron turntable where engines could be turned around."

A view of Breckenridge ski area from Boreas Pass Road    

I had a hard time thinking of a title that covered all of the items in this post. I think I got it...

I got a note from Susan Williams (Yes, THAT Susan Williams - Olympic bronze medalist, triathlon 2004 Olympic Games) a couple of weeks ago asking if I was going to pre-ride any of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race course in July? If so, would it be okay if she joined the group? (Be sure to click on both hot links about Susan. One is a story of the race and the other is a nice podium shot with her daughter Sydney.)

Of course!

She missed our first July pre-ride because she was vacationing in Mexico for 10 days with her family. We hooked up last Friday and headed up to Twin Lakes for a pre-ride of the Columbine Mine climb.

Below is a photo of the gang at Twin Lakes. Left to right: Roy Gatesman, Dave Newman, Susan Williams, Ernie Wintergerst, Jeff Bruno, Scott Ellis, Stewart Pomeroy and Todd Kornfield. (Roy, Todd and Stewart work at Peloton Cycles, my favorite bike shop.)

Catching up with Susan, she is enjoying time with her two daughters, Syndey and Elysia, along with husband Tim. She is coaching other athletes to be successful out of her home base of Littleton, Colorado. She stays active by doing some racing and training.

The weekend before the Leadville race she is doing the 200-Mile Colorado Wild West Relay as one member of a six person team. While not optimal training and rest for the Leadville race, she's enjoying doing different kinds of events and staying fit. For Leadville, her biggest goal is to enjoy the event. (She says her mountain bike skills are still in the development stages, especially the downhill.)

The group enjoyed the Columbine climb that is not quite as enjoyable on race day. A map of the event can be found here, with the Columbine climb being the high pointy spot in the center.

On race day, there is two-way traffic on the road. In some places the road is in good shape (like where the hare is crossing below at about 12,000 ft. elevation) and in other places there is still snow.

Okay wildlife experts is this a common hare (I think this is not a rabbit, but is a hare - verify for me) or a snowshoe hare? Seems big for a snowshoe hare, but those are incredibly furry hind feet. What do you think?

Above the hare photo location on the mountain, remains a giant snowfield. The group estimates it is at least a couple of feet deep and we wonder if it will be gone by race day.

Roy is beginning to cross the snowfield and Todd is pushing through on the next photo. Roy and Stewart are taking in the view post-snowfield in the third photo below.

At the top is an old structure that reminds me of how hard life would have been in the rich mining times of Leadville. Imagine living and working at 12,600 feet in the late 1800s. Tough people, really tough.

A second view at the top shows surrounding peaks and clouds threatening to drop rain. Time to get off the mountain.

We did beat the rain and had enough time to stop into race headquarters and introduce Susan to Merilee (the race director). Susan is so humble and unassuming that she didn't bother to tell the race directors of her past accomplishments. I have no problem telling others about Susan's great accomplishments - she rocks!

So, what is her training secret for Leadville?

Turkey leg at Q4U in Frisco...