We're Back!

When last we posted some thoughts, Dave and I were busy completing a successful BC Bike Race in the summer of 2008. (http://daveandtomarebcbuddies.blogspot.com/) Since that race, Dave and I returned to our day jobs and spent the rest of that summer reminiscing about the fun we had riding and racing for a week in British Columbia. At some point during the year, Dave stumbled across a website that caused both of us pause. Here was a website for another mountain bike stage race that promised to be every bit as challenging as BCBR. The race was called the Breck Epic and it involved riding and racing to and from the little Colorado mountain town of Breckenridge. (www.breckepic.com) The daily mileage of the race was not much (40miles or so) compared to most stage races. However, the setting is what makes the Breck Epic so daunting. You see, Breckenridge (the town) sits at 9,600 feet. The trails only go up from there. Immediately both of us wrote the race off as "impossible" for two low landers from Seattle. However, Dave kept a link of the race website on his desktop and inquisitively spent the summer of 2009 watching the 2009 Breck Epic unfold, followed the results and further resolved (and reaffirmed) that people from sea level could never complete such an "epic" event. When the cold and wet winter of 2009/2010 set it, our sights again looked forward to the summer when the trails would dry and the riding would be spectacular. The prospect of giving the Breck Epic a go came up again during one of our long soggy winter rides. It certainly couldn't hurt to give the race director a call and see if anyone else from sea level had attempted (or even completed) the race. Speaking with Mike McCormick was a riot and he did an incredible job of selling us on what we knew we already wanted to buy. And so, as it happened, we gave him our race deposit on a dreary February day. Team Old Man and the T was born.