Sonya Looney on the podium as the winner of the 2011 Breck Epic mountain bike race.
Start at the beginning with Sonya’s Stage 1 race report here.
STAGE 5 – The Wheeler Stage.
The spirit of Wheeler was feeling quite ornery on Thursday, or maybe that was just my body after 4 straight days of solid efforts and steep climbs. The start was slightly altered from last year, and I was thankful to skip about a mile going straight up the side of the ski slope. We still had an uphill start on the road, but it wasn’t as steep.
It ended up not mattering – you could have stuck a fork in me Thursday. My legs were done. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had a “bad” day on the bike. From the start, my legs felt locked up and sore. Instead of allowing myself to slow down, I pushed harder and flogged myself all the way to the top of the Wheeler trail. The hike-a-bike was the least painful section of the day. The jeep road to the Wheeler entrance was relentless. Selene appeared to be having a strong day on the bike as well, so the masochistic flogging continued with her hot on my heels.
I could not let up for a second. I had opened the gap to 5 minutes at the top of Wheeler. I remembered to look around briefly, but didn’t allow myself any hesitation to motor forward.
Photo by Devon Balet
I had been dreading the Wheeler descent all week. I consider myself to be a skilled descender, but Wheeler is always a mental block for me. Being nervous on the descent never helps because it makes me tense up. The first crash was inconsequential. I didn’t like my speed and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop so I laid down the bike and bailed. I got back on and kept going. The trail was in bad condition after all the weather up there this year. I came into an overgrown section of trail and I couldn’t see what was in front of my tires. I somehow lost my front wheel and went over the bars, slamming my knee into a rock and getting the wind knocked out of me. That time, I didn’t get right back up. I stood on the side of the trail with my hands on my knees waiting to get over the shock of the blow. I had assumed this position in the Bailey Hundo in June as well (haha) Colby Pearce was behind me(riding and enjoying the day) and waited to make sure I was ok. Finally, I got back on my bike and rode very cautiously to the bottom. There was white knuckle death grip, there was cyclocross style running down the trail for more than I’d like to admit. With my overall lead in the GC, I didn’t want to risk a mechanical or another crash. Losing time on the descent was a bummer, but the fact was I had a 36 minute overall lead. A few extra minutes of caution were necessary.
