This guy is funny as heck, can't wait to read his post-stage entries-
"It is with this “fond” memory of singlespeed racing that I mull over my decision to race the Breck Epic on a Spot 29er singlespeed. Race with a good buddy? Check. Chance to write about it? Check. Cool event? Check plus. Singlespeed belt drive? What the shit? Don’t bikes need chains? Singlespeeds, racing and Summit County seem as intelligent a combo as liquor, matches and gasoline. Twenty-niner wheels? What’s the deal with those weirdo big wheels anyway? Do I have to grow some angry-dude beard and wear knee socks to ride this bike?
Of course. I’m totally in.
And yet this damn-the-torpedoes attitude gets me into trouble. As in stage races past, I have a partner guaranteed to race me into the ground. My current partner, Gavin Hayes, has raced in something called “World Championships.” Who am I kidding? I’m a dude with a job and a mortgage, looking at the backside of my thirties. For most people, a vacation translates into a rented house in Nantucket and a week of getting sauced at noon. Or wearing a beret and sipping espresso at a cafe in Paris. And yet I choose to wear a white spandex race kit and puke my brains out on Boreas Pass.
So here I am, not quite May, not quite fit, and not quite certain this will go as planned. But I do know, like anyone planning on racing the Breck Epic, or any other mountain bike stage race, that the event isn’t just the week it happens or the ten days you’ll be gone. It’s the cold, rainy road rides, the urgency of your training, the impulse purchases (a thousand bucks is totally reasonable for wheels) the days before you leave, and the stories you’ll tell for years to come. Yeah, I’m ready for that crazy big wheel bike and the Breck Epic."
--Jeff Carter
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