The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I was by myself and hurting worse than ever before”
by Than Acuff
Team Griggs Orthopedics (Team gO) was in effect in Breckenridge last weekend as Team gO riders Zach Guy and Bryan Dillon both stood on top of the podium by day’s end.
Guy continues to lead the way on all mountain bike races long and hard, winning the Bailey Hundo title back in June, and after some R-n-R in Italy, returned to race mode last weekend to win the Breckenridge 100.
It was Guy’s second take at the Breckenridge 100. He first jumped into the Breck 100 fray back in 2011 finishing 11th overall. The second time around, Guy slashed close to an hour off his previous time to complete the 100-mile long race in a time of eight hours, 39 minutes and two seconds.
Despite his recent spate of success this summer, Guy held his expectations in check.
“The first time I was just hoping to get through it and maybe finish top 10,” says Guy. “This one I still didn’t have expectations, I thought top five would be great.”
The course is laid out in three loops, all starting and finishing in the town of Breckenridge and crossing the Continental Divide three times. The first loop opens with a climb up over Wheeler Pass, reaching an altitude of 12,408 feet. While Guy was in the mix up front with five other riders, he knew the course turns into a somewhat technical singletrack descent off of Wheeler Pass and made his first move as they approached the top of the climb.
“I knew I wanted to be in front for the downhill,” says Guy. “I think I gained about 15 seconds or more on the technical section to the top.”
Guy proceeded to bomb down and build a nearly four-minute lead as he headed out onto loop two. Feeling good but aware of the chase pack lurking somewhere behind him, Guy switched gears in an effort to prevent a catastrophic meltdown.
“I was just thinking about conserving energy, don’t blow up and if they catch me, I will be able to stay with them,” explains Guy.
Guy maintained his gap through the second loop, though he still had no idea how far ahead he was heading out onto loop three. While climbing up to get over Boreas Pass on a road similar to Walrod Gulch in Cement Creek, Guy cratered and came close to losing it all.
“That’s when I hit a wall mentally and physically,” says Guy. “I just wanted to get off my bike and sit down. I was by myself and hurting worse than ever before.”
Guy kept pushing though, hoping to make a recovery once over the top and back on a singletrack descent.
“I figured if I made it to the top of the pass, I could recover on the downhill and once I’m on a trail, I’m happy again,” says Guy.
Following the descent, the course turns back up to head over Boreas Pass once more and it was on the final climb that Guy saw his competition closing in. As he headed up Boreas Pass into a slight headwind, he caught a glimpse of two riders about two minutes back and started sweating it.
“I thought if they started working together, they could catch me,” says Guy.
In one last act, Guy stomped on the throttle on the final section of the climb to the top of Boreas Pass to seal the win.
“I got a burst of last-minute energy and put in a hard kick,” says Guy. “I was hammering at that point and knew that once I got on the downhill, they wouldn’t catch me.”
He finished three-and-a-half minutes ahead of his closest competitors for his second 100-mile race win of the season.
Meanwhile, Dillon spent the morning racing to his third Beck 68 title in a row and second race win in a row this season.
Dillon dominated the competition two weeks ago in the Fat Tire 40 and carried his momentum into the Breck 68. Dillon battled with seasoned pro racer Kelly Magelky through the first loop of the race and the two headed out on the second and final loop neck-and-neck before Dillon put a gap on Magelky to win the race by five minutes.
Guy heads over to Aspen next weekend for the Power of Four race and then returns to the pain cave when he heads to Leadville for the prestigious Leadville 100 on August 15.
