Firecracker 50

Jen and I celebrated this year’s 4th of July by doing the Firecracker 50. The Firecracker 50 is a 50 miles long mountain bike race in Breckenridge with a bunch of climbing; the “official” number is more than a total of 10,000 vertical ft of climbing over 2 laps of 25 miles. In a relatively short distance that’s a lot of climbing!

One of the special things about the Firecracker 50 is the start: All riders take part in the 4th of July parade. Riders group into the categories they are racing in, and then ride in those groups as the very start of the parade. I simply can’t articulate how awesome it is to ride as part of the parade and see the faces on the kids light up with excitement as you ride by and “high five” them.

Once the “peleton” leaves town the race is officially on as the climb begins up Boreas Pass Road.

The first part of the climb is on pavement but it eventually turns in to a gravel road climb.

As we gained altitude climbing up Boreas Pass Rd we became privy to spectacular views of the Tenmile Range. I simply had to stop and take a couple of pictures. It was a gorgeous clear blue bird day; just a few summer clouds scattered about matching the snow banks and drifts still lingering in the mountains from our past record breaking snow season.

The climb up Boreas Pass Road was steady and consistent, but not too steep. I was riding my single speed bike and I was happy with my choice of gear (32×20). Not too big, and not too spinny. I stayed in the saddle the whole way up and just grinded the climb out. The legs felt good.

After about 8 miles or so of climbing the gravel road finally leads to single track trail. Yeah! I have never ridden the course before so I didn’t quite know what to expect. Once on the single track, however, the race became quite the cluster-f*ck. Riders were falling off their bikes everywhere, whether it was because we finally hit rocks and roots, or because there simply wasn’t enough room for everybody, I don’t know. Probably a bit of both. To make matters worse; when riding a single speed you need to stay “ahead” of the gear to keep turning the cranks. The pace required to do so is quite a bit faster than folks riding the granny-combo on geared bikes, so you have to pass those, but there was no room to pass. The result: Almost everybody ended up hiking the first couple of steeps on the single track.

It didn’t take long, though, before the trail flattened out and hugged the side of the mountain. Everybody got in the groove again and we were flying down a super dusty trail. As the trail swung around to the north facing aspect of the mountain, that changed. More and more snow drifts started showing up, several of them feeding melt water to mud holes, but they were all easily passable. The crowds started to thin out, but there were still too many on the trail for me to easily get around; especially on narrow and steep spots, so I just got off my bike when necessary and started hiking. On Little French Gulch; a particular steep section with lots of loose rocks, I even hiked around people determined to ride up it. Sometime hiking is faster than biking!

I finished the first lap in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Not too bad I don’t think. I had not set a time goal for myself, but rather a goal of riding hard and having fun, and I did. That said; starting up the climb of Boreas Pass Road for the second time got me questioning whether it wouldn’t have been better to have been on a team, therefore only having to ride one lap. It also got me questioning whether doing this on a single speed bike with just one gear was such a good idea. Those questions however faded as I gained altitude and started taking in the amazing views of the Tenmile Range once again.

Back on the single track trail again there was a whole lot more room than the first time around so I rode quite a bit more of the climbs, but I also found myself hiking sections that I know I could have ridden the first time around. The first lap had definitely drained some energy out of my legs, but I was still feeling good. Not fresh, but still good.

The climbs on the Firecracker 50 route are brutal, and not only for the (crazy) folks that only brought one gear. There are several sections that almost everybody hiked, even the ones that brought bikes with multiple gears…

Despite the long climbs I was happy that I was on my rigid single speed. I especially enjoyed the rocky descents of which most were on steep gravel roads with lots of big lose rocks. The mere fact that my stealth bike didn’t utter a sound going down those descents completely overshadowed the fact that I was being tossed around from side to side as a ball in a pinball game. Don’t get me wrong: I like my new full suspension bike, but I also appreciate the lack of chain slap, pivot squeak and suspension induced noises. Even at the cost of feeling like being part of a pinball game

As I was wrapping up my second lap I kept wondering how much energy I would have left for the Sally Barber Rd climb. The Sally Barber Rd climb is the very last gravel road climb before hitting the downhill single track trail to the finish line. The first time around I was fine grunting it out staying in the saddle, but I was also aware that I was close to have to crank it out standing up. I was definitely beginning to feel the toll of all the previous climbing, and I was wondering if I would have enough energy to stay on the bike the second time around. I hit the Sally Barber Rd climb hoping for the best. I stayed seated for a while, but eventually had to stand up. I ended up repeatedly switching between pedaling seated and pedaling standing up and before I knew it, I was on the top of the climb. It didn’t even seem as long as I remembered it from the first lap. It is funny how your mind can play tricks on you like that.

From the top of Sally Barber Rd it is all downhill back to the finish line. This part of the course is a BLAST. I was going as fast as I could; pretty much had the trail to myself. I passed a couple of riders and another couple of riders passed me, but that was it. My hands were going numb from coming down some of the previous rocky gravel road descents, but I kept a loose grip on the handle bars and let the bike lead. It was fun! And before I knew it I had finished my first ever Firecracker 50 in 5 hours 46 minutes and 57 seconds.

I didn’t show up to race for position, but rather to have fun and ride hard. I am happy with my time and acknowledging that this is ONE HARD RIDE on a single speed. More importantly I had a lot of fun and it was great to see a lot of our friends in Breckenridge. This is a very popular race, and I can see why. The start is fantastic and very unique for this race. Where else do you get a chance to be part of a 4th of July Parade! The race is well organized and the post ride party complete with adult beverages and food is great. Good times for sure!!