He did it again.
Josh Tostado won the overall title in the fourth annual Breckenridge 100 mountain bike race, claiming his fourth victory and smashing his old course record by nearly 50 minutes.
The Breckenridge, Colo. local was hoping to beat 8.5 hours, but won the July 19 event with a time of 8:14:37.95.
“I was definitely surprised how fast it turned out, but I feel a lot stronger this year and I’m feeling like I’m at the peak of my season right now,” said Tostado.
Race promoters expected a showdown between Tostado and Evan Plews, who was ranked second in the National Ultra Endurance Series before the July 19 event.
“I was thinking maybe this was the year that I was going to lose the title,” said Tostado. “Evan is a super-strong rider and I was expecting to battle with him, but I felt great and it turned out good.”
So good that Tostado beat Plews by just over 20 minutes. The race may have been closer if Plews hadn’t wandered off course for some ten minutes, but Tostado was already in the lead when Plews missed a turn.
The challenging course roamed 100 miles over three separate loops that all started and finished in downtown Breckenridge. Designed by renowned course architect Mike Zobbe, the course included backcountry trails, dirt roads and bike paths. Racers climbed over 13,000 feet and spent considerable time above tree line.
“If I was coming from somewhere else and doing this race I would probably be a little slower just from looking around so much,” said Tostado. “There are incredible views. It’s an epic race.”
The scenery didn’t slow down Kelley Cullen, the women’s winner who finished eighth overall, or Matt Turgeon, the noted Colorado singlespeeder who finished seventh overall.
The Breck 100 was the fourth of eight events in the 2008 National Ultra Endurance Series and the third of five events in the Rocky Mountain Regional Ultra Series.
Also that day, event promoters offered 68- and 32-mile races, which utilized loops two and three. Riders not wanting to commit the full hundred miles still experienced the scenic and challenging aspects of the Breckenridge course.
“You’re on singletrack and it’s mountain biking, you’re not just on dirt roads. And the singletrack that you’re on, the riding that you do, it’s just incredible,” said Tostado. “That’s really what it comes down to, it’s a super fun race. ”
As in past years, the Breckenridge 100 served as a fundraiser for Summit County’s TAME Foundation, a non-profit that offers hippotherapy treatment to children with disabilities. A percentage of every rider fee was donated to TAME’s scholarship fund, which allows more children to experience the benefits of treatment through horse therapy.
Additional fundraising was provided for the Mike Janelle Children’s Trust, which offers support for the wife and young child of Mike Janelle. A local rider and past Breck 100 finisher, Janelle died suddenly in November of 2007.