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2025 Huracan Lite 300

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  Okay...I'm seriously going to make this an abbreviated race write-up for the first time ever.  This was my 3rd year in a row racing the "Lite" version of the Huracan, which means the more "gravel" version, with no major single track and no water crossings. It's just really fun and it's better for me so I don't have to burn as much PTO as I can get down there, get it done, and get home with only Monday off work. I had a new bike build that was completed by the wonderful Tom Bryant at Owen Cyclery in Chattanooga and I was pumped to race it. It's a Rodeo Labs Flaanimal 5.0 with SRAM AXS and some other fun bits.  Our route started at 7:45am. After some chats with friends, we were off. Last year, I got a time bonus for the hole shot so I made sure to go for that again. I quickly realized I wasn't sure where the imaginary line for the hole shot was as I backed off around the gravel parking lot loop and then I was quickly passed by Chris Thorpe wh...
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Vapor Trail 125

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  Within the past several years, I had this race pop up on my radar. It was far from here, in Colorado. It was much higher than here, coursing through and above the high alpines of the Rocky Mountains. It sounded really hard. And it just seemed a bit out of reach. It was the Vapor Trail 125. And now I know it was just what I was looking for! The Vapor Trail, in Salida, CO, is put on by a seemingly awesome human named Mike Franco. It's 125 miles of largely single-track riding with a mix of easily ridable railroad-grade dirt roads and blown out rocky roadbeds rich with gold and silver mining history in the late 1800's, as well as several steep, technical hike-a-bike sections. And the climbing is served up on a giant-sized platter as the elevation gain totals a little over 17,000'. The course takes you through sections of the Colorado and Continental Divide Trails, over Hancock, Tomichi, Monarch, and Marshall Passes, and up and over Canyon Creek Trail with a 45-minute hike-a-b...
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Location: Salida, CO 81201, USA
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