240 Miles. 40,000 Feet. Six Days.

Every summer, riders from around the world travel to Breckenridge, Colorado, to take on one of mountain biking's toughest and most iconic stage races.

Ask someone who's completed the Breck Epic about it and they'll tell you about a climb that seemed to go on forever before finally breaking out above treeline, there'll be tales about a thunderstorm that appeared out of nowhere and that descent they still think about years later, or the rider who handed them a spare part on day four and saved their race.

The Breck Epic was founded in 2009 by race director Mike McCormack and has spent the better part of two decades building a reputation that extends well beyond cross-country racing. Riders come for the challenge, certainly, but they come back for reasons that are harder to quantify.

The race unfolds across the Colorado Rockies, with routes that regularly climb above 10,000 feet and link together some of the longest, highest, and most spectacular trails in North America. There are big days, bigger climbs, and the occasional moment where you question not only your equipment choices, but several of your life choices as well.

By the third day of a stage race, everyone has stopped pretending they're fresh. Riders swap stories, tools, advice, and occasionally whatever food they've been carrying around in their pockets all week, while the conversations become a little more honest and everyone arrives at the same realization: tomorrow morning they'll voluntarily do it all over again.

Perhaps that's why events like the Breck Epic have become increasingly rare. They're difficult, they're demanding, and they require commitment long before the start line, but they'll leave riders with stories that last much longer than the soreness.That was one of the first things we talked about when we spoke with MikeMac. We expected to discuss sponsorship packages, branding opportunities, and event logistics. Instead, we spent most of the conversation talking about riders, what they need after four days of racing, what happens when equipment works perfectly, what happens when it doesn't, and why people keep coming back to events they know are going to hurt.

At HUNT, we spend a lot of time thinking about performance, but we spend even more time thinking about trust because when you're several hours into a ride, a long way from home, and still looking at another climb on the horizon, those two things become very closely related.

This summer, HUNT Wheels will join the Breck Epic as the event's official wheel partner.

Throughout race week, our team will operate a full-service wheel support program from the Epic Athlete Village, helping riders with repairs, maintenance, and whatever else we can do to keep them moving through six days in the Colorado high country. That support isn't limited to HUNT riders; if you're racing the Breck Epic and need help with your wheels, we'll do our best to get you back out on course.

We'll also have HUNT athletes and ambassadors taking on all six stages, including defending champion Leah Van der Linden, who knows better than most what this event asks of both riders and equipment.

Our North American headquarters are based in Boulder, Colorado, just down the road from Breckenridge. We've ridden these mountains, experienced the weather changing halfway through a climb, felt the effects of altitude, and understood the satisfaction that comes from reaching the top of something that seemed impossible a few hours earlier.

Maybe that's why this partnership made sense from the first conversation.

Mountain biking still needs events like the Breck Epic.

We'll see you in Breckenridge.