Angel Fire Race Recap

Angel Fire, home of a sweet race that happens every year over Memorial Day weekend. The holiday means that practices and races are spread out over three days instead of two, allowing everyone the time to relax and enjoy themselves.

No one did a better job of that than my new team, Mafia. I drove in late Friday night with my good friend Will, arriving at the HUGE house our team manager and dreamer, David, found for us. I found a place to sleep and woke the next morning to the downhillers getting ready for their early morning practice. The endurance weenies (myself included) took a leisurely start to the day. Slowly I made my way through registration, then got myself suited up for some practice runs on the Super-D.

Holy cow! The Super-D was truly Super-Downhill! At first I was hesitant on the very rocky course, but as the drizzle continued to soak the trail, I was more and more confident. Three practice runs and it was time to go watch the Short Track. My teammate and friend Lindsey put in a great fourth place in the Pro division. We all headed back to the team house, and minor chaos ensued in the kitchen as folks prepared their meals. Props to the downhill dudes for exploring exactly how much pasta can fit into one pot. Hooray for surface tension!

Sunday- Race day. At ten thirty I arrived for my XC race start, warmed up and well prepped. The first climb (2000' of nonstop climbing) was brutal, but I managed to keep a couple ladies in sight, quickly passing them on the downhill. I was revelling in the 5" of travel on my new bike, Loki (a Felt Virtue). I started back up for the second climb, and it struck me that Angel Fire actually has a pretty sick climb. You're either going pretty fast in the middle ring, or you're on some super-tech rocky singletrack. No soul-crushing little ring slogs up open fire roads!

Again I hit the top, knowing that all I had to do was drop the two thousand feet I'd just climbed and I'd be done. I tore down the descent, hoping to catch a few women like I had the last lap, but it was not to be. A little disappointed I headed to the house to rest and recover for the Super-D.

At the homestead I absolutely killed this massive salad, licking the plate clean of dressing (hey, I know, not exactly normal recovery food, but apparently I needed it). I laid around a little, but soon it was time to hop on the lift and race again.

The race organizers keep inventing more sadistic ways for us to start Super Ds. This time we started by kneeling in the grass with one elbow on the start line, taking off at the gun to pick up our bikes laying across the field. Lynn Bush of Tough Girls joked that we should all put our foreheads on baseball bats and do ten circles before starting.

Anyways, I didn't do a good job of getting after the run, allowing myself to be pushed into a sign. Second-to-last out of the start I hopped on my bike trying not to be sketched out by the wide-open, rock, and treacherously rutted fire road that kicked off the course. Having survived that I entered the sweet rocky singletrack, taking each line as I'd practiced on Saturday. Coming to the technical crux of the course, I saw the girl in front of me dab off her bike. Ready for this to happen, I jumped off and started sprinting downhill through the rocks. I passed her, but soon was passed by my teammate Lindsey. Trying to stay on, I pushed as the course went from downhill rocky to enduro-fast. We all aired out on the mini tabletops across the trail at the bottom, and soon I was entering the final stretch. I could hear the clanking of a competitors bike behind me, and all I could think was, "There is NO WAY this girl is gonna beat me." We tore down the open fire road. Ahead was the last corner, leading into the brief sprint stretch to the finish line. Neck and neck we came into the corner. I braked, HARD. She was ahead of me out of the corner. People were screaming my name, thinking I was losing.

But I was winning.

You see, I'd dropped about seven gears before I'd hit the corner. She'd kept her high gear to pass me through the corner, but it was too hard to pedal down the finish stretch. In my easier gear, I stood up and SPRINTED past her. All said and done, I ended up in 8th place of 13 starters, learning the tough lesson about getting after my starts and being more aggressive throughout the race. But I had a great time, the course was the sweetest Super D I've ever been on.

And the other piece of sweetness? I found out that I'd gotten 4th in my XC race, better than I'd thought. I didn't realize it, but apparently I'd passed a couple of my competitors on the initial descent. Woot.

Finally, it was time to party. With Short Track, XC, and SD out of the way, us endurance weenies were done and ready to enjoy a wonderful member of the Mafia Family (sponsor), Pabst Blue Ribbon. Well earned!