I HEART Angel Fire

I was bummin hard cause my teammate Janis was supposed to drive with me to Angel Fire for the Chile Challenge... and she had to cancel at the last minute. I did the drive by myself last year and was not looking forward to doing it again by myself.

But fortunately for me uber roadie, Michael Lange, decided at the very last second that he wanted to give a shot at his first mtb race in a long time... 4+ years. I'd sent out an email to friends asking if anyone was looking for a ride... and sure enough he was. And I must say he was quite the entertainment for the ride... as well as the entire weekend.

So I made plans to meet early Friday morning in order to get there for a Super-D practice run. But knowing me.... it always takes me an extra hour to actually get rolling when I am the one driving. I am a compulsive packer... and I hate leaving things behind. So I picked up Mike and we were on our merry way... and we left just in time to get to Angel Fire and pull a practice run.

The drive went by fast. I had met Mike casually on some group road rides in Golden... but never have gotten to know him. At 25 he rides for the Jelly Belly team and kicks some serious booty on the road. He is quite the character.... in his 5'2" stature. It is always inspiring to see other riders my size doing well in the sport. Sometimes I get discouraged cause I have the shortest legs on the planet. Why did I pick cycling?... that's a whole other story.

We rolled into Trinidad... and just on the other side... the rain and wind picked up heavily. I swear EVERY time I make this drive down it's blowing rains across I-25 in southern Colorado. The poor motorcyclists were getting blown off the road... most of them were going 25mph in the emergency lane. I was quite scarred that my bikes were going to blow off.

We rolled into New Mexico and turned off to head to Angel Fire. You could see clouds lurking off in the distance.... they were getting closer and closer... and soon enough we were in the park looking at snow caps on the tops of the mountains. Oh boy... I thought... we are in for some cold snow and mud. However the mud at Angel Fire Resort could quite possibly be the best to race in. I had some great downhill runs at a Final Descent race here in heinous mud a few years back.

I'd left early just to get my practice Super-D run in.... and I had lost all motivation as we rolled into town. It was gloomy, rainy, muddy... and snowing at the top. Not to mention the lift ticket was $15... and I would only be able to get one run in. After I whined for a bit... I decided to exnay the practice run for the day. I would have plenty of time Saturday morning. So I went to our condo... and took a much needed nap. Ahhh. A few hours, a large sandwich, chips, and 4 cookies later I decided to head out for a spin in the cold. The thermometer on the sign rollin into town was reading 38deg. Brrr... what happened to our 85deg weather in Denver last week? The plan was 45min spin. Mike had been out for a while and had come back to the condo to pick me and Tough Girl Brenda up for a spin. We turned down the highway...spinning away... and poor Brenda... she said she wasn't feeling good and hightailed it back to the condo.... later to find out that she had yacked on the way back. What's up with Tough Girls and stomach bugs at these races?

Mike and I kept going... then out of no where rolls in the snow. I had my nice thermal jacket on... but still wasn't ready for that. When we left it was sunny. So we turned back as our faces were getting pelted with snowflakes. My 45 min spin... was shortened to 25. Oh well... at least I got out. We hit the pizza place up for dinner that night and then off to bed for my early Super-D start.

The lift opened at 8am for practice. I usually try to get 2 practice runs in before my race run... 3rd times a charm. But with the miserably cold temperature... 27degs or something... 1 was going to be plenty. 8:15 at the lift and I was headed up. I was pretty close to the only person wearing lycra for this Super-D. More Downhillers come out for this one cause it is heavy on the "D". But amongst my lycra were some goggles and knee pads... so I was a little bit of a downhiller at heart that morning. I must say it amazes me how everyone is so cheery on the lift at 8am. I guess it is just the excitement... I was thinking I would have rather been in my warm bed at the time. We got to the top... and headed down to the start area. Same start area as last year. I headed down the run behind a small pack of guys. We dropped down the fire road and then we all compiled at what we thought was the first turn. Well it was the same turn we made last year... down the old Beta DH course... and it was looking pretty rocky and snowy. We popped out and there were no more course markings??? but we could see the course off the left and we jumped back on.

I had to literally stop about 10 times during my practice run. My body temp was fine but my hands were sooooo incredibly numb. In fact I nailed a tree with my left hand during my run. Later about halfway down my finger was throbbing so bad... I stopped to pull my glove off to look at it to see if I had broken it. But it was okay... just a popsickle. I made it down... and thought... this was going to be the most brutal Super-D I have raced. I have raced a lot... about 15+ over the past 4 years... and none in the cold, snow, and mud. But I'm a Tough Girl right? i was definitely not feeling so tough.

I went back to my condo for some more coffee, glove liners, and handwarmers. The plan was just to keep my hands from going numb so I could hang on to my handlebars. It was time... and back to the lift. I timed it perfect with just a few minutes to spare before we went off. No sense in standing at the top freezing to death.

I guess I forgot to mention in all this that I was riding a new bike, my SCOTT Ransom, Scott's 6" all mountain bike. Prior to my race run... I had riddin it up and down Apex in Golden... and for my practice run... yep that was it. But as you will see... it didn't seem to matter much. The Open women took the start line. I looked around... i was the only one not wearing baggy shorts. We were off! Pushing our bikes up the hill while running... we turned the corner and I was the 2nd girl on my bike out of 7 or so.... but wait... i guess i didn't practice my cyclocross mount on this bike enough. Ummm the seat was a little higher than my xc bike. Despite the fact that I was not wearing baggy shorts... I still managed to get my shorts caught on the back of my saddle.... dope... felt pretty dumb. I did some shimmy maneuver and I was on... but in the meantime 2 gals had passed me. I was in 4th. I tried to clip in my pedals and the mud was causing me to fail miserably. I whacked my feet against the pedals several times... and finally I was in... and now sitting in last place. My heart sank... and I told myself just ride it out and have fun. And I did. We buzzed down some fast pedally sections.. and wait there was one of the girls... and just in front of her was another. I caught up quick... and then I passed. And then there was s few more of them... I was flying past them. What the heck I though to myself? Alright so I was sitting in 4th or so. We go to a techy section and then I was in 3rd.... wow. And then it turned out that the course I was riding was way longer than the way I had ridden it earlier in the morning. It had been marked wrong before... and I missed 3 climbs! Well the climbing worked out to my advantage... My SCOTT Ransom has a lockout system on the rear shock... and I flipped it into locked out mode on the hills... and I just rode by everyone. Sweet! I was in the lead. What the heck?! I guess I have a new strategy. Cause before I would always get the wholeshot and have the lead 2/3ds the race and then loose it somehow. But now I came from the back!

I took to the front very easily. I had cross country the next day and there was no sense in pushing it too hard and making a mistake. So i just rode and smiled and giggled. I love Super-D! I pedaled and pedaled and to the finish. I FINALLY WON A SUPER-D!!! I was elated. I have had the worst luck trying to win one of these... and this time it was even in the OPEN field... racing against 5 pro downhillers and a pro XC rider. I felt good! Me and my little Expert self.... I smiled big :)

So after my much needed Super-D win... I headed back to the condo to rest up for XC the next day. I celebrated with several glasses of wine... which doubled in settling my nerves. Sunday morning rolled around... and my legs were still feeling worked from Super-D.... after all it was a 24 min anaerobic effort. I warmed up well... but just did not have legs for that first climb. I got to the top and my morale was low.... but I kicked it in a notch as I headed for the sweet descent... and my smile was back. I HEART Angel Fire. Where else can you get such a challenge in every aspect of xc mountain biking? You have to have the fitness to make it to the top close to the front of the pack... and the technical skills to hold on for a sweet and tough descent. This is truly mountain biking! Well I guess my descending skills were still in check cause I caught 4 or 5 girls and even one who put 5 mins on me on the climb. I was having a blast! And up for lap 2... and the legs felt good. I held my spot hoping to catch a few more gals on the next descent... but I didn't... they were on fire. Despite not having legs on the first climb... i still managed to pull off 5th out of 14 gals. I was happy. It was my first climbing race of the year... and 5th was not shabby.

Overall I had a great weekend of races, got to hang out with friends, and the weather came around for a beautiful Sunday. I am all smiles.

And for the rest of the Team... Pro Tough Girl Judy Freeman had a strong XC race placing 5th out of 17, Junior Expert Rider Meghan Kane finished 3rd in her field, and Amy Robillard finished strong in 6th out of 10 in the Expert Women 40+