Ride for Rocky - Voodoo Fire Race Report

It's been a while since I strapped these on.   My beloved red sidis and a mtn bike helmet.

Since my running obsession began - I've ridden my mtn bike the grand total of 1 time this year - so of course I was ready to tackle a 22  actually it turned out to be 23.2 mile mtn bike race!

However, this is a race I HAD to do. Last year at this race was the last time I spent any quality time with my friend, Rocky D. Rocky passed away in December 2011. (I will never type those words without a lump in my throat)

Sign I wore - yes, my graphic designer son would be horrified by the "design"  - but I'm getting my message across!

Backstory - last year's race

Rocky lived in Pueblo and he knew all the trails at the Pueblo Rez like the back of his hand.  Last year I raced the 35 mile version and he was out there cheering and supporting me.  As anyone who has raced  a long race knows - seeing a familiar and friendly face can give you a huge mental boost.   And last year I red-lined it for 3.5 hours - Rocky was out there every 5 or 6 miles.  I can't even say how happy it made me to know he was out there and whenever I saw him - it would give me a huge energy surge and I would make sure I had the pedal to the metal.  My favorite was when i was in a canyon - Rocky was at the top on the edge of a cliff calling out my name.   It was so awesome.  It was very cold and windy that day and after the end of the race, Rocky had his car all warmed up so I could warm back up.  He drove me to my car to change out of sweaty clothes and then back to the start/finish where we hung out with my mtn bike friends.  He easily made friends with all the racers and everyone loved him.  He took over 6 hours of his day to support me and that meant a lot to me.

This year's race

Dana and I - yes, that white sheen on my face & legs is sunscreen.

So it was important for me to ride this race in his honor this year.  Unlike last year - this year the weather was perfect - high 40s/50s, minimal wind and sunshine.  Me and my pal, Dana D got up bright and early for packet pickup.  Dana was looking around and remembering how much her brother loved the trails here.  We hugged each other and took a few moments to shed some tears.  But I knew he would want me to be happy while riding the trails.  So I made up my mind that I would be happy while out on the trails.  But we still terribly miss him

I went out at a casual pace and on the 1 mile road start - I was at the back of the pack. It's kinda nice to "race" without suffering. ;)  

This course in general doesn't have much tech - just a few sections here and there but it's fast and flowy and no place to rest.  As a pro rider later told me "there's a lot of pedaling on that course".  Which of course sounds funny but any mtn biker would totally get that.

My strength is technical rocky bits.  I'm decent with cornering/turns and and decent at rocky desents - there were a several short desents as the course was rolling and twisty.  I'm not so good on the sections that require just plan ole cardio fitness.  When I hit the singletrack - I would start to gain on people in the turns.  When the course straighten out or got less twisty all the people I passed would catch back up to me.  Whenever I wasn't rolling the corners nicely - I would hear Rocky say "carve those turns" and I would smile to myself.

So the race went toward the back of the pack - I went back and forth between 4 or 5 girls.  I knew when the tech bits were coming up so I would make it a point to get ahead of the girls before those sections.  When they caught up to me on the double track or straight-a-ways - i would gladly let them by. 

At mile 17 -  I saw Dana out on course.  She had been out of course watching the racers (the 46 mile racers and 70 mile racers had started out an hour before us 23 milers.)  It was super dry - so I pulled over and lubed my chain and visited a few minutes with her. She was having a great time and it made me happy she was feeling so good.  Of course while I was stopped the girls I had been going back and forth with all passed me so off I went to pass them back before we hit the Rollercoaster trail. 

As I was getting ready to drop into Rollercoaster - there was a guy standing off the trail trying to catch his breath - I looked at my odometer and saw 20 miles on it - I said "only 2 more miles!"  He said "thank God - I might just survive this!"  I laughed and motored on.  At the end my odometer measure 23.2.  I thought of that guy and hoped he made it ok.

I always measure my race on if I ride all the tech bits - I messed up on a 1.5ft drop off and botched a tricky step up but other than that I got the rest.  I smiled to myself as I botched those sections - knowing Rocky would have said "Cynthia - you can ride that!"

sadly only a little bit of this - no it's not me. It's my badass singlespeed friend, Charlie Hayes.  The guy is a total rockstar

no clowning around on this section!

the only bummer was I put a hole in my brand new jersey when I got snagged on a Juniper tree. I thought the jersey was pretty sassy and got it with my REI dividend and 20% coupon. so sad....

boo! tore a hole in my brand new jersey! it's a tad bit dirt, salt stained - guess I broke it in right. :)

I ended the race with a huge smile on my face. Last year - I was WORKED over after this race (but I had also ridden another 10+ miles) - this year - surprisingly I felt fairly good and not worked over - just pleasantly buzzed after a great ride.  I know Rocky would have been proud.