an angel on fire

After 3 solid weekends of mountain bike and road stage races, should I really be going to another race? Well, probably not. But it’s at beautiful Angel Fire Resort and features a new XC course built for the upcoming UCI World Cup. The urge to see new places, ride sweet trail and travel with friends had me packing the bike to leave one paradise (Durango) for another (Taos).

Following a long, hard day of “work” at Purgatory, I picked up Robin and we were on our way.
Robin is my Midwest sista - a good lookin’ farm girl from Michigan. She can command a tractor but can’t operate a stick shift, leaving me to pilot the Prelude to Hippyville. We entertained ourselves with exaggerated Midwest dialect, grilled cheese sandwiches, coleslaw and chocolate malts ‘ya no.’ We rolled into town with enough daylight left to see an enormous wrought iron Ranch entrance with a hanging stuffed man doll without a head. We giggled in fright. Next up was a hippy commune of subsurface homes with rubber tire art decor...enough to make Robin mumble “if someone sprays me with patchouli...” Through town which resembled Spain (although neither of us have been to Spain) and onto our Southwestern hotel. We unloaded the bikes next to 2 very friendly racer boys and went to bed without the 2 very friendly racer boys.

Our wake up call never came. No worries, a little shorter warm up, a little more sugar in the coffee. Get to registration, worries. The timing crew has closed the mens pro/expert registration. By the time the guy in front of me is done arguing with the nice lady, the timing crew has closed the womens pro/expert registration. 15 minutes before start time, the mean guy from the timing crew (who must have gotten tired of being harassed) changes his mind and now everyone can race. Our penance is a $50 entry fee and a case of Budweiser to the timing crew. Too bad I get staged with the expert women and the pro women have already taken off. Wow, I missed my start. This is a first. In disbelief, I ride off on my own, take a lap of the course and call it a day, marking another first: my first DNF as a pro. The day went better for Robin who scored a podium spot in her category, received an earthy plaque and went the whole trip without anyone spraying her with patchouli.