Voodoo Fire
The first stop on the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series was held at a new venue, Lake Pueblo State Park. With its large singletrack trail system, no major climbs and just pure fun singletrack, this was a great first race of the season.
At registration Friday evening, a little monkey wrench was thrown into the mix. There was a last minute problem with a permit issue and the course had to be changed. Instead of two 35 mile loops, we would have three 23 mile loops. These last minute issues can be tough, but the race crew put together one sweet course without any issues.
The race started with a good uphill pavement section, which thinned out the group before entering the singletrack. I managed to hang in the top twenty. It would been nice to be in the top ten, but the legs wouldn’t cooperate that early in the race.
The first section of singletrack brought us to a little climb that bogged up the race, not a bad section, but a slip by one rider and everyone was walking. This section seemed to put most people in recovery mode. On the earlier road section I may not have had legs but they came around now, and it was time to make some moves and put the power to the pedals. Now let the passing begin!
Passing was not easy early in the race; you had to make a commitment to pass in the “rhubarb”, as a friend likes to say. This was power zapping and it took some time to recover after each pass, but you needed to keep pushing the power out for the next catch and to make sure you weren’t getting passed back.
Managing to keep catching riders, I soon found myself in the top ten or fifteen. The legs felt good, the bike was working great and I was having fun! This being the first race in quite some time, I found myself making a few mistakes, but riding solid.
As I came into the Aid at the end of the first lap I had worked a pebble into my shoe. I stopped, took a seat and fixed the issue. I took this opportunity to grab some Infinit and a Kep’s Pollen Ball then headed back out for lap 2.
Lap 2 was sweet and super fast as the traffic had eased. More and more riders were getting passed and many were fixing flats. This course was not technical by any means, but had lots of mean shale rocks strewn all over the trail. They were taking their toll on many racers’ lightweight race tires. I had opted for Schwalbe’s Racing Ralph in Double Defense; with their thicker casing I was having no troubles and loving it ripping the corners.
At the start of the third lap, I really had no idea of where I was sitting, but knew I had been having a great race. This is when fatigue hit and I had to really think about hydration and fueling. At my drop bag a rider passed me; I quickly went out to try and catch him. This guy (Kevin Thomas) was fast and on a single speed. Kevin was crushing it and at that point I was just reminding myself to keep the power to the pedals, drink and try to keep Kevin in sight.
The first section of the course was super fun and fast, but after the first Aid Station there was a section that just beat you up with its bumpy, lumpy singletrack. Everyone was talking about this section after the race and on this final lap it seemed to last forever. In the previous laps, I had some company to ride with, but this time all I could do is watch Kevin up the trail and look forward to this section’s end. It couldn’t come fast enough on this last lap!
Starting to feel the hurt, I finally got to the second Aid Station. At this point I knew the end was near. I was really trying to push, but there was not much to push with. A rider caught me in Rock Canyon, he had legs and I tried to match it but only managed to stay close. We rode the last couple of miles to the finish thirty seconds apart.
Rolling into the finish, I was surprised to hear the announcer say that I had finished in the top ten. Wow was I surprised! This was the first big race of the year and I was really hoping for an outside shot at a top twenty. I ended up 9th overall and 5th in my age group. Guess the winter skate skiing, trainer sessions and cold road bike rides paid off.
I want to thank all of my sponsors for help in my training and racing. Thanks to Kep’s Pollen Balls, Infinit and Honey Stinger for fuel! Thanks to No Tubes for fast rolling Wheels! Thanks to Breck Velo for tech support! Thanks to Schwalbe for some sweet tough tires, Formula for brakes to slow me down when I need to, Light and Motion for keeping the lights on when I ride in the dark and New Sponsor Santa Cruz for getting me sweet rides to Cruz on!
Thanks!
Looking forward to the next race!
Ezekiel Hersh
