Jeff Baclet never has beaten Rocky to the finish line.
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Baclet began bringing Rocky along on mountain bike races, securing him in the backpack for his own safety. Once, while competing in the Tahoe Trail 50K Leadville Qualifier at Northstar, Baclet crashed on a downhill. Fellow competitors raced to the scene, concerned about Rocky's well-being. Baclet, meanwhile, received little sympathy. "Everybody was like, 'Is your dog OK?' And I was like, 'Yeah, he kind of just bounced off of me, but my hip is a little damaged.' And they went, 'Oh, glad to hear your dog is OK. See you at the bottom.'" In any given race, whether mountain biking or running, Baclet said Rocky elicits comments from probably 95 percent of the racers they come across. Spectators chant his name like Rocky Balboa in the classic boxing movies, and photo requests are common. And while Rocky is content with trotting at Baclet's side during trail runs, he never allows his owner to beat him to the finish line. "I've never beat him in a race. There was only one time that I had a chance, and it was when we were running toward the finish line at Squaw Valley and he was distracted by a Labrador on the side," Baclet said. "I went into a full-on sprint to see if I could beat him. And everyone started yelling, 'Rocky!" and he realized I was sprinting and he took off in a sprint and he beat me by about 2 feet." PHOTO: HARRY LEFRAK / LEFRAKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
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