Lumberjack 100 2010 Report
Namrita and I headed up a week early to visit with her parents and some friends. I used the time to visit some MI bicycle retailers on Topeak‘s behalf. The new job is going really well and I’ve been a sponge for any info I can glean from the retailers about he Topeak brand and the industry itself. I’m a total bike geek, so to be immerse myself such a variety of products is thrilling for me. Anyway, on to the race….
We woke before the crack of dawn as is usual for this 7:00 AM starts. It never fails that I dream about oversleeping when I have to get up at 4:30. 99% of the prep for the race was already done down the coffee just waiting for someone to press the start button. We ate, a gathered our stuff (we checked out of cabin that morning), heeded the call of nature and drove on to the venue. I made sure our tub of food and drinks, the cooler and the tool box were all in our pit area and then did a short warm up before the start. This race is a mad dash for the single track, so getting loosened up and even hitting a few hard efforts really helps reduce the shock of that hard effort at the beginning.
I lined up in the second row knowing I was going to draft into the singletrack anyway. The group rolled out with a neutral start for the first 1/4 mile then the lead out pulls off and it’s on. There is a total of 2 miles of pavement before we hit the dirt, so I slowly worked my way up toward the top 10 or so by following anyone heading that way. I made sure to keep my nose out of the wind to conserve as much as I could for the first few early climbs. Once I reached a position in the group that seemed manageable I settled in and waited….it didn’t take long.
With Schalk, Tangguy, Simonson and company on the front I was surprised at first and then a little scared to see two guys gunning to get into the single track first. I was scared because I trusted the aforementioned riders to string out the group at a high pace which would keep things safe. When we bunch up people get stupid and crash….I don’t like crashing. Luckily these two just gunned it until they blew and peeled off leaving the enduro-monsters to do their work.
The single track started fairly wide which left room for passing. I continued to draft as much as possible. jumping on a passing wheel as it suited me. The first climb made the selections. The enduro-monsters created a group of 7 or so and surged on. I was in the next group which would become 5 or 6 as we came together on the flat two-track sections. I worked hard through the first 8 miles to get to Andy Applegate‘s wheel and then let him do a bulk of the work. I came around and took long pull on two track, but was very happy that Andy was content to do the work through all the rest. This course allows for drafting and the benefits are noticeable. I came around about 25 miles in to lead on two track section and then continued into the single track again. As nice as having the draft was it was also nice to be able to control my own momentum over the hills and around the turns.
I pushed the pace a bit to thin our group. I knew Andy would make the selection and most likely continue to do a lot of the pulling in the second lap, but I didn’t know any of these other guys. Unfortunately I didn’t make my own selection. I hit this particularly steep hill with speed and planned to march right over the top, but three pedal strokes in and POP! Next thing I know I’m nearly fallen over sideways as all the tension in my drivetrain goes away. The chain broke.
I would have been smiling if I was not being passed by 20 guys, but I was super prepared. Opening my saddle bag, I knew I had everything I needed to fix the problem. The Mini 20 Pro for the chain hook and breaker and just the day before I picked up two sets of SRAM 10 speed Powerlinks which I stowed in my Rescue Box for safe keeping. I quickly set about repairing my chain and may have lost about 5 minutes on the hold deal.
Chasing hard 30 miles into a 100 mile race is dumb and I should know better. The best strategy is to keep a steady pace and not make mistakes. What did I do? I chased hard. I passed 5 or 8 guys quickly, nearly crashing into one of them in a turn I didn’t see coming. I red lined up the last two climbs, railed the descents and was in full time trial mode when I came into the pit for the first time (this hundie is a 3 lap format).
3 fresh bottles and a half can of BURN Squared later I was off hoping the caffeine would keep me charged enough to get back to the top ten on this next lap. Passing and attacking everything in sight, I charged on still making up lost time. 6 or 8 miles in I’m back to the first flat two track section trying to hunt down this guy in front of me, but I can’t seem to close the gap to more than a fifty yards. Mean while a group of 6 formed behind and are pacelining up to me. After a few more minutes of futile chasing/running, the group behind caught me. I jumped in the line for a few minutes and then all the effort I had been putting in for the last hour caught up to me. I sat up and watched them all pull away.
Suddenly I had no motivation to sit in a group and bide my time. I wanted to be on the attack and ran out of the juice to get it done. Instead I cruised along and thought. I thought about my dad who was having an angioplasty on Monday, my sister who was in the hospital with two blood clots and what would soon be determined as a tumor in her heart, my wife who has been heartbroken all week about one of the dogs we once fostered who has been missing…..and then about random stuff: the latest book I’ve been reading, what the weather must be like back home, what was happening in the World Cup today. Slowly though my focus came back to riding, my pedal stroke, cornering, keeping momentum.
Toward the end of the lap I had not seen anyone and I was grateful for that. Being alone in my head was what needed. Every once in a while I’d see this guy slowly creeping closer from behind and I’d only pick up the pace to continue being alone. “I can let that guy catch me” slowly turned into “you can catch that guy up there” as I came back into traffic. I attacked a descent with just few miles to go on lap number 2 and carried the momentum up and over the next climb, then down again and finally into the start/finish. “Looking good rider, you are number 21!”
Noticing a few riders from that train that dropped me earlier in the pits got me fired up a bit. I swapped bottles again, chugged the rest of the BURN and rolled. I ended up with Scott Cole and Thom Parsons for the first few miles and then Thom and I pulled away. Thom would go a little harder on the steep climbs and then I would go faster on the descents. I nearly crashed passing him as I tried to keep my momentum over the top of one climb. Then like someone refilled the tank I was able to get on the gas and go. It was a combo of resting for some much of the last lap and the energy bomb that is/was BURN (BURN Energy Drinks went away a few years ago and I nursing the last few cans in existence). I got around Thom and just milked every turn and descent for all the speed I could get. I was back to racing.
Slowly, but surely I reeled riders back in and it felt good. It felt right. At the start of the day I was really aiming for a top ten, my first in an NUE race. Now I had no care at all about my placing, I just wanted to go hard and feel good. I was focused and drilling it. I did worry about my chain, but that just kept me smooth and b y the this 3rd lap there were no more surprises on the course. Over the last two climbs I passed 3 more racers and then kept it steady to the line….7:29 and change. 32 minutes better than last year and good enough for 12th place in the Open category and 14th over all (there’s some darn fast singlespeed dudes out there). Namrita finished up 5th in the Women’s race and more importantly finished her first Lumberjack.
Many thanks to the race staff and volunteers at the Lumberjack 100, Scott and Danielle for the hospitality, our amazing sponsors for the absolute best equipment available, and to our family for their support of this odd need to spend long ours in the woods flogging ourselves for reasons that we can’t even explain.