Lumberjack 100 – 2011
This report is a little late due to our excursion to Costa Rica….I’ll write about that soon enough.
This was my 4th Lumberjack so I was not expecting many surprises but the mention of new “run up” section during the race meeting had me a little apprehensive. I quickly forgot about it though and went about warming up. The start was standard for the Lumberjack which means long, flat and fast. I positioned myself well in about 12th place and held that all the way to the singletrack. Feeling comfortable just behind Jeff Shalk and Christian Tanguy, I made no effort to move up from there.
The first 6 or 8 miles is a series of short steep rollers which I felt really good on. Typically little gaps would open in front of me when I’m trying to hang in the lead group, but not today. I was right in the mix. As we exited the rollers and into a long flat doubletrack section I was a little surprised I was still in the lead group. I usually last about 10 miles and then fall back some into my own pace. Jeff and Christian are the favorites in any NUE race, so I stayed behind them as others came up from behind trying to move forward in the group.
As we hit the trail again it was a little chaotic. The lead group had swelled to about 20 riders and there was some rubbing as everyone wanted a good position into the singletrack. Someone nearly took out Shalk who nearly took out me. We both managed to keep it upright and get into the top 10.
Cruising along at the Lumberjack 100:
The laps were 33 miles with a SAG in the middle. The SAG came and went with me still glued to Christian’s wheel. He was relaxed and biding his time until he would attack later when the group thinned some more. I on the other hand was starting to question whether I should be trying to hang on to this group or not. One glance back at the empty trail behind me made me decide to stay with the draft as long as I could without burning the proverbial matches.
Then the run up came. The first couple of guys tried to ride it, but didn’t even try. It was steep and loose sand. I knew I’d spend energy I couldn’t spare. I trotted up with back half of this group and hoped to make the split that was sure to come as we hit the double track that followed. I remounted and looked down the road where the lead 8 riders were disappearing around a corner. I put my head down in a TT aero-tuck and drilled it. I came closer and wasn’t pulling anyone with me so I stayed after it, but after another few minutes I knew I wasn’t going to keep this up for long and I was acutely aware of the steep rollers that coming very soon. I eased up and let a few chasers catch me, then drafted them. At the same time we were reentering the singletrack and that lull allowed us the three of us to catch back up. The lead 20 was now back down to the lead 12 or so.
I wanted to move up some so I had a little room to drift back if needed on the coming steep pitches, but the aggressive pace and tight trail made that not worth the effort. I managed to hold on over the first pitch, but the gap really opened on the second one. Then a stick jumped up into my rear der and I had to ease up for just a second to clear it and that was it. I could have closed it, but I knew better than to dig that deep only 30 miles into a 100 miler.
Somewhere on the second lap of the Lumberjack 100: http://www.jhkunnenphoto.com/p76506709/e309912f4
The lap transition and the following lap were pretty smooth. I eased back my pace a little more than I wanted too, but I know my limits and I was right there on the edge. A group of racers including singlespeeders Pflug and Ferrari caught me on the flat double track section. That was a little discouraging, but kept my pace steady, ate, drank and waited for the last lap.
I caught and passed a few riders at the end of the second lap that had also stayed in the lead group a little too long, but didn’t recover well. As fast as that group was I expected to catch a few more this way. I took a little too long in the transition for my liking, but that happens sometimes when I’m tired and self-supported. A few riders passed me while I lubed my chain, which gave me some rabbits to chase.
Christopher Michaels was one of those that passed me, but reeled him quickly, passed and gave a small attack. He didn’t chase much so I kept pushing so I wasn’t pulling him in the doubletrack section. I looked back about half way through that section and didn’t see him, so I felt like I could settle back into my endurance pace. As soon as I hit the singletrack he reappeared. Since there was not room to pass I eased a little and waited for the next opportunity to attack.
We caught up to a couple of singlespeeders and one other guy. This was my chance to try again. I didn’t have the juice for full on attack, so just set the best tempo I could up a longish climb and attacked the descent. I looked back to an empty trail. Not five minutes later the cramps started. The heat of the day had been building those efforts were taking there tool. I focused on my pedaling, drained a bottle and ate some Honey Stinger chews. The cramps stopped as quickly as they came, but I wasn’t going to be doing much attacking for while.
I was too worried about someone catching me from behind to stop at the SAG and they didn’t have anything ready when I came through. Keeping the pace steady I pushed on. I started each lap with three bottles, two 24 oz, one 20 oz. I was down to the one 20 oz’er. I would have to nurse it until the end. The run up, the doubletrack, and then the steep rollers, then that last bit with two climbs. I was ticking them off in my head.
Some where in there Christopher caught me again. I upped my pace slightly and wanted to keep him behind me, but we hit some traffic (other riders being lapped). I went left and Christopher went right. The guy we were passing went left and I stalled. Christopher put in a little attack, but I was right to his wheel. We played this game for a few miles. Going up the last longish climb I saw two guys we could catch up ahead exiting a switchback. Christopher slowed into the switchback more then necessary. I spoke up, letting him know that we could reel them in, but we had to go now. After a couple seconds of hesitation he said “go ahead,” so I did.
Smiling or gritting my teeth as Christopher Michaels latches to my wheel yet again: http://www.jhkunnenphoto.com/p76506709/e2d1b746e
I still didn’t have big attack left in me, but I also knew it was only a couple of minutes to the top of this one and then one more short climb before that last mile of flatness. For a minute I thought Christopher would follow me hoping to attack at the finish, but if that was his plan he didn’t have the legs to execute. I caught Greg Kuhn near the top, passed and focused on Ernesto who was still ahead. I pretty sure he saw me coming, but I wasn’t going to give up. I attacked the next little climb with Greg on wheel.
Near the top of that last climb I knew Ernie was gone and I’d have to deal with Greg, if not Christopher too. I eased up and accessed the damage. My legs felt OK, but there was only few efforts left in there. Greg was right on my wheel, but Christopher was out of sight. I attacked the descent and gained a few seconds. We made a hard right turn and passed a lapped rider. I attacked hard hoping to open a gap, but Greg jumped too and was back on my wheel.
I set a pace that would discourage passing, yet conserved a little energy. Greg was drafting which meant he was spending less energy. I also caught him, so that was slight advantage to me. Still we were about a half of a mile from the finish, so anything could happen. I attacked in a random spot just to see what he had left and responded quickly. Not good. That meant a sprint finish. I was 0-1 in sprints so far this season. I got psyched up and lead it out with a hard kick of an effort. I could feel Greg about a half of a bike length to my left. We kicked again into the finishing straight and then both threw our front wheels forward in a last ditch effort to take the lead. I took it by less than a wheel length. Christopher was 20 seconds back and Ernesto was just 10 seconds ahead.
Greg and I missed the turn to go under the finish arch, but our sprint was for the timing maps, so it didn’t matter….thankfully: http://www.jhkunnenphoto.com/p76506709/e34a68b37
I was pleased with my effort despite finishing in 11th again. The field was very strong this year and the course a little harder with that run up and the climb up to it. The best part was that I took 13 minutes off last year’s time. I’m still getting faster.