Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 2

Part 2 is going to follow through a little photo montage of the weekend.  There are huge chunks missing since I wasn't taking a ton of pictures while racing (duh), but let me share a few things:

First, the pre-ride.  This time I DID have my phone with me to snap a couple of shots of the course.  Much of it looked just like this.  There were a few miles of sandy fire roads, and a TON of singletrack.

My wife was kind enough to grab a couple shots of Kenda course tape.  What we do without pictures of course tape!?

We missed some shots of the mass-start, which I can't help but to assume was fun to watch.  400 or so people buzzing down the road on knobbies at 25+ mph had to be kind of neat.

Luckily there were a few shots snapped coming in after lap 1.  Think it was a but dry and dusty out there?

Here's Rob coming in after lap 2.  Still in good spirits, it's all about getting out for lap 3.

Barry Wicks is a nice dude, but when someone is able to win a 100 mile MTB race in under 6:30 and have a smile on their face at the end I just want to punch them.

And then there's me, rumbling through the finish at 8:27.  Exhausted, but I had a great time up there.  I'll be back again.

Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 1

So, that happened.  I'll delve into more detail in the following days, but suffice it to say this year went better than last, I had more fun, I went faster, but I hurt just as much.

Now that I'm home I'm finding my palms are slightly bruised, the cramps that were making some of the climbs unbearable have left my legs feeling like they were run over by a truck, and my arms are so tired I can barely lift them.

When I pulled into our tent after finishing I was so out of it I almost felt like I hadn't finished and needed to go back out onto the course.  It took over an hour with a cool towel on me before I could even think about walking to the car, and when I did whatever was left of my nutritional strategy made a reappearance.  After a long shower and an entire pizza to myself, I actually felt ok.

Within a three hours or so of finishing I realized I had a blast, I pushed myself beyond anything I'd ever accomplished, I'm so proud of all of my teammates, and I'll be back again next year.  If ever there were a course designed around my mountain biking skill-set, it's Lumberjack.  When the trails get really dicey and technical, I lose a lot of time.  But when you can really see where you're going, the trails are fast, and the course requires you to pedal a lot, I can manage.

My goal time of 8:30 was met with an 8:27.  I missed my dream time of 8:00 because of some outrageous leg cramps which started around mile 55 and stuck with me until about mile 80 pretty solidly, then reappeared at various times throughout the remainder of the course.

I'll leave you with this screen shot.  The elevation profile for the entire Lumberjack 100 course.  The opening climb is about 5 miles and 500ft of climbing.  The first time up it's not so bad, but when I hit it at just over 5 hours into the race and 66 miles behind me, it was rough.  The true killer for me was the final climb, which is extremely sandy and steep.  At about 3 miles long and 400ft of climbing, with feet that were on fire and legs cramping, that climb almost got me.

Welcome to Lumberjack 100!

The drive is done, the training is in the books, my bike is ready, now it's time to find out if my legs can make it. 

I've just returned from about 15 miles of riding on the course and it's exactly as I remember it.  Plenty of going up, a ton of sand, ferns galore, and a lot of fun.  This is my kind of trail riding, very little fear of smacking into a huge rock and a lot of speed.  The trail is very buffed out for the most part with the sand smoothing it out, but it's easy to find yourself drifting off the trail if you aren't paying attention.  Much like a cyclocross race, sand can push you around, and if you work too hard against it you'll end up on the ground.

For me, I've found a really smooth tread has made the trail feel fast and the smooth tread doesn't dig into sand.  If you stay light on the bike it glides through the sand and doesn't push you too much.

Enjoy these couple of photos, I wish I could have talked myself into stopping to take more.  The vast majority of the course looks just like this, smooth and fast.

Wish me luck tomorrow as I come back to this race.  Last year I was coming off of a nasty cold and the climbing got to me.  This year I am coming back to show myself I can do this.

I also want to wish all of my comrades out there the best of luck tomorrow.  Ride hard, have fun, and I'll see you at the finish.

Lumberjack 100 Weather Update

This weekend will see my second attempt at The Lumberjack 100.  Last year I went into the race after 2 full weeks off of the bike and about a week in bed.  A nasty bug of some sort got me and left me out of the game.  I attempted the race, finished the first lap and started my second, but knew there was no way I'd finish and pulled the plug.

More recently, Coach Ted has had me training consistently, I've stayed healthy thus far, and am amped to give this another go.

Here's the weather forecast for this week, going into this weekend, in Cadillac:

Since this will (hopefully) be my first completed 100 mile MTB race, I'm in it to finish it.  Awesome weather means everyone will be fast, and I'm fine with that.  I want to get this one under my belt so I can come back next year and race it.

But, let's focus on next weekend first.....