Lumberjack 100

It's a wrap. I came, I rode, I finished. The weekend started with the drive to Big M ski area for packet pick-up and to set up the team tent and get some dinner.





We got the hook-up at a nearby fly fishing lodge and the place was ideal considering there is very little lodging in the area. 0500 Saturday morning, ate some cereal, fruit and we were off to the start.


Conditions were perfect although there had been a great deal of rain in the area, the course was 97% dry. The temperature was in the 70's with clear skies. It was a little hectic getting ready and such and I found my normal routine was out the window. Start time was 0700 and the start line was 2 miles from our team pit, so I was scrambling to get ready and out to the start line where everyone was staging. I found my way to the back of the line, turned around and we were off. Fun and games.

I chose to hang back and avoid getting caught up in the pack frenzy. I though this would allow things to thin out before we hit the singletrack. Wrong. 100 yards into the trail is a large climb where everyone was forced to push their bike up. After 200 riders trudge up the soft sand the hill was unrideable (for me at least). This caused riders to bunch together and it took a full lap to spread the field. The majority of lap 1 it was difficult to establish a good rythm due to the stop and go. The trail is 100% singletrack and has a variety of long climbs and fast sweeping descents through wooded forest. The sandy soil was packed down well from the recent rains and was very smooth. There are no fire roads to rest, zone out and/or recover on so you have to be on it the entire 25 mile loop. The other 3% of the trail was under water. The depth was knee deep and consisted of a mix of wood pulp, silt, water, mud and resembled a bayou. It was unrideable and there was no way to avoid it. My feet were toast with the combination of fine silt swirling around inside. Lap 2 was much better with the field strung out. My nutrition/hydration plan was working and I felt good. Hammer Nutrition is amazing stuff. On lap 3 at about the 65 mile mark I felt like I hit a wall and things were becoming difficult. Even small hills that I had no problem with earlier felt like they were getting steeper and I had to spin easy to clear them. My AVG speed was plummeting. I had completed lap 3, took a brief rest, and assembled with my teammates for lap 4 prior to the 4:30pm cut-off. We (Daniel, K-Diddy and I) were in survival mode for the final lap. K-Diddy mentioned we should ride together to the aid station prior to the bayou. He said it was not the usual aid station at events with cups of questionable water and warm HEED. This place had everything you could ever dream of. I had passed up this aid station 3 times since I was carrying everything I needed and I was curious to see what he was talking about. I was not disappointed. Their inventory resembled a 7-11. The friendly girl working there poured me a cold Coke, I ate watermelon, strawberries, a banana, a PBJ finger sandwich, an Oreo and I was golden. We started off towards the swamp and the finish. I wanted to get it over with and was feeling a second wind (I think it was the Coke)and pushed it hard to the finish. My un-official time (excluding breaks) was 9:53:04 over 102.25 miles. What a great event. I am ready to come back next year and now have a personal time to beat. More photos here.
Results:
95th Overall (out of 250 entrants)
8th Place in 50+ division
11h:18m:47s