Lumberjack 100: 2, Me: 1

Yes!! Lumberjack 100 was great and third time was a charm. I had two goals for the day: 1) finish and 2) have fun. I did finish and it was pretty fun so I call that a success.

I decided to pace myself very conservatively so I could actually maintain and hopefully get faster on each of the 3x33 mile laps. I went out feeling great but with the plan of holding back for at least 4 hours. My goal was to finish under 9 hours. Seeing that I have not, by a NUE racer's standards, at all been training for a 100 mile race I thought that was a reasonable expectation for myself.

The course is deceivingly hard. Many of the sections are flat but there is 9000 ft. of climbing over 100 miles..and the climbs are short and steeeeep. It's a pure power course and I am decidedly NOT a power rider. In any case, it was about 90% singletrack and that would be my strong suit for the day. As long as I was on singletrack I was doing OK. I lost time on the steep climbs and on the flat doubletrack sections. Hmmmph. I definitely need to work on that. I also had a less than ideal tire choice for the day. I always love my Conti Mountain King 2.2 with protection...in 99% of my races they are the best choice for me. BUT...on this course I really should have run the Conti Race King. On every soft steep climb I would realize that my tires were overkill for the day!! I think there was about one rock and maybe 3 roots on the whole trail. Oh well!

About 30 miles into the race, a guy passed me just at the top of a little hill..just before a fast singletrack descent. I hoped he could pick up the pace a little bit but he was going really slow..coasting, not making use of the opportunity to rail the really fun singletrack. I asked to pass back and he wouldn't let me. I started getting annoyed as I really needed these downhills to make up for my lack of climbing fitness. However, I was just following too close to his wheel and didn't see a small tree to the left beyond him. My handlebar clipped it and I flew..and hit the ground HARD. I hit with my shoulder/side and face. I felt my entire left side of my ribcage move..I almost threw up. I thought my face was a mess with the way everyone who stopped was looking at me with a look of horror. I sat there for a minute and quickly surveyed everything. My bike looked OK minus a broken shock lock-out lever. I was bruised up and bleeding a little but I thought I could still ride. I had a hard time standing up much but I was determined to finish the remaining 70 miles of the race. For the rest of that lap I was pretty shaken up..I was mad at myself for being impatient and riding carelessly when I already felt like I was cursed at this race.

I stopped in between laps and grabbed some Aleve and refilled my PowerBar stuff. I kept going. My laps didn't get faster...they actually got slower..much slower.. but I knew I was going to eventually finish. I thought about my little Bob all day...how he had been lost for 5 days in Knoxville..away from his family, his bed, his food, his toys. But, Bob is a fighter. That kept me motivated all day..For once, I really didn't care about anyone else racing or what place I was in.

On my last lap, at the top of the last climb, about a mile from the finish, I shifted my front derailleur and something made my chain drop behind my small ring into the frame. I freaked out. I stood there for a few minutes carefully trying to yank my chain out without breaking anything or scratching the frame. A few guys rode by me and just looked at me and said.."Wow. That SUCKS." Haha. I guess it is every man or woman for themselves at that point in the race. It finally came loose but it would cause me to lose even more time..I finished one minute and 50 seconds over my goal time of 9 hours.

Still, if I hadn't crashed or had that little mechanical issue I would have come in well under my goal. That makes me really happy because I really had my doubts about how I would do at a hundie...this was 35 miles longer than my longest races this year. I ended up finishing in 5th, just behind Cheryl, Jen, Danielle (on a SS), and Karen.

I was beginning to think I had actually broken a rib but after a day of resting I think I just bruised several of them. I'm sure I will be OK to ride..that's good because I still have some more racing to do before school starts again!