This past weekend found me up in Manistee National Forest racing my first 100 mile mountain bike race. The Founders Brewing / Lumberjack 100 It’s part of the growing Nation Ultra Endurance Mountain Bike Series.
I don’t have much experience in mountain bike racing. In fact this was my 3rd race in the dirt. However I have lots of experience in ultra endurance events. Over the past 5 years I’ve completed 5 Ironman distance events. The experience of training and racing for 10-11 hours put me at an advantage in the pacing and nutrition department. At least I thought so. Most mountain bike races aren’t nearly this long.
The course was 25 miles of pure Michigan single track. Lots of short steep hills, sand, roots, and twisty trails. While not super technical the challenge is the distance. Too add to the difficulty I decided to race my first 100 single speed. Not recommended for your first 100 but I was up for it.
The race plan was really under ride the first lap. Getting caught up in racing and trying to hang with the skinny kids with low numbered race plates would end in disaster. I figured by the end of the 1st lap I was going to 30 minutes behind the leaders and that was OK. I wasn’t here to race I was here for a long ride and gain some experience.
The race started about 1 mile out of the park which gave the field off about 300 to string out before the park entrance the chute that narrowed things down to the single track. Riding a conservative gearing for single speed (34×18) I spun out pretty quickly and a lot of the geared riders charged ahead. No worries I was in no rush.
I used the traffic during the 1st lap to keep the pace down. I rode easy and chatted with people and checked out the terrain. It’s such a beautiful trail and would of been unfortunate to miss. I know I had a 100 miles to check it out but I figured if I not noticing how beautiful things are I’m going too fast.
I finished the 1st lap in 2:08:34. Right on target.
I grabbed a coke, and 2 bottles of Gatorade, some cliff bars and snickers. I spent as little time in transition as possible. There is a big sandy climb right out of tranistion. With my gearing I was walking and if I was walking I was drinking. I pushed my bike and drank a coke. At the top I put the bottle in my back pocket and charged along. I would repeat this on all the laps. Whenever I walked I either ate or drank. I never stopped I always kept moving forward no matter the pace.
By mid 2nd lap I was alone so while I didn’t push I knew the lap time was going to be faster from lack of traffic.
Lap 2: 2:01:59
By the start lap 3 our nice cloudy morning was gone and the sun was out in force. Things were heating up and I felt it. It was hot. I started feeling pretty bad. Which meant to slow down to eat and drink. I made sure to get a couple extra bottles in which helped as I felt better by the end of that lap.
Lap 3: 2:15:05
When I started lap 4 all I could think was about getting it done and not crashing. I was tired, hot and I hadn’t see many people over the last 75 miles. All my fun tickets were punched and I wanted to be done.
Lap 4: 2:15:54
Final time 8:41:30 Good for 8th place in the single speed division and 30th overall. (full results)
It was a great experience and I’ll do it again next year and hopefully I can get the rest of the team out with me.
-Dan Socie
