Lumberjack 100 Report

Well..it was SUPPOSED to be the "Lumberjack 100", dammit. Alas - for the 3rd time outta 4 tries it was once again the "Lumberjack 75" for this boy.

Sigh.

No cramps this time. No dehydration-induced delusions, no babbling about freezing to death if I slept or hallucinations. Nope.......this time the problem was pretty simple and basic in nature.

I wasn't strong enough.

I wasn't strong enough to power the single gear that IU had w/ me over 100 miles of rolly Michigan single-track. I was....for about 65 miles. In fact, I was even going kinda fast (for me, mind you) and I was havin' a blast. My 2nd lap was easily the best lap I've ever had outta the 13 that I've ridden inthis race............I passed a buncha folks and was able to stay on top of the gear.

And that's the thing. On a single-speed you are either on top of the gear (turning it nice and fast) or you're not. And if you're not...you are screwed.

And screwed I was, after 2 and a half laps. I hit the wall and didn't have the juuice in my legs to spin that gear up the l-o-n-g grinding uphills that seemed to comprise the entire last 1/3 of the course. When your legs hurt too much to climb seated and your arms hurt too much to stand up...well, you got troubles my friend! I made it into the pits for 3 laps w/ time to go back out but it woulda been foolish as all hell. I might still be out there!

Guess I shoulda had a lighter gear, huh?

Congrats to buds Marsh, Gid and Conrad, all of whom finished. Congrats to Danielle for powerin' through a massive bonk to a podium spot and kudos to anyone that took on this race. It's kind of a badass!

Next year!