The third stop in the NUE series was one to remember with epic storms and floods the night before and a near perfect course except for a few blow downs and about a 1/2 mile section of mud bogs. The mostly sand course held up extremely well to the torrential rains, which actually seemed to keep the sand and dust to a minimum.

After a Friday's worth of driving I was more than happy to arrive in some cabins just outside the venue on Friday night. The drive wasn't bad just tedious with the first leg to Ann Arbor, where I met up with Steve and made the rest of the trip to Manisee National Forest.

Five o'clock on raceday sure comes around fast, eat breakfast, get dressed, hop in the van for 5 minutes, pick up packets, spin out, see some familiar faces, and the race begins.

I hadn't heard much about this race other than two things: it is 4 x 25 mile loops of pure singletrack and "I hope you like sand."

The race started and I fought for position watching the front pack head into the woods trying to hang with some people who were hopefully going my pace. The first lap tells me that I'm feeling alright and that this is not going to be my course. I forgot how flat Michigan is with lots of small up and downs and non stop pedaling. I prefer course with quite a few big climbs followed by big descents.

1 Lap down 3 to go. I head into the second lap after a short pit stop and the 1st lap euphoria slowly wears off. I begin to think of the race as being similar to a mile from high school track. First lap- run a descent split, second lap - run about the same pace, third lap- don't blow up, bell lap- the finish is in sight don't ease off the throttle. The second lap goes fine and I start to pass a few racers, not too bad.

2 down 2 to go. I roll into the pits with 4:16 or so on the clock and start to dream. Wow this is really going well, keep eating, keep drinking, keep spinning. The third lap treats me pretty well until the section after the mid lap aid station. This section of trail just seemed to take me forever. As I head into the mod bogs once again, I find them unrideable this time as too many racer have been through already softening the soil to the point where my bottom bracket sunk below the mud. I quickly find an alternate route along the side, through the woods, and make my way out of the mess. I spend lots more time pedaling wondering when the end of the third lap is about to come. At about this same time I start to feel a sharp pain in between my shoulder blades, which isn't helping the cause.

3 down 1 to go. After the third lap I decide that I can maybe finish in under 9 hours, which is not that bad for me considering it will be faster than I have finished at the Mohican which was 9:14
As I rode into the fourth lap I was still thinking high school mile, stay conservative but you are so close, keep on the gas for a strong finish. The first loop of the course goes by feeling ok for 75+ miles in. I roll into the mid lap aid station feeling with my stomach upset and back hurting. Stop and eat a little drink some water. Then latch on with a girl who looked so fresh I thought she had only done 2 laps, but it turns out she has done 3 and is in second in the females. dang! I hang with her for a while but again my back and tiring legs along with my upset stomach gets the best of me. More slummin. Keep the pedals turning and don't think about all the finish I think. Thing start to look better still hoping for under 9. Thing get worse. I roll up to some riders on their 3rd lap and see Kerry. We sort of cheer each other on which helps. More slummin, when does the pedaling end. I finally roll into the finish in 9:04. I'll be ready for the Wilderness 101 with my position changed to help my back and a better race nutrition plan.

IF racing rounded out the weekend with Harlan Price finishing 3rd, Kerry Combs in 11th, and Alex Kopko in 25th. Harlan's cyclingnews report and results here.

Labels: lumberjack, michigan, nue