Lumberjack 100 Race Report

Lumberjack 100, Michigan
by Michelle Schneider

Just a few miles away from the shores of Lake Michigan, Michelle Schneider and Mike Kuhn raced in the 2007 Founders Lumberjack 100 Mountain Bike race. It was a long haul to the race, but well worth the 12-hour trip to race against the seasoned elite racers of the mid-west.
The course was four laps of a 25 mile loop which was filled with short climbs and tight twisty wooded sections, all being singletrack. Although the climbs were not long or steep, the ground was very sandy, making it challenging to find and hold a good line.
All riders started at the same time, gaining speed on one mile of pavement before hitting a sandy singletrack climb. From there, the course wound up and down through the woods, crossing many dirt roads, but never riding on them. Good lines became harder and harder to find as racers wore the trail and exposed the soft sandy ground, similar to a beach. Luckily for the racers, it was not sunny that day and even spat a few raindrops, or maybe that was the spray from the nearby Lake Michigan.
In the Men’s race Mike Kuhn started with a fast pace in the top ten men. Eating and drinking was hard enough on the twisty path, harder yet when these men were pulling under 2 hour lap times consistently over the entire race. Mike placed a very respectable 15th, with a time of 7:51. He had time to clean up, eat, chat with Chris Eatough, the overall race winner, and cheer Michelle on as she rolled in.
In the women’s race, Michelle started in 3rd place and hung onto her place until the 3rd lap, when she was passed by Erika Tieszen. Thinking she was in 4th place and needing to get some speed on, she pushed harder and swung over the finish line only to find out that the gal in front of here took an unexpected break from racing. Michelle Schneider placed 3rd, with a time of 9:31.
This weekend Michelle plans to attack the 12 Hours of Roundtop, at Athens, PA. Also, the visitPA.com mountain bike team will be promoting the team stage race in Marysville, June 29-July 1.

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SRAM Bicycle Components
Gary Fisher Bicycles

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