Carey continues winning streak

Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) continued her winning streak at the Lumberjack 100 this weekend in Michigan. Her latest victory came at round four of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series.

Carey won the first NUE round at the Cohutta 100 in Ducktown, Tennessee by a 30-minute margin. She followed up two weeks later with a win at the Syllamo's Revenge 100km in Mountain View, Arkansas. At Syllamos', Carey fought back from a flat tire and a random mechanical to take the win by 15 minutes over second place. Then, this past weekend at the Lumberjack 100, she not only won by 18 minutes, but also set a new course record.

All three events had wildly varying terrain, from super-tight twisty 95 percent singletrack (Lumberjack), to rock garden-filled Syllamo's to the gravel road and climbing-heavy Cohutta 100, clearly demonstrating that this western gal is no one-trick pony.

Carey currently leads the NUE series with three wins in just four events so far completed in the 11-race calendar. Each racer's top four race results are added to determine the overall winner.

The endurance pro was missing from the third round of the NUE because she was busy racing at the seven-day Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race in State College, Pennsylvania. Against a stacked field, she won four of the seven stages, with the last day being a handshake-parade pace women's group ride, and she was on the podium for ever stage. That gave her the overall general classification win with a 15-minute margin over second place.

The Trans-Sylvania Epic stages varied from buff singletrack, to endless gnarly rocky Pennsylvania rock gardens and gravel road grinders. The race included a one-hour prologue, a mini-XC day, and five major stages, from 29-50 miles each. Battling 95-degree temperatures and oppressive humidity, Carey demonstrated that she was the strongest rider no matter the weather or the terrain.

"When planning out my calendar for the year, I set forth two major goals: defend my NUE title and win the Trans-Sylvania Epic," said Carey. "Thanks to the great support of my generous sponsors, some amazing (and durable!) equipment and lots of hard work, I think my year is starting off quite well!"

Following the Lumberjack 100, Carey headed home to Victor, Idaho, to get a much-deserved mid-season break. She's looking forward to truly unpacking for the first time in six months, getting reacquainted with her dog and friends and recharging to prepare and train hard for the second half of the season.

The NUE takes a month-long break and resumes at the Breckenridge 100 in Colorado July 17. Carey's next NUE race is the High Cascades 100 in Bend, Oregon on July 23.