Tanguy and Musto win Lumberjack 100

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Organizers switched up the direction of the course for the Lumberjack 100 for its 10th edition. Rain on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the big day created perfect course conditions, firming up the trail and the traditional sandy spots through-out the 33-mile loop.

Men

NUE defending champion Christian Tanguy (Rare Disease Cycling) made it two in a row following his big win at the Mohican 100 three weeks ago. He crossed the line in 6:37:06, just off the course record time.

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"For me, it was the eighth time in a row that I put my bike at the start line. With the acceleration, Jorden [Wakeley] and I had a gap, and that gap became larger as we made our way down the hill," said Tanguy.

Tanguy said he ran out of energy three-quarters of the way through lap two. "Jorden was riding away from me without even having to attack. Fortunately, I have a done quite a few 100 miles races and I have been there before. However, that does not mean I liked what lay ahead for me, Pain! As fate would have it, I started to spot Jorden at about the same location where he rode away from me. So here we were, about eight miles from the finish."

Eventually, with about five miles to go, Tanguy rode away from his rival.

Jorden Wakeley (616 Fabrication), 24, a local favorite from Grayling, Michigan, was the second racer to hit the singletrack early in the race before making an aggressive pass to be the first to the top of the one-mile Bullwhacker climb. He crested the hill and kept the hammer down on his Borealis with three inch wide tires, leading the entire first lap and first through the support area, crossing the mat at 2:10:21. Jan Roubal (Velorution) was in third place five minutes after the leaders.

In the end, Wakeley finished just a minute behind the defending champ at 6:38:02. It came down to a sprint finish for third and fourth between Jon Roubal and Gerry Pflug (Rare Disease Cycling) as Roubal edged out the five-time NUE Singlespeed Champion, now on a geared bike. Roubal finished third in 6:46:02 with Pflug just split seconds off to finish fourth.

Pflug said, "My legs felt good at the start so I attacked at the beginning of the race just before entering the singletrack. It was at this point I thought there was a chance I could win the $200 first hill climb prime, so I continued riding hard. Jorden Wakeley was on my wheel and I made the mistake of thinking he would not be able to ride the hill faster than me on the fat bike he was riding. When Jorden eventually came around me, I could not match his speed. I had to slow my pace a bit on the remaining portion of the climb because I needed to recover from my early attack and prime effort. Jorden and Christian were able to get away at this time."

Gordon Wadsworth threw an attack in the final miles to get away from the chase group, which left Pflug alone with Roubal for the finishing mile or so until Roubal got the best of him at the end.

First-time Lumberjack 100 racer, Matt Acker (Team Redline/freewheeler Bike Shop) finished in 6:49:47 to take fifth, rounding out the men's top five.

Women

Michigan native Daniel Musto (Bike shop/Salsa/Twin Six) won the women's race and was clearly on a mission right off the line. She paced the women for the entire first lap crossing the mat at 2:35:58 before going on for the win in 8:02:35.

"I couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions for my 10th Lumberjack," said Musto. "Temps were nice and cool in the morning and recent rain made the course conditions the best I had ever seen them. We had a pretty fast paved start and I hit the singletrack right behind Karen Potter. Taking the win after 10 years and 1000 miles of the Lumberjack 100 was a dream come true."

Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews.com) was not far off the pace, just five minutes back. "After taking a year off from the 100s and dealing with injuries last year, I decided to do a couple of them this year, including the Lumberjack. Life had been a bit hectic coming into the race, so I wasn't sure where my fitness was at for racing a 100 but I was banking on my experience to get me through"

After logging her second fastest time at the race, Potter said, "I liked the course in reverse. It rode very smooth."

Shannon Ancel (Cycles De Oro) rounded out the woman's top three, finishing with a first lap time of 2:47:59 before finishing in 8:38:02 in her first 100-mile race. Another local first time 100-mile racer, Jill Martindale (Grand Rapids Bicycle Co) took fourth, in 8:40:10.

Singlespeed

Gordon Wadsworth (Blue Ridge Cyclery Racing) lived up to his nickname "Quadsworth" as he crushed the field at the Lumberjack to finish 6:45:34 in the singlespeed race. With this win and his early season win at Cohutta, Wadsworth has won two out of the last four NUE Races, making him an early favorite to win the SS division.

"A little chit chat revealed we were pretty widely geared across the group. As low as 32x18 and as high as 38x18 but I felt pretty confident in my 'spin to win' strategy. Following my pre-ride the day before, my 34x19 revealed flow for days amidst a couple of decent punches on the 33-mile circuit."

Ernesto Marenchin (Pivot Cycles and Twin 6) finished second at 7:06:19. With this finish, Marenchin is also holding second place overall in the NUE Race Series Standings behind NUE Race Series leader Trevor Rockwell (Team Noah Foundation/Decorah Bicycles) who finished fifth on the day.

Third place went to Dwayne Goscinski (Team Noah Foundation/Dogfish/trek Store)

Masters 50+

Roger Masse (Rare Disease Cycling), 53, is off to his best NUE Race Series start following up his second place finish at Cohutta with wins at both the Mohican 100 and the Lumberjack 100. Masse edged out two strong Ohio contenders for the win in 7:30:05. Finishing second, Rudy Sroka (Team Lake Effect), 57, completed the three lap race course to finish in 7:37:42. Leading the NUE Race Series, 55-year-old David Jolin (Stark Velo) finished third less than four minutes behind Sroka

Next race

Five races into a 13-race season held in 13 different states, husband and wife, Lee and Brenda Simril hold the top spots in the men's and women's divisions. On June 28, the NUE Race Series heads to the Black Hills of South Dakota for the Tatanka 100.

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