Edsall and Sornson win Syllamo's Revenge

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Syllamo's Revenge hosted round 2 of the National Ultra Endurance Series in Mountain View, Arkansas. Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) and Drew Edsall (Kenda) took top honors in the 125km race.

Women: Sornson wins four in a row

NUE Champion Cheryl Sornson made it four in a row this year at Syllamo's Revenge and leads the NUE Series overall. She was the only woman to finish sub-eight hours, in a time of 7:45:11.

"It was a quick turn-around from [last weekend's NUE Series race] in New York to Arkansas," said Sornson. "My body is a bit worn down from six weekends of racing with three hundreds, two endurance races and one cross country."

Sornson got away early in the race and stayed away. "It was hard to stay motivated, and I missed my target time, but, toward the end, I decided to be kind to my body and enjoyed the super awesome singletrack at a more leisurely pace. Well, it was leisurely until singlespeeders from team Noah sprinkled the trail with fast spirited dust and we railed the red trail for a bit. Great times and great people!"

Brenda Simril finished third spot on the podium at 8:44:54 while Laureen Coffelt (Los Locos) was third.

Men: Edsall brings it home

Drew Edsall made it two straight at Syllamo's in a row as he honed his technical ability and benefited from the misfortune of flat tires that struck at several other top contenders.

The only racer last year to go sub-six hours at 5:59:40, Edsall finished first again this year in 6:11:15 to get his first NUE Series win of the season,

"As usual at Syllamo’s, there were lots of flats for a few of the top contenders that split things up early, including flats for Christian Tanguy and Josh Tostado," said Edsall.

"I was happy to go flat free for the second year in a row. The course was super slick on the second lap. Rain two days prior made for an interesting 'ice rink' kind of slick rock. I had to finesse the climbs more than ever just to stay on the bike. I heard horror stories after the race of riders getting off their bikes to walk and eating it while walking."

Edsall went off the front at the start to test his legs and those of his competitors. He split the group and ended up with Cary Smith. Rob Spreng and Christian Tanguy chased closed behind.

"The four of us stayed together until about 40 minutes in, when I picked up the pace on some of the steeper climbs in the race. I got a very small gap prior to a super technical section with a 'secret', but very technical, line I found last year," said Edsall. "Given the rain two days prior, that line and the course was even more technical than normal. I used this to my advantage and pushed the pace a bit more than I normally would have early on in a race this length."

Smith rejoined Edsall, who would open it up on each technical section and get caught on each power section. At 30 miles, Edsall got a sustainable gap and went for it.

"This race was by far one of my hardest and most fought for wins in the NUE Series," said Edsall. "I was very happy and relieved to cross the line in the top spot. Not an easy task given the course and strong ride of Cary."

Smith finished second in 6:19:01 with Todd Dohogne (Off the front racing) in third at 7:23:58.

2011 NUE Champion Tanguy was forced to settle for sixth place at 7:40:56 after reportedly suffering numerous flat tires.

Singlespeed: Pflug keeps winning

Last year, four-time NUE Singlespeed Champion Gerald Pflug (Team CF) completed the 125km course in just 6:35:17, fourth overall and more than a half hour faster than he did in 2011 at 7:06:32. This year, the Pfluginator won SS and placed third overall in 7:00:35.

Pflug went into the singletrack as one of the top 10 riders overall. Three other singlespeeders were with him.

"I kept my pace a little higher than I initially planned through the opening miles of singletrack," said Pflug. "This strategy seemed to work and I was able to get a nice gap over the other singlespeeders about five miles into the race."

Pflug battled a loose grip and dehydration as he started to run out of fluids. "Once I noticed my body had stopped sweating, I knew my situation was not looking good. I started catching up to riders riding between check point 2 and 3 and was able to beg a gulp of fluid from three separate riders heading into my last checkpoint."

At a checkpoint, he got rehydrated and went on for the win.

Trevor Rockwell (Team Noah Foundation) finished second at 7:25:49. Third place went to Pete Henry (Free Awesome) in 7:39:05 with last year's podium finisher, Duane Goscinski, Team Noah Foundation, rolling in just a few minutes later at 7:45:43.

Masters: Irving gets his second straight win at Syllamo's

Chris Irving took his second straight victory at Syllamo's. Last year, he finished in 7:45:19, but this year his time was 8:26:46 on a course that resulted in many DNFs this year.

"I had a few mechanical issues the first 10 miles but got them sorted out by checkpoint 1. The rest of the race was uneventful and I just had a fun day on some of my favorite trails. Syllamo is such a great place to ride with the awesome overlooks and great trails."

Dennis Schueler (Rbikes.com/fleettruckparts.com) was second in 9:00:54.

Don Jardinco took a nasty spill as a rut threw him onto the rocks. During a 100 mile off-road charity ride this year, Jardinco received the "Ironbutt" trophy for riding 14 hours and eating two buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken in the process.

On June 1, the NUE series moves to the Buckeye State in Loudonville, Ohio for the 10th annual Kenda Mohican 100.

Brief Results