Schalk victorious in Mohican 100

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Severe electrical thunderstorms knocked out power and produced winds in excess of 60mph, swollen streams, several local tornados, and unusually large hail that greeted a record 600+ racers at the Mohican Mountain Bike 100, round number two of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series in Ohio on Saturday. Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Co-op) and Amandy Carey (Kenda) won the open men's and women's races.

"Registration opened with hail the size of golf balls raining down as racers began showing up for packet pickup. We were forced to temporarily close the doors of the Mohican Adventure's convention center as the largest and most severe hail I've seen in my lifetime began pounding cars and bouncing in through the doors and sliding across the floor," said Race Director Ryan O'Dell.

This was followed by an intense night of passing thunderstorms and the constant rumble of thunder and lightning throughout the night. What resulted was severe flooding, reminiscent of the 2005 race, when storms the night before flooded the entire Walhonding Valley.

This year's race was no different with soaking rains creating the muddiest conditions in Mohican's eight-year history. Several racers, including Spin Bike Shop owner and former downhill pro, Greg Jackson, claimed that this year's race was the most difficult thing he had completed in his life. However, he also followed up that statement by saying, "and I will be back next year too!"

Jackson's sentiment appeared to sum up how many racers felt after finishing Saturday's grueling event as racers discussed their harrowing day over a Mongolian BBQ and six kegs of brew provided by Bells Brewery of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Coming off his first Mohican victory in 2008, defending NUE Series Champion, Jeff Schalk finished third at Mohican last year, just one minute behind race winner Jeremiah Bishop, who set a record time of 6:50:26. However, Bishop was absent at this year's race - he was racing the Trans-Sylvania Epic instead.

This year's race began again in downtown Loudonville at Liberty Park with racers competing for a US$200 prime, courtesy of Kim's Bike's in Loudonville, awarded to the first finishing racer to reach the city limits. Schalk crossed the city limits in the number two spot behind Stephen Cummings, who went on to take second place in the men's 100k open race.

Once the larger race was underway, well beyond the city limits and into the Mohican State Forest, Schalk took charge through the covered bridge, rolling in first at aid station one, leading Michael Simonson (Team Fraser) by one minute and Josh Tostado, five-time winner of the Breckenridge100, by three minutes.

By the time the lead pack reached Camp Mohaven, a few miles past aid station 3, Schalk had stretched that lead to 11 minutes. With a 15-minute lead, brake rotor difficulties threatened to derail his chance for a second victory since his 2008 win. Wasting little time, he was able to make the necessary repairs and extend that lead even further, leading Simonson by 20 minutes and Tostado by 30 at aid station 5, just five miles from the finish.

Despite the worst conditions in its eight-year history, Schalk obtained his second sweet victory at Mohican, 7:33:08, 39 minutes off last year's pace. Tostado, who finished seventh in 2008 and 13th last year, went on to his best finish ever at Mohican with a third place finish behind Simonson, who also had his best finish after a sixth place finish in 2008 and fourth place in 2009. Simonson's steady rise in the ranks heading into NUE Series round 3 on his home turf at the sold out Lumberjack 100 in Michigan on June 19 makes him a threat to Schalk and a serious contender for this year's NUE Series.

Tostado is showing the same type of resolve and improvement at Mohican. He continues to be the favorite at high altitude with the upcoming Breckenridge 100, NUE Series round four, on July 17.

Carey continues winning ways in women's race

The women's 100-mile open mirrored the men's race with Amanda Carey putting 16 minutes on second place and 36 minutes on third. Carey, coming off her NUE Series season opening victory at the Cohutta 100 in Ducktown, Tennessee, appears to be making a serious run for the title with back-to-back NUE wins. 2008 NUE Women's Champion, Cheryl Sornsen (Team CF) stepped up this year to capture the second spot on the podium. The surprise finish of the day came from Vicki Barclay (Freeze Thaw Cycles) who managed to stay just ahead of Brenda Simril and Shogren for an impressive third place finish.

In a mass start endurance race, one of the biggest concerns for the top women racers is getting outgunned to the singletrack by stronger, but less skilled riders.  Goal number one for Carey and Sornson was to make it up the opening climb without a school of men floundering on the rain-soaked trails in front of them.  Both riders managed to get a good position into the woods together and proceeded to take turns swapping the lead for the next 35 miles.  Not too far back was Barclay.

Carrey had to stop at aid station 1 to deal with a hydration pack malfunction while Sornson rode through. Soon enough, Carrey was able to catch Sornson after she stopped to lube her chain on her mud caked bike. After the second aid station, Carrey started establishing a new protocol and for who would be out front. Sornson slowly but steadily slipped off her wheel and continued slipping to the final deficit of 16 minutes by the end of the day.

"The first 35 miles were exciting because the guys could see that we were really racing and they gave us the right of way as we came through," Sornson said about the day.

Barclay continued to polish her 100-mile racing skills with a third place finish on one of the harshest days to date for a dirty century.

Hiding her mental and physical toughness beneath her ever cheerful personality, like a kitten with the heart of a tiger, defending NUE Champion, Betsy Shogren (Cannondale) of Morgantown, West Virginia, finished with an impressive 8:35:43 last year at Mohican and went on to win the NUE Series. This year, Shogren rolled across the finish line in fifth place but is by no means out of the competition.

Singlespeed and Masters races

The 100-mile singlespeed division featured defending NUE Champion, Gerry Pflug (Solon Bikes), facing down the barrel of 2005 NUE Men's Open Champ, Harlan Price (Team CF), who was coming off a decisive victory at the Cohutta 100 in April. However, in the end, it was newcomer, Mike Montalbano (Dark Horse), who views Price as a sort of mountain bike god, edging out his hero by six minutes for his first Mohican victory at 8:16:50. Pflug finished third behind Montalbano and Price.

When the race courses get wet and muddy, the simplicity of just one gear benefits the singlespeed rider.  Saturday was no different, but one factor a singlespeeder can't simplify is the need for brakes.  By the end of the day, most people had worn through at least one set of brakepads.

Montelbano rode a patient race to save strength for the end of the day. He started slow and worked his way up past Pflug and eventually caught Price.  Montelbano and Price rode together till aid station 3, where Price managed to leave Montelbano behind.

On the infamous eight-mile buggy path, both riders had a geared bike to pull them and it was Price who came in to aid station 4 first with about a three-minute lead. Soon after, Montelbano caught Price, and they continued to ride together till the Dark Horse rider managed to drop Price on the last paved climb of the day with about 13 miles to go. Montelbano took the win and fourth place overall. Price rolled across the finish line five minutes back and in sixth overall for the day.

By the end of the race, both of the top two singlespeed riders had lost either one or both their brakes.

Last year's men's master 50+ winner, John Williams (Bikeline) from Wilmington, Deleware, smoked the entire field by 45 minutes in 2009, however, some relative newcomers braved the storms and rolled through the mud to take top honors this year. Robert Herriman grabbed the top spot in just 9:20:11. It was nearly an hour later before Bill Nagel and Joseph Monga rolled across the finish to capture second and third place, respectively.

At the finish line, 68-year-old Mike Deitlin (Kenda) from Johnstown, Ohio, stated that he was determined to finish the Mohican 100 mile before he expires, however, his performance clearly indicates this retiree is far from dead. Deitlin, the former OMBC Grand Masters Champion, won an award from BikeSource of Columbus by becoming the oldest racer to finish the Mohican 100 miler.

100km races

Men's 100k open racer Brad Wilhelm (GT) the 2008 Ohio Mountain Bike Championship Series Champion, wanted the 100k race win badly. Always in the lead pack, however, the win had remained elusive to Wilhelm who finished fourth in 2007 and 2009 and third in 2008. But yesterday was a new day, and you could see it in the joy on his face as he crossed the line in 5:44:29 for his first Mohican 100k win.

Prime winner Stephen Cummings showed up 10 minutes behind Wilhelm and Mike Naughton just one minute later to capture the podium. The next three would come in just seconds apart with Ross Clark, Solon Bicycle, having his best finish ever, and Chip Meek, finishing fifth. Meek was the first to raise the 24-hour solo bar from Tinker Juarez in 2008 by completing 17 laps at the 24 Hours of Mohican, the equivalent of 170 miles with 18,700 feet of vertical. Just one second behind Meek was Martin Sanders.

He wasn't first but he was the youngest ever to complete the Mohican 100k. Peter Joyal won an award from BikeSource of Columbus as the youngest 100k finisher at age 15.

Amanda McKay (Team CF) continued to dominate the Mohican 100k with her third straight victory. Covered in mud from head to toe, Mckay flashed a Hollywood smile as she crossed the finish line in 7:23:39. Less than three minutes behind, Heidi Shilling proved she is a contender as the first racer to ever to close in on McKay. A last minute register, Bridget Donovan (Trek Cincinnati) finished third.

Soupcaninsoles.com, maker of custom carbon fiber insoles, owned the singlespeed 100k podium with last year's winner, John Lorson finishing second to race winner Jason Suppan, 6:16:41. Jake Scott and Nathan Grubbs finished third and fourth respectively, less than a minute apart.

At 53, Rudy Sroka gained his second victory since 2008 in the 100k Master 50+ with a decisive win in just 6:36:26. Mark Virello (Michelob Ultra) finished second in 2008 and again in 2010. 2009 winner Joe Orlando of Wadsworth finished third. Ohio racers took the next three spots with OMBC Series Master's Champion, Terry Campbell (Sierra Nevada) of Zanesville finishing fourth and Mark Jones (Orrville Cycling of Wooster) in fifth. Before becoming a cyclist, Tim Bonifant had become overweight and was a pack a day smoker. Years later, in 2010, it is a testament to the major changes in his lifestyle that allowed him to finish sixth place in Ohio's largest mountain bike race.

BikeSource of Columbus also gave the "hairiest legs" award to Master's 50+ Phillip Wadsworth.

In all, the Mohican 100 paid out over $10,000 in cash and merchandise and will make a donation to Aid Station Headquarters, Buckhaven Learning Center, to benefit physically challenged bow hunters and youth.

Race notes

The conditions were reminiscent of 2005, the year the race was forced to change course on the fly. "I was out there, just ahead of the lead pack of racers, consulting my map and placing new signage up to get racers away from the flooded valley," recalled O'Dell. "Often, I could see the lead pack of professional racers roaring over the next hill toward me as I jumped into my truck, nearly flooring the accelerator to race off and put up the next sign!"

That year, Garth Prosser, unaware that the course had been rerouted, was the only racer who passed through the Walhonding Valley that day, reportedly holding his bike above his head in chest deep water for nearly a mile before rejoining the newly marked race course. Prosser went on to finish fourth place, just 27 minutes behind race winner Jeremiah Bishop. Racers that year recalled slogging through nearly foot deep mud on some of the horse trails, describing the feeling as "like riding through a freshly plowed field".

Ryan O'Dell and Harlan Price provided editorial assistance with this race report.

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