Tanguy, Carey win Shenandoah Mountain 100

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Perfect weather and ideal course conditions greeted a record 500+ racers Sunday at the championship race of the Kenda National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series. The 2010 season featured a best four out of eight races with all ties decided at the Shenandoah Mountain 100 in Virginia.

The Shenandoah Mountain 100 takes place at Stokesville, near Harrisonburg. It heads up high into the mountains, with amazing views of the surrounding misty blue Appalachian mountains of Virginia. Racers enjoyed many singletrack sections, mixed in with fireroads.

Although the men's and masters' divisions were already decided at the Fool's Gold 100 in Georgia, just two weeks ago, the women's and singlespeed divisions were still up for grabs as well were all other podium positions.

Men

Christian Tanguy (TeamCF.org) had played second fiddle to the defending NUE men's defending champion, Jeff Schalk (Trek Mountain Co-op), all season; however, this Sunday would be different for Tanguy who posted his first NUE victory in just 7:03:14. With his finish, Tanguy also earned second in the series.

Schalk, still recovering from a muddy Fool's Gold 100, took second at 7:08:25, five minutes behind a possessed Tanguy, yet became just the second racer ever to complete all eight series races, winning the men's series for a second straight year with five wins.

Michael Simonson (Gary Fisher/SRAMM XX/Notubes) rounded out the top three in the NUE Series, finishing eighth in a top 10 that featured the who's who of XXC, including third place Chris Beck (Subaru/Trek), fourth place Brandon Draugelis (PAvalleys.com), sixth place Jens Nielsen (Sport Systems), seventh place former NUE Champion, Chris Eatough (Trek Mountain Co-op), and fifth place Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Team), who had what became an extremely difficult race after suffering a flat on Narrow Back Mountain, just 12 miles into the race.

"After suffering a flat, I was passed by at least 50, maybe 70 racers while making repairs in the weeds," said local favorite Bishop. "Afterward, I was forced to pick my way through the field along narrow singletrack to try to make my way back to the lead pack." In an amazing display of strength, Bishop clawed his way back and finished fifth on the day, 7:32:28.

Garth Prosser (Cannondale Factory Racing) finished 12th for the day, entertaining the gathered crowd with a hard sideways skid just past the finish line and improving his score just enough to edge out Andy Applegate (Champion Systems/Cannondale) by one point, securing fifth place in the men's series, his best series finish ever.

Women

The women's race became a battle between two giants of the sport when Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) stepped back into the series with a win at Fool's Gold. Carey, facing a formidable and motivated series leader and 2008 NUE Champion, Cheryl Sornson (Team CF), knew she had her work cut out for her yesterday but found a way to make it happen in just 8:23:02, capturing first place and her first NUE Series title.

"The SM100 was the best and hardest NUE of the year for me as I had the pressure of riding with Sue Haywood up until mile 75," said Carey. "I was pushing the pace as I was constantly aware of Cheryl being somewhere behind me. I knew Sue had no reason to work, so I was determined to ride as hard as I felt I could all day. I had some mechanical trouble that kept me from descending as well as I can, so I really had to make time on the climbs when I could. Sue and I were in the pattern of climbing close by then she would gap me on the descents, and I would catch back on the flats up until mile 75. Then I decided to really go for it after aid station 5 and I never saw her again."

"Although I started the race with the goal of winning the series midway through, I was confident enough to try to make a plan to go for the win. Glad it worked out as I only decided to go for the series after winning Mohican and Cohutta."

"Leadville complicated my schedule, so I had to have four perfect races for it to all work out as I only did four of the NUE series. Anyone who races ultras knows that so much can go wrong during an 8-10 hour ride so I am extremely fortunate to have pulled this off this year!"

Carey says she's looking forward to doing more of the NUE series races next year, especially with additional races out west. "I think that in order for the series to grow we need more dates out west so it's not so hard for the west coast and Rockies riders to go for the series. Right now it really favors the east coast."

Hot on her heels was the former national champion, now retired, Sue Haywood (SBC/Turner Racing) finishing just five minutes behind the NUE Champion. Even in retirement, Haywood continues to be a force whenever she shows up.

Sornson, despite missing her high mark, had an incredible season, finishing second in the NUE women's series after securing podium spots at nearly all of the NUE Series races this year.

"The SM100 was a perfect ending to the NUE series. The weather cooperated, the trails were riding great, and the event was run seamlessly," said Sornson. "I felt a bit tired going into the event and was not sure how I would perform. I can't say I had a great day or that I was burning it up out there, but I can say that I kept it together and gave what I had. Of course, I would have liked to win, but what I really wanted was a sub-nine hour day and I got that. For that I was thrilled. Amanda and Sue are great competitors and they definitely burned it up for great finishes."

Sornson competed in all eight series events. "It was an exciting season. Although I did not end up with the overall win, I won in many other ways. Each event provided me with a different epic experience. Be it the crazy weather, the beautiful weather, the awesome trails, the trails at 12,000 feet, the endless amount of climbing, the sweet descents, the travel time with friends, or best of all the wonderful people I met along the journey."

The next three spots in the series were also up for grabs Sunday, and in the end, just one point separated third, fourth, and fifth place. Brenda Simril (Motor Mile Racing) nearly lost the podium when competitors Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews.com) and Vicki Barclay (Freeze Thaw Cycles) finished fourth and fifth respectively. However, Simril with her sixth place finish was able to hang on to her lead, taking third overall. Loreen Coffelt (Velosoul/The Natural Way) was not present however her four finishes allowed her to capture sixth place in the NUE Series.

In all, 40 women competed in what was the deepest women's field in the NUE Series.

Singlespeed

The singlespeed division, like women's, was undecided heading into the final showdown. Defending champion Gerry Pflug (Salsa/SPK/Pro Bikes) was facing the former men's overall champion, Harlan Price (Team CF), who had soundly defeated him at Cohutta, Mohican, and Fool's Gold. Price, who suffered a high speed crash down a mudslide at the Fool's Gold two weeks ago, was still recovering from bruised ribs and a gash that required eight stitches.

With the series championship at stake, the 42-year-old Pflug took full advantage of the situation with an amazing display of strength, finishing in 8:02:10, 17 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, Mike Ramponi (Independent Fabrication) who took second.

"I was a little worried a day or two before the race. I just finished off a real hard ten days of training and my body was feeling a little fatigued from the hard efforts," said Pflug. "In addition, I was having some stomach and GI track issues on Saturday and into the morning on Sunday. Fortunately, everything cleared up for me before the race actually started.

"Mistakenly thinking that the race started at 7:00 am, I arrived at the venue a little after six and went out for a short warm-up ride. I got back to the car around 6:30, decided to take a leak and the next thing I hear is a bunch of noise and then I noticed the large race pack racing past my car. Scrambling, I put my helmet and gloves on and also had to load my jersey pockets with my food supplies for the day."

"By the time I was able to jump into the pack, more than half the field went by me. I had to spin my butt off to get through the group and bury myself further on the first climb to make it towards the front of the race. Eventually, I located the lead single speed riders, Harlan Price and Matt Ferrari. We pretty much stayed together for about the first 25 miles or so. "

"On a paved road section a few miles before checkpoint two, I saw a group of geared riders about 200 yards ahead of the three of us. I made a hard effort to catch the group ahead and figured Matt and Harlan would come along with me, but when I looked back they had not come across the gap. From that point on, I pretty much rode my own race alone, but would occasionally ride with a geared rider that I would catch out on the trails. It was an absolutely perfect day out on the trails for me and (promoter) Chris Scott put on a top-notch event as he always does."

Just one minute behind Ramponi, an energized Matt Ferrari (Freeze Thaw/Hubcap) finished third, threatening to move up to second place in the NUE series unless Price managed at least a fifth place finish. One minute behind Ferrari, Dylan Johnson (Oasis Bike Works) sprinted across the line and banged the gong, set up to ring out finishers as they cross the line.

Price admittedly wasn't 100 percent, but he certainly wasn't willing to give up any more space on the NUE podium as he finished fifth at 8:25:20, just enough to give him a one-point lead over Ferrari and second in the NUE Series.

Rounding out the top eight in the NUE Series Singlespeed Division was fourth place Ron Sanborn (Mclain Cycle & Fitness), fifth place Jason Pruitt (29er Crew), sixth place Robert Lochner (Iron City Bikes), seventh place Roger Masse (Gary Fishser 29er Crew), and eighth place Robert Radzwich (The Bicycle Shop-State College).

Master's 50+

Robert Herriman (Trek 29er Crew/ACF Stores) was not present, yet he had already wrapped up the NUE Masters division with wins at Cohutta, Mohican, Lumberjack, and Fools Gold. This was Herriman's first NUE Masters Championship.

Bill Nagel (Guy's Bicycle Racing) sat out the race as well, gambling that his 15 points would be low enough to carry him to second place in the NUE Series, where racers receive series points based on their finishing place. Lowest points determine the winners. It was a risky proposition that nearly failed as Erik Lenzing (Freeze Thaw Cycles) and David Grauer (Orthopro), both with 18 points, fought it out in a desperate bid for the remaining two podium spots.

Todd Henne wasn't contending the NUE Series but proved his muster as the first Masters 50+ to cross the finish line in 9:12:20. Three minutes later, William Simms (Cycle Lodge) took second followed by Denis Chazell (Z Adventures), Jim Matthews (MBR), and former NUE Master's Champion, John Williams (Bike Line of Newark, DE) whose fifth place finish also gave him fifth overall.

Nagel's gamble paid off as he held on to his second place position in the series. Lenzig's seventh place finish was three minutes ahead of Grauer, who finished eighth in the series, but it was not quite enough as Grauer captured the final podium spot, finishing third overall.

The NUE Series awarded US$16,000 in cash and prizes. Every racer who completed the four-race minimum receives awards that included four Velocity wheel sets, Kenda Tires, 15 Yakima Racks, and Ergon Grips. NUE Champions also received custom made, personalized award plaques along with custom made NUE Champion Jerseys courtesy of Endura Technical Apparel.

Racers who completed the four-race minimum but were not present can request their prizes by sending their mailing address to Ryan O'Dell at nolimit@mohican.net

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