Bishop races to Cohutta 100 victory

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What do four Costa Ricans from La Ruta de los Conquistadores, rigid hard-tailed women, The Pfluginator and a rodent, the SiMonster, a Wunderkid, a Ferrari, a refugee, and a US Olympic hopeful all have in common? The seventh annual Kenda National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series opener at the Trailhead Bicycle Company Cohutta 100, held at the Ocoee whitewater center near Ducktown, Tennessee, host of the 1996 Olympic whitewater competition.

The first of an expanded 12-race endurance mountain bike series this year, the Cohutta 100 drew nearly 400 racers to the start. Some were there to contend for the overall titles while others simply wanted to finish a challenging race boasting more than 13,000 feet of vertical elevation within the Cherokee National Forest.

Dry and mild temperatures greeted racers this year, although it became warm in the afternoon with temperatures reaching the mid-80s. Many racers seemed to agree that they liked the course changes this year, although most agreed it was also more difficult than previous years, thanks to miles of additional singletrack.

Women

2008 NUE Series Champion Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) won the women's race in 8:31:21. After her win, she said, "Things worked for me today, particularly my body. I've had a great winter and spring of training, and it paid off. The race start was fast and got a little sketchy, however, Amanda (Carey) and I were able to stay on each other's wheel. It wasn't until the singletrack ended and we popped out onto the road that I was able to gap her."

Sornson was more efficient and faster on the climbs. "The rest of the race I worked hard to stay away. It was a much harder race than last year, and it was tough to stay focused and strong on the climbs, but I found the willpower."

After racing the Cohutta 100 three previous times and always finishing second, Sornson was pleased to take the victory. "I am super excited to start the NUE season with a win."

According to the two-time defending women's series champion Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt), who finished second in 8:44:50, "Cheryl and I battled back and forth for the first hour, but I immediately knew something was up. My heart rate was sky high, no power, and Cheryl was riding really, really well. She had a fantastic day. She dropped me like a hot potato about an hour and 20 minutes in on the first significant climb, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Kristin Gavin (Team Cystic Fibrosis) finished third in 8:59:30, "It hurt. This was my first 100-miler, so I eased into it and stuck to my priorities, monitoring my heart rate, keeping my pace, paying really close attention to my nutrition and my training paid off." Gavin is one of the athletes coached by former series winner Chris Eatough. In 2007, Eatough won each of the four NUE races he entered, earning a perfect score.

An interesting side note, four of the top five women's women's finishers hail from Pennsylvania. Vicki Barclay (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team) finished fourth in 9:05:13 and Nicole Thiemann was fifth in 9:09:36.

Sixth place Adriana Maria Rojas Cubero (La Ruta De Los Conquistadores) of San Jose, Costa Rica clocked 9:26:32, and Andrea Wilson (Outdoors, Inc.) was seventh 9:28:47 on a rigid singlespeed.

Men

In the men's open division, US Olympic Long Team member Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) took a win over reigning NUE men's series champion Christian Tanguy (TeamCF.org), who lives in Rochester, Michigan.

The 36-year-old Bishop blistered the newly designed course in 7:01:07. "That was an awesome, awesome race! I had a breakthrough ride making a break on a huge climb about a mile before aid station 5," said Bishop.

The lead trio consisted of Bishop, Tanguy and Michael Simonson (Trek/RBS), known by his friends and some competitors as the SiMonster, until just before aid station five, when Bishop put the hammer down.

Bishop claimed he would like to do more of the NUE races this year; however, he is maintaining his focus while awaiting a decision by the Olympic Selection Committee about who will be the two US Olympic male representatives.

Tanguy finished second, just over four minutes behind Bishop with Kevin Carter (Gripped Racing) from College Park, Maryland placing third in 7:27:35. "These guys are bulletproof. You can't make any mistakes!" said Carter. "I got a flat on one of the river crossings early in the race and had to stop and air it up a few times. Then I got to spend an hour and a half chasing the lead pack."

"Jeremiah was just drilling the pace, punishing them mercilessly, and killing me in the process because I was trying to get back with them. Simonson blew up first and I passed him," said Carter.

Later on, Carter hit a rock in a creek crossing and the hole in his tired was too big to plug. "It was such a big hole that when I first tagged it and spun the wheel around to try to get the Stan's to fill it, it just pooped out all the Stan's onto the ground in a giant white puddle." Carter tried some CA Glue and a patch and eventually got it going again although the tire would only hold about 8psi for awhile.

"I was terrified I was going to get caught from behind but it was very frustrating, so I stopped a couple times to pump it up and it finally held."

Simonson finished fourth in 7:30:36.70. A well-known and accomplished racer from the east coast Justin Lindine (Redline) captured fifth in 7:35:14, Cary Smith (Team CF) took sixth in 7:38:59 and Alexander Sanchez (La Ruta De Los Conquistadores) of San Jose, Costa Rica was seventh in 7:51:50.

At age 17, the youngest rider was Dylan Johnson (Scott RC Mountain) from McLean, Virginia, who finished 21st 8:16:48. He returned to Cohutta following a brutal crash last year that earned him a trip to the ER.

Singlespeed

Two-time NUE Singlespeed Champion Gerald Pflug (Salsa/SPK/PAO Bikes) continued his winning ways at the Cohutta.

"Early on, Matt Ferrari was riding with me. He was riding well and climbing really well!" said Pflug. "There was a group of maybe seven of us that went into check point 2. Matt stopped there but my stuff was at check point 3. Nobody else stopped, so I stayed with that fast group, and when I looked back he took a little bit longer break than he should have because then I never saw him again at that point. It was just a matter of riding with the geared guys and trying to keep my speed up."

"The Pluginator", who will be 44 this year, finished well enough on a 34/20 to take singlespeed and garner 14th overall among geared riders in 8:02:20. However, when asked whether it was all smooth sailin', Pflug recalled what he described as a "disgusting" story involving a small furry, bushy-tailed rodent. "This was the first time in my life that this has ever happened!"

"On this far singletrack, I was riding with this guy named Kyle (Taylor of Bikers Choice from Nashville, Tennessee) and we must have scared a squirrel or something, and he crapped and it landed right on my face! When it hit my face, I was like 'Wuh? What?' And then I started smelling it, and I thought, "That smells like*#*#!", as I was trying to wipe it off with my gloves. It was all over the place. It was the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me on a ride!"

Dwayne Goscinski finished second in 8:12:24 on a 32/17 in his first ever NUE race.  "I started pretty far back and didn't see the Pflug. I passed a lot of guys out there and asked a couple guys and they said there ain't a lot of people ahead. I ran into another singlespeeder (Matt Ferrari) at about mile 70 who said, "Only Gerry's ahead but you can't catch Gerry. I am hoping to do the series this year. I am registered for Syllamo's and Lumberjack and hoping to do Fools Gold."

When asked about his motivation out there, Goscinski, clearly emotional about discussing it, had this to say, "I just want to say that this ride was for my son Noah who passed away on July 7 of last year after spending 10 weeks at Children's hospital following heart surgery. One of them was about 10 hours long, and he survived 23 days in that mode which is a miracle. He is in heaven now, and so I am riding for the Noah Foundation." For more information visit Dwaynegblogspot.com under "Chasing Noah".

Matthew Ferrari (Hubcap-Freeze Thaw Cycles) took third in 8:23:84, Jason Pruitt (Peoples Brewing) was fourth 8:41:12, Robin Oscar (Motor Mile Racing) was fifth 8:43:43. Kelly Klett (Trips for Kids - Triangle/Grassroots Bikes) clocked a 8:48:51, and Watts Dixon (Revolution Cycles/Revolting Cogs) 8:52:42 rounded out seventh place.

Masters

In our race preview, 50-year-old Ron Sanborn (Einstein Racing) was identified as the "one to watch", and he was just that capturing his first NUE Series victory in just 8:54:32.

Three minutes behind the leader and finishing second was 57-year-old Miroslav Novak (Alabama Masters Cyling/Ivan Leonard Chevrolet) in 8:57:12. "I was at the front but my chain got kind of jammed and I dropped from the lead. I was catching up (to Sanborn) on the final hill but I never caught him. He looked back and saw me, and later said, 'I looked at your number and I just ran like a rabbit from you.'"

Novak continued,"It was my first 100, and it was brutal!" He does a lot of road racing and long distance riding but had not raced his mountain bike for nearly 10 years after breaking his scapula. At that time, he claimed to have finished fifth at nationals in Colorado. "I live in Huntsville, Alabama now, but my family came here 23 years ago as refugees from Slovakia. I love this country!"

Novak plans to compete for the title. "I would like to go to Breckenridge, Oregon, Wyoming and maybe Fool's Gold in Georgia."

Finishing in third was 51-year-old Henry McCullough (POA Cycling) in 9:00:40. "It went better than I thought. I was really suffering about halfway through, so I just sort of set a very steady tempo so I wouldn't crack. This was only my second NUE race. I did Shenandoah last year in the men's open. I have been road cycling for 32 years¸ experienced all the drama of road racing and there is not really much drama here. Either you have it or you don't. It was really fun!"

The next NUE Series race will take place at Syllamo's Revenge in the Ozark Mountains of Mountain View, Arkansas, on Saturday, May 19.

Full Results for Big Cohutta 100 and 65-mile races