Wicks and Pennington win Lumberjack 100

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According to Race Director, Rick Plite, it was perfect weather for a race. "The temperature was about 50 degrees at the start and mid-70s for the highs and overcast most of the day. The course was quite sandy and dry and there were also a lot of leaves and sticks still on the trail due to a late start to the biking season in the Manistee area this year. Manistee had some of the highest snowfall totals for the state this year and a cold April kept the snowpack in the woods way longer than normal."

The Founders Lumberjack 100 sold out with a packed field of solid competition in every division vying for the re-known hatchet award.

Women

Alice Pennington (Kona) took top spot in the women's division, crushing the field in 7:51:15. Michigan native Danielle Musto (Salsa/Twin Six) held on for second place in 8:26:11, just 10 minutes ahead of Miki Kedo (Gvc/ Cycles De Oro), who placed third in 8:59:38.

According to Musto, "This was my first race of the season after racing all winter, and I was excited to race on awesome trails and see what sort of fitness I was in. Initially I was planning on racing my singlespeed but opted for gears after hurting my ankle two weeks prior. I passed a few women within the first couple of miles but after that, I never saw Alice Pennington or Miki Kedo. If anything, my battles were mostly with myself and the Manistee National Forest that day."

"On the second lap, I hit my pedal on a tree stump and slammed into a tree. It was one of those crashes that took a few minutes to get up off of the ground. Unfortunately my derailleur also got bent in the process so I had shifting issues for the rest of the race. Even with the crash and mechanicals, I had a great day racing and feel like I got rid of all the 'first race of the season' cobwebs. Now my goal is to recover in time to race the Chequemegon 100 next weekend."

Kedo said, "My friends introduced me to the race in 2009 as a challenge just to finish the race. We were in veterinary school then and used the race as something to focus on and work towards as we were usually stuck indoors studying. When I came in on the first lap, some lady in the woods yelled something about 'good job girl, you're third'."

Ohio Mountain Bike Series Champion, Shannon Tenwalde (Paradise Garage Racing) improved her eighth place standing last year, moving up to fourth place and finishing sub-nine this year at 8:59:38. Tenwalde is now in third place overall with three other top 10 finishes at Cohutta, Syllamo's Revenge, and Mohican.

Men

Barry Wicks (Kona), 31, managed to singlespeed his way into a close race that ended in a three-way sprint finish with Wicks finishing 6:42:25.

"Last year, Lumberjack was the first 100-miler I had done. Now I have done three, so it must be pretty all-right. Actually, I loved it. The trails are super fun and the event is super well organized and awesome. Having such a low key yet professional vibe is totally refreshing. The Lumberjack 100 keeps it real. And that is nice."

"Mike [Simonson] rode a very good race and was looking strong all day. I knew he would be the guy to mark in the last bit of singletrack, so I just stuck on his wheel and snuck around him at the finish."

Simonson (616 Fabrications) finished just a split second later, following his first ever NUE Series win just two weeks ago at the Mohican 100. "I always look forward to representing my home state on the national mountain bike stage, and it's awesome we have so many great races right here in Michigan. This race always gets off to a quick start and this year was no exception. I made sure to stay right near the front because the bottleneck into the singletrack can get a little sketchy."

A group of five quickly formed off the front during the first lap. It was Wicks, Drew Edsall, Christian Tanguy, Kevin Carter, and Simonson. The trail was pretty dry, and there were a ton of sticks popping up everywhere as they made their way through the Udell Hills trail system.

"As we neared the finish line, I was leading it out with Wicks in second and Tanguy sitting third wheel. My plan was to keep the tempo high and just go for it out of the last turn into the finishing straight," said Simonson. "Tanguy at third wheel would be too far back, and Wicks on the singlespeed wouldn't have the gear to get around me. It was the perfect plan. We hit the turn and I stood up and went for it. I came around the bend and I could see the finish line, I dug deep and drove the bike forward but Wicks wound that gear of his up and got me on the line by half a wheel."

2011 NUE Champion Christian Tanguy (Team CF) held on to the third spot. In 2011, many will remember that it was Tanguy who edged out three-time NUE Champion, Jeff Schalk (Trek) by 10 minutes to get his first win at Lumberjack before going on to win the series title.

Edsall (Kenda/Felt) finished fourth just a minute later at 6:43:21. "The highlight of my day was marking off one of my goals for the race: to ride the 'hike a bike' section again."

Kevin Carter (Gripped Racing P/b Dogfish Head Alehouse) finished fifth in sub-seven hours at 6:56:27

Singlespeed

Three time defending NUE Series champion Gerry Pflug (Salsa/pro Bikes) decided to sit this one out following four straight NUE Series wins this year that have put him squarely in the driver's seat heading into mid-season.

In 2012, 28-year-old Hal Batdorf claimed his first NUE Series singlespeed victory at Lumberjack in 7:11:16, breaking the course record set by the four-time NUE Series Champion, Gerry Pflug, in 2011. This year, 32-year-old Jan Roubal (Velorution) would not only claim victory, but also set a new course record in the process at 7:06:22

Just four minutes back, 41-year-old Dwayne Goscinski (Dogfish/cyclewerx/dch/noah's Foundation) placed second in 7:11:57, "The start and the first lap was brutal! Mike Montalbano and Jan Roubal seemed to be constantly attacking each other and all of us. Trevor Rockwell was right in there on the fun as well as a few others. Peat Henry was hanging on to the back of us and I was doing my best to capture all of it with the bar cam. Trevor and I finished up the first lap, only down from the overall leaders by three minutes, with Jan and a few geared guys only about 10 seconds up. With about 18 miles to go, Trevor hit a root, went down really hard, and taco'd his wheel!"

"Not far from the end, (men's open) Greg Kuhn dropped me going into the last climb. With the 38x18 I was running, I wasn't going up the steep pitches very fast. It was awesome to get the alone time to really feel closer to my son which seems to happen when I push as hard as I do at these races."

Minutes later, Ernesto Marenchin (Pivot Cycles) placed third in 7:22:53 followed by Daniel Rapp (Toasted Head Racing) at 7:27:11 andGavin Clark (Racing Greyhounds) rounding out fifth at 7:35:11.

NUE Masters 50+

Fifty-one year old Ron Sanborn (Einstein Racing) got his first NUE Series win of the season and his second at the Lumberjack 100 finishing 7:32:13. Last year, Sanborn set the course record of 7:18:04, more than 40 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor!

"As much as I was looking forward to this race, I had some concerns as well. I was going to be racing against Robert Herriman, a former Masters Champion of the NUE Series (2010). We had not competed against one another yet and I had been hearing some talk of people wanting see a head to head match-up between us. Luckily, I found him early and held his wheel until I was able to get by during the first climbing portion of the race."

"From there, I was able to bridge up to the first chase group, and settled in for a fast lap with of some open men and top singlespeeders. After lap one, I payed the price a bit for my initial pace and had to ride solo for most of the rest of the race fighting off the building fatigue. I only gave up a couple of spots during the last two laps to some SS and Open men, so I knew I had my second Lumberjack masters title in hand."

52-year-old Robert Herriman (Trek/wsc/acfstores.Com) came in just six minutes later to finish second at 7:38:45. Four minutes later, the eldest finisher in the Masters, 63-year-old Jack Kline (McLain Race Team) captured the third rung of the podium finishing 7:42:09.

The next stop for the NUE Series at one of three new venues this season will be held on Saturday, June 29 in the badlands of Sturgis, South Dakota at the Tatanka 100.

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