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2010 – Race Recap

5th Edition – 2009 Recap

Well the 2009 Founders Lumberjack 100 has come and gone. The 5th year anniversary was an interesting one. A cool spring could only mean one thing to me, it was about to change and it sure did. The week leading up to the race the weather pattern started to shift. 50’s and 60’s were replaced with high 70’s and rain was becoming a daily occurrence. The rain was actually helping the dry sandy conditions but I sure had my fingers crossed because they were getting hammered with heavy rain south of us. In fact, almost to the day a huge storm hit the area just south of the race site with heavy rain and tornado’s. Once again, just like 2008 the storm took out bridges, knocked out power and closed roads. Thankfully it wasn’t Mason county this time!

Women

The night before the race it rained pretty good but the moto sweep reported the swamp to be dry and no trees down, just some annoying damp face slappers and some slick turns.

Singlespeed

Once the race was off the heat began to pick up literally and figuratively. The temps climbed to the mid 80’s and it was humid. The racers were just as hot, in fact by days end, a record pace was set in each of the race classes!

Masters

People seemed to enjoy the on-site awards and raffles and it sure made the volunteers lives easier. Plan on this version from now on, it was a winner.
Here is a link to a nice MTB Race News story about the 2009 edition.

Chis, Jeff and Lakeon
(how cool is it to race with the Pros and then hang out with them!?)

Thanks for the continued support!
Rick and Cathy

Wolf

2009 Race Photos

Please purchase photos viewed at this site from Jack Kunnen Photography simply by giving Jack the properties info of the photo you are interested in.  Your support is appreciated!

2008 – Race Recap

Thanks to all the racers and volunteers that wouldn’t let 10-12 inches of rain in 6 hours get in our way! Harlin Price has posted a re-cap of the event at Cycling News.
Full results are posted there and on this website.

Plans are already being made for the 2009 race on June 20th. We will hold the race on the 3rd Saturday of June from here on out so you can plan accordingly. Chip Timing from Gault will be on tap in 2009 as well as a few other twists. Registration will open no later than January of 2009. More information as it develops.

This article ran in the Manistee News:

By MATT WENZEL
Sports Editor

WELLSTON Holding a first-place trophy that consisted of a block of wood with a hand axe jammed in the top Jeff Schalk was in an unfamiliar place but exactly where he wants to be.

Schalk a professional bicycle racer sponsored by Volkswagen took first place overall in the Lumberjack 100 on Saturday a grueling 100 mile race at Big M in a little over seven hours and seven minutes. Im living the pro racer nomad lifestyle Schalk said Its all about traveling to places youve never been. That path carried him to Big M where he won the race in his first appearance. Schalks reward for taking first was the rather unique trophy $500 and a few beers during the awards ceremony at the Norman Township hall which was packed with about 200 of the racers. The Lumberjack 100 is one leg of the eight event National Ultra Endurance race series which has races across the United States. Schalk who is originally from San Francisco but moved to Washington DC and now lives in Virginia has won the first three races of the series. Ive been having a good year he said. With a field of almost 250 riders the Lumberjack 100 which is in its fourth year had its best turnout to date. While there were some nationally recognized riders in the field which featured participants from across the nation the event is still fairly low key. Its still a very grass roots campaign said race organizer Rick Plite but its the fun nature of the awards party that makes it a laid back event. That atmosphere was evident on Saturday night as Plite handed out trophies and also tossed a number of prizes across the room. Although the awards ceremony was easy going the race is anything but. Competitors have to pedal through four laps on the 25 mile course at Big M which offers little relief. One of the things thats so tough about our course and why some of the pros say its tougher than Colorado or West Virginia we dont have the elevation or the rocks or the nastiness they have but on the Big M
course theres no recovery Plite said. You always have to pedal. You cant coast on some fire road downhill for 10 minutes and rest. Its constant steering and pedaling. Its a brutal race.
While Schalk came out on top overall Cheryl Sornson

 
another VW sponsored racer won the womens race with a tie of 8.45.10 while Hugh Melling won the mens masters division age 50 and older in 9.34.58. Out of the 244 racers who started only about 58 percent finished the event which was made more difficult by the storms that came through the area on Thursday night. We had three sections about 300 yards long with about 15 inches of water Plite said.

We couldnt get around it so we just left it. That caused a fair amount of difficulty for the entire field. The first lap it wasnt so bad Schalk said. But every subsequent lap the holes just got deeper and deeper. I actually endoed fell over the front of his bike at one point because the hole was so deep. But I survived and won so it was a good day.

2008 Race Photos

Please purchase photos viewed at this site from Jack Kunnen Photography simply by giving Jack the properties info of the photo you are interested in.  Your support is appreciated!

2007 – Race Recap

On June 7th the Wellston, MI area was hit with a series of thunderstorms and winds topping 75 mph. I live 150 miles from the race site and did not experience the same storm. Therefore I was not aware of the storm or damage until Saturday June 9th when Michigan racer Russ Tiles and his father Steven went for a pre-ride of the course. Russ called to inform me that there were over a dozen large trees down and millions of wrist size branches across the trail. He abandoned the ride after 7 miles.
Frantically, I called the forest service for help with the trees that were down ( I can’t legally cut them out) and they promised to send in the troops. The bigger problem for me was the million branches and derailleur eating sticks. I called everyone I knew locally willing to help rake the entire 25 mile loop. 12 volunteers spent all day Sunday June 10th raking the trail on foot or bike. Storm Troopers to the rescue! A special thank you to those that helped. It was a long day!

Race day brought partly cloudy skies and 64 degrees for the 7am start. This years race would be run in the reverse direction of the previous two years, at the request of the National Forest Service. It would prove to be a faster direction by days end. The race started with a fast 1 mile paved road start and then entered a tapered singletrack squeeze up the sandy, steep Caper’s Corner climb. The climb has about a 200 foot elevation gain but is sandy and rather steep in a few pitches. The first 30-40 pro/elite men climbed it with ease but the remaining 150+ racers struggled to find a line and the ensuing mix of riders and walkers made for a large gap between the packs. I knew the separation from this hill would provide a benefit for the top racers on hand, as it would thin out the field for the very twisty and rolling 25 mile loop. There is no time for rest or hands free riding on the opening lap. Concentration and handling is crucial.

Mid day brought a high temp of about 86 degrees with average humidity. This along with the partly cloudy skies and sprinkles kept the racers much cooler than last years 90 degree sauna.

Michigan racer, Michael Simonson lead the first 40 miles with Chris Eatough close on his heals. By the 50 mile mark, Chris had passed Simonson and built a 2 minute lead. Chris went on to finish the race at a blistering time of 6:49:15 and Simonson coming in at 7:1:0. Third place was taken by Michigan racer Christian Tanguy, who suffered a bad crash that broke his helmet and gave him some good scrapes across his forehead. Christian came in at 7:3:18 while Harlan Price of PA came in fourth at 7:7:5

Danielle Musto lead the women’s field for more than 75 miles of the race, building a 18 minute gap by the half way point and finishing 1st at 8:47:9. Erika Tieszen came in second at 9:22:37 and Michelle Schneider third at 9:31:25.

Men’s Masters class was chocked full of fast racers. The top 5 battled it out for a full 100 miles with only 17 minutes separating 1st through 5th! Jim Jordan was 1st at 9:1:5, 2nd was John Majors at 9:14:20 and third was Steve Kinley at 9:15:59

The SS class was won by DJ Birtch and the women’s ss class was won by Paula Figura

Of particular note was a couple of young men in the open men’s class. Up and coming Michigan hotshots, Brent Steinberg (19 years old) flew threw the hundred miles with a time of 7:56:18, fast enough to place 16th in the men’s open while fellow Michigan racer Ryan Rivamonte (16 years old) placed 30th!

The awards ceremony once again proved entertaining. This year 4 kegs of Founders Ale were on hand to quench the racers. Things got crazy when a couple on guys couldn’t come to an agreement on which one would claim a set of Kenda Small Block Eights as a schwag prize. We settled it with a crowd roaring, arm wrestling contest. The Lumberjack style arm wrestling was so popular that we spontaneously added a women’s and minors category. While Brent may have beaten Ryan in the race, Ryan took Brent in the long drawn out arm wrestle. What a blast!

2007 Race Photos

Please purchase photos viewed at this site from Jack Kunnen Photography simply by giving Jack the properties info of the photo you are interested in.  Your support is appreciated!

2006 – Race Recap

Man it was a hot weekend! We had temps as high as 89 degrees on my van computer. About 160 folks started and only 63 finished all four laps. I would like to thank all the sponsors and volunteers that made this weekend possible. If you speak with any of them, please thank them too. Without them, this race would not happen.

Rick

Mens overall
1-Chris Eatough
2-Harlin Price
3-Russ Tiles
4-John Meyers
5-Ross Clark
6-Robert Herriman

Womens overall
1-Karen Mason
2-Trish Stevenson
3-Danielle Musto
4-Fiona Lockhart
5-Shirlee Finch

SS
1Dan Jansen
2Eric Tompkin
3Matthew Ferrari
4Gene Faes
5Tim Curtis

WSS
1Danielle Musto
2Paula Figura
3Jen Conine

Masters
1John Majors
2Steve Kinley
3Steven Tiles
4Larry Swanson
5Jim Jordan

2006 Race Photos

Please purchase photos viewed at this site from Jack Kunnen Photography simply by giving Jack the properties info of the photo you are interested in.  Your support is appreciated!

2005 – Race Recap

2005 Race Photos

Please purchase photos viewed at this site from Jack Kunnen Photography simply by giving Jack the properties info of the photo you are interested in.  Your support is appreciated!