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!
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