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Mohican 100 - NE
Mohican State Park, Ohio, USA, May 30, 2009
Bishop unseats Schalk from throne while Shogren dominates the women
By Barry Kunkle in Ohio
Six men, six miles
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Unlike any other 100 miler to date, six men made it to the final six miles as a group, where the last bit of singletrack determined the final placing of the day. Jeremiah Bishop of Monavie-Cannondale locked elbows with series leader Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Co-Op) racing for the hole shot, but chose to stay safe and went in second only to come around a few minutes later in the singletrack with a crafty pass on the right as Schalk looked left. That was all Bishop needed to leave the chasers behind and take his first win and over all lead of the 2009 National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series.
An ecstatic Bishop couldn't say enough about how great the racing of the day was. "The race was spectacular and how I envision a professional level 100 miler can look like if enough strong riders show up. It's unheard of to have six guys come into the final miles to the finish."
Starting stacked
Race number two of the NUE visited the tranquil rolling hills of Ohio this weekend with over 400 riders filling up the main street of the small town of Loundonville. In the swollen streets, riders had come from across the country to create what was arguably the most competitive men's 100 miler to date. Though the Leadville 100 might be the numbers king, the depth of the talent at this Mohican was more akin to watching a European Spring Classic with its assortment of favorites, contenders and dark horses.
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Despite the US Cup ProXCT round in Alabama on the same weekend, a full roster of qualified cross country stars showed up. In an unprecedented move, Jeremiah Bishop skipped the ProXCT race to attend the Mohican with his Monavie-Cannondale teammates. Tinker Juarez, Bart Gillespie, Alex Grant and Bryan Alders also traveled from the western states for a taste of East Coast humidty. Trek Racing Co-Op came with their top men Jeff Schalk and Chris Eatough. The top 100miler contenders from the Gary Fisher 29er crew of Chris Beck and Michael Simonson were also on the line. Cannondale Factory Racing brought its full set of riders with Brandon Draugelis and Rob Lichtenwalner as their main men. Christian Tanguy of Team Fraser came with a large team, while privateers Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) and Harlan Price (Independent Fabrication/IFRacing Inc) were all ready to make it a hard day.
"The start was the tone of the day," was how Bishop described the cross country-style jump off the line for the US$200 dollar prime offered one quarter mile after the start. Schalk found himself in a good position to take the bonus cash after not planning to go for it. A lot of people were confused about the prime's placement since it was half-way up the climb and not at the visible top. Despite the early confusion, the race continued at a blistering pace as it turned left and traveled down a dirt road and dumped the gasping riders into the first bit of singletrack for the day.
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Early crashes and a strong pace separated the final group of six riders almost immediately. The lead was a promising group with most of the race favorites. Bishop, Schalk, Juarez, Draugelis, Simonson and Tanguy stayed together through the entire opening 25 miles of singletrack. The second group was full of chasing potential with Eatough, Gillespie, Price, Beck, Tostado and Grant. Despite holding a one-minute gap through the hour and half of singletrack, the group lead by Price missed a turn and lost valuable time just before the rolling road section.
With its 11,000 feet of climbing, the course profile of the Mohican looks like the serrated edge of a knife. Frequent short steep climbs interspersed with sections of singletrack kept the pure climbers like Schalk at bay, while Bishop's singletrack prowess was less useful as a get away tool until the end.
Bishop said, "[It was] like a Classics race - every rider was trying to use their strengths to his advantage. Schalk and Simonson were crushing it on the road sections." On the two- to four-minute climbs Schalk was trying to drop or at least tire out the group, but with five people chasing, it was impossible for him to stay away as the chasers could roll along quickly en masse.
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"I underestimated how good everyone was for the day. I've raced all these people before, and I think everyone had one of their best days on a bike," said Schalk. "I expected at least two people to fall off the pace. Eventually I paid for my efforts attacking on the hills in the last piece of singletrack."
After loosing his hole shot to Bishop, he also lost one final spot to Tanguy in the final mile on a short piece of new trail that was so steep that Schalk's tired legs said "no" while Tanguy found the motivation to stay on the bike and muscle up to take second over all.
Schalk was able to stay ahead of the rest of the members of the original six-man lead group and kept a third overall for the day. Next in was Simonson then Draugelis who took Juarez at the line by a second.
Bishop now sits uncomfortably in first place in the series, with just one point separating him and Schalk. The next race of the NUE series, the Lumberjack 100, will be in Manistee, Michigan, on June 20.
Shogren returns to the head of the women's field
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Lacking the fireworks of the men's race, the women's run for the podium looked like the more traditional 100 mile race scenario we've come to expect. Leading from the start, Betsy Shogren (Cannondale Factory Racing) went to the front and set a steady pace that kept her competitors behind. Still suffering from a could, Shogren's round one Cohutta race was less than ideal for her, but renewed and healthy, she arrived to the hills of the Mohican 100 with an eye on first place.
A good start with the fast-moving group going up the road in the beginning miles gave her an advantage over her closest competitors after Cheryl Sorenson (Trek Racing Co-Op), Danielle Musto (Kenda-Tomac-Hayes) and Karen Potter (MTBMind.com) were caught behind less technically savvy riders in the first 25 miles of singletrack. Last year's series winner, Sorenson, returned to the 100 miler format after missing the first race of the year. Musto was in a good position to challenge for a top spot but also missed the same turn as many of the men and added an extra 10 miles to her day.
Despite the lack of fireworks, 18 women showed for the race and Shogren's time would have put her in 45th overall, beating the majority of the men in the race.
Fuzzy and Birtch rush back from Italy to take top two singlespeed spots
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After taking a team of six to Italy to win a 24-hour race with over 1,200 people racing last week, John "Fuzzy" Mylne and Dejay Birtch (both Niner Ergon), returned with travel weary legs and stomachs full of gelatto to begin their bids for the NUE series singlespeed title. Though they took the top two spots for the day, Mathew Ferrari (Freeze Thaw Cycles) holds onto the series lead after a third place finish to go along with his second place at the Cohutta.
Neither Birtch nor Fuzzy came to their positions without some competition. As returning series champion, Fuzzy had his eye on Gerald Pflug (Speedgoat/Spk/Salsa) the new guy to the one-geared field. After trying to stick to his normal goal of starting in the front and staying there, Mylne realized his legs were less than snappy and decided to let the second place singlespeeder catch him and try to let him blow themselves apart. Pflug ended up being Fuzzy's protagonist, and after several hours of battling back and forth it was eventually Pflug's bike that cracked and not Pflug.
That mechanical setback gave Fuzzy a clear line to the finish while his teammate Birtch was left to battle his own tired legs and Ferrari. After holding onto his position behind the two battling leaders for over half the race, Birtch discovered that the specks he had seen from way back were actually a geared rider with Ferrari attached to his wheel coming across the brutally flat and hot section of rails to trails before aid station four.
With a new casual Italian attitude and Ferrari now on his wheel, he was ready to concede the position to Ferrari. Nontheless, Ferrari decided to provide encouragement and the two rode together for awhile before Birtch discovered he had some legs left. After eventually dropping Ferrari on a steep pitch, Birtch kept the pace to the end to keep the Niner/ Ergon crew on top of the podium.
Masters division sees a new first time winner
Delaware resident John Williams (Bike Line) made his first trip to the top of the master's podium after completing the day in 8:48:02. His nearest competitor, David Kelnberger was 45 minutes off his pace, while David Grauer (OrthoPro) was only another eight minutes back.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mark Farmer
- The start of the race.
- Hundreds of racers started the Mohican 100.
- Tinker Juarez and Brandon Draugelis at the finish.
- Singlespeed podium
- Jeremiah Bishop (MonaVie Cannondale) wins round two of the NUE.
- Christian Tanguy finishes second
- Men's podium
- Women's podium
Images by Geoffery Brady
- Harlan Price finished with his dog.
- Jeremiah Bishop wins the race.
- Karl Rosengarth
- Bart Gillepsie finishes
- Fuzzy just after finishing the 100 miler.
Images by Jeremiah Bishop
- Jeremiah Bishop's power file from the Mohican 100.
Images by Jim Snyder
- Loundonville early in the morning before the start.
- The sun was only just coming up at the start.
- A church near the start.
- The start line ready and waiting.
- Lining up
- Racers are waiting to begin their 100-mile quest.
- The start area
- All lined up
- A fireroad part of the course
- Some of the favorites pass through
- A racer enjoys some singletrack
- Riding through the flowers.
- The forest that hosts the Mohican 100
- Racers exit a singletrack section
- A fireroad
- Singletrack
- Riding some singletrack.
- Women's award
- Another award for the women's race.
- Singlespeed award
- Master 50+ men's award
- Old school timing.
- Post-race grub
- Post-race beverage
- Finishers got this pint glass for their efforts.
- Great Lakes Brewery provided some beer.
- Campsite
- A racer afterward
- How you might feel after a 100-miler
- The beer line
- After the race
- The favorites discuss their race afterward.
Results
Men 1 Jeremiah Bishop (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 6.50.26 2 Christian Tanguy (USA) Team Fraser 0.26 3 Jeff Schalk (USA) Trek Racing Co-Op 1.03 4 Michael Simonson (USA) Gary Fisher 29er 2.33 5 Brandon Draugelis (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing/Lupine 3.00 6 Tinker Juarez (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 3.01 7 Bart Gillespie (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 20.31 8 Rob Lichtenwalner (USA) visitpa.com 26.24 9 Harlan Price (USA) Independent Fabrication 27.05 10 Alex Grant (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 32.33 11 Chris Eatough (USA) Trek 37.38 12 Greg Kuhn (USA) Team Fraser 37.45 13 Josh Tostado (USA) Santa Cruz, Bach Builders 38.32 14 Scott Henry (USA) 44.13 15 Sloane Anderson (USA) PureEnergy-ProAir/HFA 45.45 16 Aaron Oakes (USA) Team Bulldog/Cycle Craft 47.47 17 Bryan Alders (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 48.22 18 Tim Finkel (USA) Gary Fisher 29er Crew 58.20 19 Andy Gorski (USA) SPK / Speedgoat / Salsa 1.00.34 20 Jesse Stevens (USA) Velocity Bicycles 1.06.49 21 Ernesto Marenchin (USA) Speedgoat.com 1.10.19 22 Jed Prentice (USA) Bike Doctor 1.13.18 23 Matt Ohran (USA) Monavie-Cannondale 1.16.41 24 Justin Farmer (USA) 1.21.05 25 Andy Applegate (USA) CCN / Cannondale 1.21.20 26 Thane Wright (USA) Voodoo Cycles 1.22.59 27 Robert Spreng (USA) 1.23.11 28 Fredrick Dreier (USA) Velo News 1.25.16 29 Scott Cole (USA) Adventure 212/Specialized/Ergon 1.25.24 30 Tj Platt (USA) Gary Fisher 29'er 1.26.42 31 Bradley Cobb (USA) Motor Mile Racing/SCV 1.27.38 32 Travis Mullen (USA) 29er Crew 1.31.07 33 Dan Kotwicki (USA) 1.37.14 34 Ryan Heerschap (USA) 1.39.54 35 Karl Burk (USA) 1.47.22 36 Jason Murrell (USA) Motormile racing/waste services 1.50.54 37 Jake Grantham (USA) Pro Bikes, Bruce Construction, Endura 1.51.04 38 Mike Schultz (USA) Dirty Harrys/Highland Training 1.56.02 39 Bradley Schmalzer (USA) Team Bikeman.com/Kenda/Twin Six 1.58.54 40 Jeff Socia (USA) TSO 1.59.23 41 Justin Mace (USA) Motor Mile 2.00.49 42 Daniel Atkins (USA) 2.07.11 43 Brian Fischer (USA) 2.07.21 44 Ronnie Dean (USA) 2 Wheel Coach and Wobble-Naught 2.08.44 45 Kris Weber (USA) Team Bulldog CycleCraft 2.08.45 46 Jason Hilimire (USA) Gary Fisher 29er Crew 2.11.30 47 Nicholas Shaffer (USA) Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon 2.17.10 48 Aaron Shelmire (USA) ProBikes 2.23.10 49 Blaine Heppner (USA) 2.27.58 50 Theo Procopos (USA) Engin Cycles 2.28.09 51 Anthony Hergert (USA) Reality Bikes 2.30.01 52 Gary Chambers (USA) 2.33.19 53 Shawn M. Tevendale (USA) Trek Racing Cooperative/Bike Factory Racing 2.33.33 54 Donald Powers (USA) Pro Bikes 2.35.02 55 Bradley Youse (USA) 2.39.01 56 Mark Rucker (USA) 2.39.31 57 Kristofer Karwisch (USA) Biowheels 2.40.39 58 Patrick Warren (USA) 2.41.17 59 Nathan Mirus (USA) BioWheels 2.41.58 60 Brent Lester (USA) 29ER Crew 2.50.08 61 Brett Sherwood (USA) 2.54.39 62 Jason Mahokey (USA) Pro Bikes/Salsa Cycles/Twin-Six 2.56.48 63 Albert Ciesielka (USA) Aroundnj.com/marty's reliable 3.00.20 64 Tom Mcardle (USA) 3.05.45 65 Andrew Brautigam (USA) 3.05.57 66 Adam Naish (USA) RBS Cycling Team 3.05.58 67 Mac Johansen (USA) Unattached 3.07.04 68 Richard Bilson (USA) C3-Sollay.com 3.09.00 69 Robert Thomas (USA) Henry's Bikes, Wilmington, DE 3.09.01 70 Lee Simril (USA) 3.11.02 71 Clayton Bell (USA) Bell & Co MTN Biking 3.11.30 72 Martin Kozera (USA) 3.11.37 73 Christian Baks (USA) Pawling Cycle and Sport 3.12.24 74 Gary Hall (USA) Thiele Automotive 3.14.20 75 Dan Kabicek (USA) 3.19.11 76 Timothy Wilkie (USA) Riverbrook Bike & Ski 3.24.07 77 Rusty Brown (USA) CAMBA 3.24.59 78 Bradley Ungurait (USA) 3.32.37 79 Vincent Schultz (USA) 3.39.47 80 Cameron Kohn (USA) Healthy & Fit Magazine 3.45.42 81 Doug Milliken (USA) 3.50.29 82 Jeff Plassman (USA) 3.50.33 83 Michael Powers (USA) 3.52.04 84 Timothy Koch (USA) Gripped Racing 3.52.53 85 Lawrence Lanphere (USA) 3.57.25 86 Jeff Zimmerman (USA) Cycle Fit Multisport 3.59.17 87 Anthony Ippolito (USA) Southern Brazil Adventures 4.02.53 88 Ryan Wayne (USA) idutri.com 4.04.49 89 John Griffiths (USA) NYCMTB-Peak Bikes 4.17.21 90 David Spivey (USA) Gray Goat 4.22.49 91 Joshua Cohen (USA) J.Cohen & Associates/ Dirty Harrys 4.26.33 92 Mark Shellhamer (USA) Trek Ohio Valley 4.29.12 93 Chip Waite (USA) 4.34.16 94 Ben Bonney (USA) 4.42.54 95 Ralph Oppermann (USA) AFD 4.44.39 96 Coy Boroff (USA) 4.45.45 97 Katsuhiro Tanda (USA) Team Athens / KT Prototype 4.47.58 98 Adam Schmidt (USA) BioWheels 5.00.18 99 Mike Purcell (USA) Elkay Sales, Inc. 5.09.38 100 Rodney Martin (USA) 6.10.59 101 Peter Rajcani (USA) 6.31.32 102 Mason Brown (USA) onagerband.com 6.39.02 103 Russell Petts (USA) 6.44.51 104 Gary Cadelina (USA) Lucban 6.55.38 DNF Chip Meek (USA) Dieringer/IDUTRI DNF Mike Weisgerber (USA) DNF Matt Billingsley (USA) DNF Claude Laberge (USA) DNF Thomas Waniewski (USA) DNF Lee Unwin (USA) GT DNF George Stefek (USA) DNF Travis Sapsford (USA) Guy's Racing Club DNF Christopher Purcell (USA) Elkay Sales, Inc DNF Robert Payne (USA) DNF Robb Maher (USA) DNF Alex Kopko (USA) IF Racing DNF Andy Klumb (USA) BiciLibre DNF Todd Henne (USA) DNF Marcin Gembicki (USA) DNF Austin Francescone (USA) Trek Store Columbus DNF Mark Cole (USA) Specialized/Cole Brothers DNF Dustin Cheney (USA) Rochester Bike Shop/Lewerenze Medical DNF Christopher Beck (USA) Subaru Gary Fisher DNS Corby Wise (USA) DNS Steve Schwarz (USA) Titus Cycles DNS Eddie O'dea (USA) DNS Chris Kaylor (USA) IDUTRI DNS David Doyle (USA) DNS Charles Buki (USA) HPC-LIST Women 1 Betsy Shogren (USA) Cannondale 8.35.43 2 Karen Potter (USA) mtbmind.com 11.56 3 Cheryl Sornson (USA) 26.08 4 Denelle Grant (USA) 29er Crew/Bike Factory Racing 1.00.47 5 Brenda Simril (USA) 1.25.44 6 Danielle Musto (USA) Kenda/Tomac/Hayes 1.31.17 7 Laureen Coffelt (USA) RB's Cyclery 1.32.25 8 Emily Brock (USA) Faster Mustache 1.40.35 9 Amy Stauffer (USA) West Pro 2.00.24 10 Lindsey Lighthizer (USA) Trek Ohio 2.41.00 11 Sara Dallman (USA) 2.57.38 12 Sherry Downing (USA) 7 Hills Racing 2.59.02 13 Noreen Greene (USA) 3.02.57 14 Ruth Cunningham (USA) WVMBA/Pro Bikes 3.58.10 15 Sarah Miller (USA) Carve/TWWSIX 4.54.42 16 Tracy Martin (USA) 5.06.05 DNF Rebecca Tomaszewski (USA) Niner/Ergon DNS Gina Tolbert (USA) DNS Namrita O'Dea (USA) DNS Kimberly Murrell (USA) waste services/scott's bikes Singlespeed 1 John Mylne (USA) Niner/Ergon 7.39.19 2 Dejay Birtch (USA) Niner/Ergon 19.26 3 Matthew Ferrari (USA) Freeze Thaw Cycles 22.51 4 Ron Sanborn (USA) Mclan Cycle & Fitness 24.55 5 Jeff Pendlebury (USA) 25.52 6 Roger Masse (USA) Trek Racing Cooperative 36.05 7 David Lyons (USA) Twin Six 49.15 8 Mark Elsasser (USA) Independent Fabrication 51.30 9 Russel Henderson (USA) 52.40 10 Gunnar Shogren (USA) Cannondale 56.25 11 Chris Mcgill (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing 57.19 12 Michael Tressler (USA) Rad Racing 57.43 13 Jason Pruitt (USA) anyone who pays 59.41 14 Nate Kraxberger (USA) Sid's-Cannondale 1.03.23 15 Mark Tressler (USA) 1.10.08 16 Jason Morgan (USA) Industry Nine 1.13.00 17 Wayne Cook (USA) Fraser Cycle 1.17.18 18 Dave Holmes (USA) Gary Fisher 29er Crew 1.33.09 19 Jeffrey Bushong (USA) Haybush Allstate 1.41.55 20 Jimmy Bean (USA) 1.52.18 21 Thomas Greene (USA) 1.58.20 22 Craig Dupree (USA) Milk Pail Racing 1.58.45 23 Jake Scott (USA) 2.10.21 24 Brad Wagner (USA) AFD/Twin 6 2.27.42 25 Mike Woods (USA) Racing Greyhounds 3.10.23 26 Lon Gauthier (USA) 4mile welding 4.48.11 27 Brian Schultz (USA) Organic Athlete 5.43.30 DNF Chris Goddard (USA) Team Fraser / Cannondale DNF Tim Dougherty (USA) Team Tim DNF Gerry Pflug (USA) Speedgoat/SPK Master men 1 John Williams (USA) Bike Line 8.48.02 2 David Kelnberger (USA) 44.43 3 David Grauer (USA) orthopro 52.48 4 John Wyrick (USA) 1.21.37 5 Michael Coyne (USA) Berkshire Nautilus/Plaine's Bikes 1.35.02 6 Ed Mccalley (USA) bike zoo 1.39.38 7 Craig Morris (USA) Racing Greyhounds 1.40.09 8 Matthew Davies (USA) Katie 2.01.42 9 David Eifert (USA) 4.50.44 DNF D.A. Fleischer (USA) Pale Ale DNF James Wilson (USA) DNF Steve Kinley (USA) Cannondale Factory Racing DNF James Hack (USA)
