Mohican 100 - A Race Report, Kinda

another epic in the books, results are up on cyclingnews. biggest news of the day in IFab land was Harlan's race, taking 2nd to mr e by a mere 7mins! the fight for the series ain't over yet, we got 5 more to go! was more excited about that when i looked at the finisher's board than my own placement of 8th. andy crushed souls with a 14th, and harvey rode yet another strong, smart race to finish in 12th. patrick hung in there for 25th - crossing the line and going immediately into the fetal position.

the 2007 season (for me) is all about nothing. as in, no set training regimine, no bike computer, no heart rate monitor, just my watch letting me know when i need to be home. after complete self destruction at the cohutta 100, i did plan my fueling for the mohican, which worked wonders. it's called eating. imagine that, food = energy. no fancy race food, just regular food.

got suited-up bareback (no camelback) sat morn and milled about with all the other freaks, rolling-out all mellow in the "neutral" start which quickly became not so nuetral. guys were throwing elbows, jockying for position. wacked. i chilled and when we hit the road, put the hammer down to open some space between the chase group so i could ride the singletrack in peace and maybe catch the rear of the front group, whom i never saw.

the singletrack was great, the course well marked, the aid stations appearing just in time to fill empty btls. what else is there to say? i rode my bike. for a long time. and had good consistent power due to eating every hour, even when the stomach wasn't happy. worked with Mike Kuhn mid to late race, decimating the long flat miles of rail-trail together w/some help from Jason Lummis. mike and i were never more than a cpl mins apart the whole race, yet only rode together for 10miles. funny how that works - we probably could have been a cpl mins faster over the day if we'd teamed-up, but it just doesn't work like that.

on a good day, thoughts come and go, but mostly go, and when the tires cross the line it is with a wide and happy smile. i hope everyone at the Mohican crossed the line w/a wide smile - 'cause riding your bike all day may be about the best thing, besides hermit cookies, beer, and of course, family. thanks to Garth for scoring us 4 kegs, thanks to Andy for hanging all wknd and sharing the drive, and thanks to harvey for scoring the room. look fwd to seeing all you freaks again in two months at the 101. that one's gonna hurt.