2008 Mohican 100

IF riders were well represented at the Mohican 100 with Harlan Price 5th overall, Alex Kopko 23rd, Trish Stevenson 5th in women's, Chris Wurster 3rd in Masters and Kerry Combs 6th in women's in the 100km. And now for the summary of the weekend's events and trust me it was something else. I thought I had seen the worst of it when first a deer ran across the highway 50 yards up the road. Then on the other side of the highway I saw a deer with it's head buried in a bag running in circles in the middle lane, the last sight being the smoking wheels of a semi. As I crossed into the heartland of America the body count kept rising, stopping at 32 by the time I arrived at Camp Nuhop. Certainly it could only get better from here, but it was not to be the case. Setting up camp next to me were Eddie & Greg from Team Seagal, a single speed team based out of St. Louis. Giving the cult-like status to such a great actor as Steven Seagal, the team finds it's inspirational guidance from the Steven Seagal heads carried on each handle bar, chanting the mantra "Superior Attitude, Superior State of Mind". They are fueled by PBR and were very clear they were about going out on the course to "snap some wrists" the following morning. And sure enough as we rolled out of town by the second climb Team Seagal had come along side and they had a look in their eyes that would make children run and orthopedic surgeons smile. The first 34-40 miles were on what I am sure is beautiful single track when it is dry but this is the morning after thunderstorms that sparked tornado warnings the night before (we were warned to grab Toto and head for the basement if the sirens came on) and now it was mud coupled with short steep climbs and no place to get a good pace going - just the kind of course I don't enjoy! Finally coming out of the woods I felt like it was long past the time to be back at the car having a beer and relaxing. But I was still in the running and there was that lingering fear of having a wrist or two snapped if I didn't catch Team Seagal. Shorty after getting on the roads the body count began to pile up again and in one stretch at the top of a climb there was a line of roadkill.only it was four in a row and smelled worse then the gloves on my hands. Will the carnage ever end? I continued with the mental tug-of-war about whether to bag it or keep going (amazing the games your mind can play when you put in a 40+ hour week in 3 days and don't sleep all that much), grinding away the miles riding with Rebecca from team Wake & Bake and then more single speeders until we were a group of 7 riding a pace line on the endless miles of rail trail, which was a nice place to get some additional recovery in! While in last in the pace line all of the sudden my chain breaks while I am coasting and before I know it the pack is gone and I am on my own trying to fix a chain with no reading glasses....the downside to being a Master! Few minutes later and it was back on the trail grinding away. At aid stations 4&5 my requests for EPO went unanswered so it was time to push on to the dam marking the final climb of the race. On the preride yesterday it was impressive looking from the top but the view from the bottom was like looking up Mt. Everest, and after 97 miles of riding with my trusty Sherpa no where in sight it was going to be quite a climb. Inspired by some beer swilling locals chanting at the top, I shouldered the bike and found the strength to make the climb and ride the ensuing climb to finally close out one of the more painful days of riding I can remember, coming home what at the time was recorded as second. The final kick in the teeth was finding out they missed Greg Turner, yes he is that fast and giving me that much of an ass kicking, and I found after all the drinking that I was not in second but had ended up in third....trust me I am not complaining about that either. As a thank you to the hosts, Camp Nuhop and on behalf of Independent Fabrication, I donated my prize money to the camp, one for the kids!Hard ride, great reward, good karma and oh yeah I managed to bring it home ahead of Eddie and Greg so no broken wrists! In fact it turned into a session of Del Maguay Mezcal and PBRs The night was beautiful and with a bit of arm twisting Team Seagal camped out. Nice surprise when at 2 am the thunder came roaring in and the rain came down in buckets. Sorry about that one guys.