Lumberjack 100 2011 edition, Tandem style

On February 1, 8 pm EST, Andy geared up for a race. He toed the start line, anxiously poised for immediate action. As soon as the 'go' was given, he furiously entered our registration information into the website for the Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race, to be held in the then-distant future of June 18. For the next fourteen minutes, we 'watched' the registered riders list increase exponentially, praying that 8 other crazy people would want to race a tandem on that course (we needed 5 teams for a 'class'). At the last minute, the tandem class reached five and we cheered as if a race was already won. If we were going to participate, we at least wanted to stand a chance of winning a prize.

Fast forward four plus months, and we hurtled out of North Carolina, through Tennesee, Kentucky and Ohio, for seemingly forever, finally arriving, after 14 hours of driving, just east of Manistee, Michigan, at the Manistee National Forest. We 'camped' in the meowmobile at a lovely campground about 15 minutes away from the race trailhead, arriving Thursday evening just in time to sneak in a spin in the fading sunlight. Friday we pre-rode about half of the course, during which time I found myself briefly pondering the sanity of our decision to spend the equivalent of a workday on the back of a tandem on that trail.

But, I had committed, so at 7 am the next day Andy and I lined up on the tandem, next to the other 360 silly bike riders who also chose to ride these sweet trails.The road was completely taken up with riders jammed in like vienna sausages as close to the front as possible, so we took a spot about 3rd row, on the grass. We had a mile long pavement lead out before hitting the trail, and Andy had visions of dragging the field to the trailhead and dropping them off once we got there. But as luck would have it, we were pinned in right in the middle of the road, about three wheels back, and stayed there. Which was a good thing for any racer who wanted to go fast, because it turns out that, no matter how strong we may be, the twisty, flowy, bumpy trail was difficult to maneuver on the tandem, and therefore our combined power was slower than we would typically expect.

As it was, we caused a fair amount of traffic jams early in the first lap of three. I told myself, hopefully, that later on in the race, when these people would still have energy because they hadn't fried their legs in the beginning, they would be thanking us. Except, of course, the dumb guy who tried to pass us in a silly spot and ran full speed into a tree, almost knocking us over, then yelling at us as if it were our fault. Umm, no!

The course was a 33 mile loop consisting 95% of tight, twisty singletrack that wound through a dense forest lush with greenery from recent rains. At times the trail was so tight I was surprised we were able to squeeze between the trees. We quickly settled into a rhythm, improving our flow in every section, maximizing efficiency. Unlike our only previous tandem 100 miler, we never discussed competition. The course was so challenging mentally that we had to remain 100% focused at all times; if a team was ahead of us, or were to pass us, it was highly unlikely that we could safely change our pace to react.

So we rode our pace, eating when we could, grateful for the lap format as we stopped at our cooler each time and replenished our fuel. Just forty miles in, though, I could not imagine finishing, my backside was so sore. From then on our efforts were hampered by a subconscious pain avoidance on my part. But we carried on, no breakdowns or significant mechanicals, eventually crossing the finish line, first tandem, 9 hours and 7 minutes after starting.

This event was by far the most challenging thing we have ever done together. The things for which I am most appreciative: there was no yelling at each other, no teary breakdowns; nothing but a boatload of teamwork. And, the two other teams on the podium? Male-male. Always feels good to girl the guys... :-)

This is only the beginning of our summer adventures - up next: the Blood, Sweat and Gears century on the road tandem, June 25.

Dramatic photo of Andy observing Lake Michigan in Manistee. If you look closely you can see the seagulls flying away.

Photographer's self portrait. I should be embarrassed that I didn't learn his name, but he was drunk and I was bonked so whatever. Thank you, o nameless one!

2011 Lumberjack Tandem Podium. The super tall guy on the right of the photo wanted to kill me because I made them change 3 minutes after they finished because I wanted to start the 14 hour drive. Thanks for humoring me, guys!