This time of the year is back, time
to spend a bunch of hours riding a MTB on fabulous trails from Northern Ohio
during the Mohican100 NUE Race. A second participation for me and a first for
Marc who has less than 1 year practice on MTB. We both signed up for the 100miles
route which means 9 to 11hours with the bike and “not only on ” to
complete the loop. This year is more organized as more friends decided to spend
the weekend in the racing area with us.
We booked a nice country side house,
suitable for 12 guests. We grabbed with us Hunter, a friend and MTB shredder,
who signed up for the 100k loop, a first also for him. A late departure from
Cincy and a car issue from a friend made us arrived pretty late but Hunter
already got our race package.
Once all in the house, we arranged
and prepared everything for the next morning as the race starts at 7pm only 3k
from the house. A bit of selfish time for the racers who spent the evening having
a carbs rich dinner and discussing about the race, the strategy and the mistakes
to avoid before an early sleep.
5:30am, time to wake up, to get a breakfast and to grab the bikes direction the starting line in
Loudonville. Marc and I rode to Loudonville main street and Hunter got
his car which was a nice idea as he pulled us during a short climb…We arrived
early and so were able to get good positioning in the crowed.
7pm : the riders are set free and
it’s time to get a good position during the first miles of road and gravel path
to enter the trail far from the main pack of riders.
The strategy work for me,
I’m in a group of 10 riders with a good pace….wait a bit too good actually!!!
My heart rate is a bit too high for this type of race but as I’m in a group I
just decided to stick with them….A sharp downhill curve with rocks and a guy in
front of me stopping in the middle of the path and it’s a first fall who will
be the only one of the day. After a bit of time to be able to get back in the
course as lot of riders are passing me in line and I got into my desired pace. Hunter
passed me during this time and I passed him again during a climb in which he
lost some grip and had to walk.
As expected I passed Aid1 without
even looking at it in direction of the end of the first long single track. Marc
and Hunter made a stop here as I will learn later Marc was not feeling well and
was not able to eat or drink during more than 2hours.
The race is going pretty well but I
have stomachache since the beginning of the single track and was thinking of
switching for 100k. Arriving at Aid3, I looked at the signs 100k and 100miles
and after 2 minutes decided to go on 100miles anyway even if I had to pace
myself even more…and miracle, after 70k everything went in green, no more pain.
As last year, I passed a bunch of riders
between Aid3 and 4 on the long gravel roads but this year I was not alone. I
found Dave, a rider from Toronto, just before this long fast stretch and we
rode together drafting to keep a nice pace.
120k - Aid4 stop to refill a last
time the camelback and to get some gels to avoid Aid5 and finished the race
without stopping. Unfortunately, Marc was still feeling bad at Aid4 and had to
give up here…but congrats to him for getting so far feeling bad for so long and
not being able to drink or eat…he is already on the list for next year.
I passed Aid5 quickly in direction
of the last piece of trails that finished just before the finish line. This
trail was a nightmare for me last year and I completed him at a really slow
pace. This year fuelling strategy was better and I just swallowed this last
single tracks sprinting to the finish……9hr42min on the clock and the famous
finisher growler announce the end of this nice and lucky day without rain or
bike issue.
A quick meal and short talks with
Diego and Jim from Cincy before finding Hunter with a beer enjoying his first
finish in a 100k MTB race.
The day ended up in the best way
with friends, grilling and drinking the head full of nice pictures from the
day.
SEE YOU
NEXT YEAR MOHICAN100
After a week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, viewing the mountains, wildlife and geothermal features, I ran in the Inaugural Grand Teton Half Marathon on June 6th, which was organized by Vacation Races, the same group that put on the Smoky Mountain Half Marathon that some of us ran in last year. 
I couldn't have asked for better conditions at start time, as the skies were nice and clear and the temperature was 50 degrees. I lined up with the 1:50 pacer, hoping to improve on my 1:58 time from the Smokies Half. 
