 Lumberjack 100
Manistee National Forest, MI
June 16, 2008
By Danielle Musto
his race report is going to be kind of short. I don't feel like talking much about it-partly because this was my fourth year in a row of racing the Lumberjack, and partly because my race could have been a lot better.
In fact, a few things could have been better.
Like the "easy" ride Namrita, Eddie and I did on Thursday to spin our legs out. We went out to Egypt Valley, which can best be described as a rail trail in between trees. It's that easy. Our plan was to do a quick hour before meeting up with Cheryl and Jeff (from Trek).
We were spinning around and talking, when Namrita's hands slipped off of her handlebars. She endoed and I endoed on top of her. I'm sure that anyone who knows the two of us is shaking their heads right now. It's probably not that surprising that we both managed to flip over each other on one of the easiest trails on the universe. Sometimes it seems like we may have been separated at birth.
Anyways, it would have been funny except for the fact that Namrita was hurt. It was freaky. The swelling in her leg/knee was so instantaneous that I was afraid that something was broken. Luckily it was just a really bad bruise, but she couldn't race. She was sad, and I was sad for her. I can't believe that we managed to fall so hard when we were riding so slowly. My hydraulic brake cable snapped off from my brake lever, and the axle of Namrita's front wheel broke. We were literally 2 minutes away from the end of the trail too, which made the whole event even more ridiculous.
The next day we all caravaned up North, did an easy pre-ride of the inner loop, ate dinner, and got ready for bed.
Which brings me to race day:
This is all that I'm going to say...
I felt really good for the first 10-ish miles. My plan was to start off on the conservative side, and increase my speed throughout the race. That never happened. Instead I started on the conservative side, and decreased my speed with each lap.
A few things went wrong and it was pretty much all my fault. I was so hungry during the last lap that I literally thought that I was going to pass out. With two miles to go I saw a few Dark Horse jerseys weaving through the woods.
 All I could think was, "if I can just pedal to them, they will have food. I will be saved." I must have looked like a crazy person when I reached them. My hands were tingling and I was slurring my words. I don't even know who I talked to because all I saw was the Payday bar that they were handing to me. I think it may have been the best thing that I ever had in my life. There was a guy with them, and he handed me a package of Cliff shots too. I swallowed those whole as well. Let me tell you, if I hadn't run into them I probably would have been off of my bike and running through the woods-trying to hunt small game (to eat) with my bare hands.
I pulled through the finish line in 3rd place, but with a much slower time then last year. I didn't feel like I was back to the land of the living until after I swallowed 3 grilled cheese and pesto sandwiches, a slice of pecan pie, and maybe a half of a watermelon.
That's my race report. I learned a few things from this race, and I'm erasing everything else from memory.
The good news is that I did race with my power tap, so I have lots of data to show my coach. It's been about a month since I started training with Lynda, and she's learning about me partly through my races. I really wish that I would have started training with her earlier but better late then never!
 Even though I didn't have a stellar race I had a great time. Our house couldn't have been better. We had Cheryl and Jeff from Trek, Garth from Sobe/Cannondale, Brad from Founder's, and of couse Scott, Namrita and Eddie. It was great getting to know everyone better.
Congrats to Cheryl and Jeff for both taking home the axes. They are both super fast and super good people. I hope we get to hang out again this summer.
Thanks again to my awesome hubby Scott, and Namrita for such great support. I think they were supporting 5-6 people and they were always ready with the right food/drink mixes. Talk about organized!
dm
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