Tanguy and Sornson win Hampshire 100

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Under ideal weather conditions, the sixth annual Hampshire 100, with 100-mile and 100km options, lived up to the expectations of more than 400 racers along a rocky race course that was, perhaps, more difficult than many had anticipated according to several reports. Some spoke of an amazing fiddler who was playing somewhere deep in the back country along the course. "The music could be heard for miles!" Others told of a swampy bog that, according to Troy Barry (Hammer Nutrition/No Tubes), "was so deep, I couldn't see my water bottle!"

For many NUE Series race leaders, the Hampshire 100 proved to be a pivotal race heading into the home stretch with just three races remaining. For the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, beneficiary of the proceeds of the race, the doubling of the size of the race will help to make a greater difference in the work being done there.

Women: Sornson earns win number three, setting up a showdown with Carey

2008 NUE Champion Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) added one more win to the two she claimed earlier this this year, including a win over the defending women's champion, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) at the series opener at Cohutta along with her more recent win at the Wilderness 101 in Pennsylvania.

Sornson was the only woman who finished in sub-nine hours at 8:58:36. "When it was announced that the New Hampshire 100 was part of the NUE Series, I signed up without hesitation. A new adventure is always exciting. Little did I know that it would also become a goal race that would offer me an opportunity at winning the series. Winning the race now has me set up to do battle at the Fool's Gold 100 in Georgia."

The Hampshire 100 was a tough, fun-filled course. It had rocks, roots, mud, water, twisty techy singletrack, doubletrack and roads that uniquely routed you around quaint countryside. "It was very 'old school' and very much under-billed in the original race description. The race start was a little undesirable for some in that they did it in waves. According to race director, Randi Whitney, this was necessary to sort out the field before a single lane bridge early in the race," said Sornson.

"Women, singlespeeders, and masters went off in the second wave behind the open men. It turned out to be not as hard to pass as we thought, but did cause some initial chaos until things sorted out," said Sornson.

Vicki Barclay (Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team) and Sornson got a jump on the others at first. About 10 miles in, Sornson gapped her, too. "For the rest of the race, I kept digging deep and didn't let up. Fortunately my bike held out and helped me get to the finish," said Sornson. "Throughout the race I needed every gear due to such varied terrain and punchy, twisty singletrack. The mud and water weren't kind to the drive train although I was impressed with the route and the overall organization of the event."

Barclay rolled into second at 9:14:02. "After Cheryl got away, Karen Potter (MTBRacenews.com) and Kathleen Harding (Team CF) caught up to me. The three of us rode together for about 10 miles. Karen managed to get ahead on the sandy climb leading to power line climb. I dug deep to catch back onto her wheel and rode with her through the singletrack up to aid two. I managed to get out of aid station and on the next climb ahead of Karen and never saw anyone again."

Potter, who also placed fifth at the Wilderness 101 this year, took the third spot on the podium finishing 9:21:09. "I felt pretty good out there today. I knew it was going to be a long 100-miler given my finish time in the 100k last year (6:06:12), although I wasn't quite sure how fast the second shortened loop would ride."

"Vicki, Kathleen and I all rode together until the 'wall' coming off the sandy flat rail trail section," said Potter. "I managed to stay on my bike for the entire climb and got a small gap but Vicki caught back on and passed me at aid station three where I had to refill my water bottles. She kept a gap from that point. I just tried to stay strong and keep pushing but with the thought that I had to do another lap."

The middle of the course was bogged down with slow-riding singletrack and some tough, steep climbs. The last nine miles finishing the laps were pretty hard too. "You think you're almost there and it just takes forever to ride those miles, although there were some pretty sweet singletrack sections mixed in there, too," said Potter. "Thankfully the second lap rode really fast with more dirt road and a lot of the tougher middle sections cut out. There was a pretty long steep climb at about mile 85 that went on and on... but at that point, you know you're almost home."

Brenda Simril (Motor Mile Racing), who currently holds second place in the point standings following three second place finishes this year, rolled into fourth place 9:50:15 with Elizabeth Allen (Danielson Adventure Sports) and Masters racer Susan Lynch (Union Velo) rounding out fifth and sixth place.

Men: Tanguy puts hammer down on Juarez

NUE defending champion Christian Tanguy (Team CF), leads the NUE series; however, with just one win in his quiver among a stacked field of competitors headed to New Hampshire, he must have felt the heat, knowing how important a win in New Hampshire would be if he had any hope of defending his title.

Race number nine, in this best four of 12 series, became even more critical for all contenders when Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) announced plans, just last week, to build on his wins at Cohutta and the Wilderness 101 in an attempt at his first NUE Series title.

However, it was the defending champ that took it to the field on Sunday with a winning time of 7:35:44. According to the former US Olympian, David "Tinker" Juarez (Cannondale), who finished second in 7:41:50 after doing the Mt. Washington Hill climb a day earlier, "After Jeremiah flatted, Tanguy put the hammer down! I thought my legs were going to explode!"

Tanguy said, "With Jeremiah, Tinker and a great bunch of other riders who beat me earlier this year, I was wondering how I would fare. I started the race with one bottle and no gels figuring that the cool temperature would allow me to reach my drop bag at mile 25 with no problem. As I came in and announced my number to the volunteers, there was no action. I was wondering whether we had indeed arrived at the correct aid station or not. Jeremiah and I were ready to turn back but with the confusion we thought that there might be another aid just up the road... well, there wasn't."

Tanguy and his rivals reached the Strava challenge section and he thought, "Could there be any better opportunity to test the legs?" Bishop, Justin Lindine (Redline) and Juarez joined Tanguy at the front. Just a few miles later, the trail got extremely steep and only Bishop could go up without any dismount. He did not seem tired from his efforts last weekend at the Leadville 100, where he finished third.

The group stayed tightly together until Bishop flatted at mile 45. "I was running the beefier tires and thought that I had carried all this rotating mass for a purpose so I went to the front and increased the tempo," said Tanguy. "However, I was sure that Jeremiah would be coming back rapidly. I was just hoping to make him work a little harder."

With the faster tempo, Lindine started to yo-yo behind Juarez and Tanguy until he was no longer to be seen. "The trails were great and both of us had a great time. However, the aid station at mile 48 was not coming fast enough and I was running on fumes," said Tanguy. "I have no idea how I could have gone so far with only one bottle and no food. At the aid, I grabbed my bottle along with Hammer gels, leaving with only one bottle but, after all, it was only 14 miles to the start/finish area for the second loop.

On the long flats, Juarez sometimes relieved Tanguy at the front, and Bishop was nowhere to be seen. In the first major climb, Juarez lost some ground. It was a long ride to the finish. "I was giving it all to the limit of my legs seizing up," said Tanguy. "The closer I got to the finish, the more I feared a late surge from someone from behind me, however it did not happen, and I managed to reach the finish in first place. In another two miles, I think I would have passed out. I was so exhausted! I am sure that the competition will seek their revenge at the Shenandoah 100, especially Jeremiah being on his home turf. I can only hope my legs will feel as good as they did today."

Tanguy's teammate Brandon Draugelis (Team CF) finished third in 7:58:04. The top three were the only sub-eight hour finishes on the day. Four minutes later, Rob Spreng (Dirty Harry's) came in 8:02:42 to finish fourth. Spreng is currently holding fifth place overall in the NUE Series.

Fifth place went to Keck Baker (Carytown Bicycle Company/Cannondale) in 8:09:26. Just six seconds separated the next two with John Burns in sixth at 8:13:03 and Jonathon Schottler in seventh place at 8:13:09. The next three came also, just seconds apart, Michael Simonson (Trek/RBS/CPA Crosssings) in 8:16:11, Zack Morrey (Blue Ridge Cyclery/NoTubes/Magura/Schwalbe) in 8:16:19, and Troy Barry (Hammer Nutrition/no Tubes) in 8:16:37 with 40-year-old Jonathan Davis (Trek Bike Store Racing - Boulder, CO) in 8:19:23 managing to stay ahead of the boy wonder, 17-year-old Dylan Johnson (Scott RC Mountain Bike Team) in 8:20:19.

Despite a reported five flats in the granite rocks of Hampshire, Bishop would go on to finish 16th on the day.

Singlespeed men: Harding gets past the Pfluginator for his first NUE Series win of 2012

Ron Harding (Trestle Bridge Racing) placed second at Syllamo's Revenge and Mohican 100 earlier this season. Knowing that a win at Hampshire might be the only way to stay in contention for a late season run, Harding took it to the defending champion to capture his first NUE Series win in 8:20:19.

Defending NUE Singlespeed Champion Gerry Pflug (Salsa/NoTubes/Pro Bikes) leads the series with three wins so far this year. Pflug rolled into second place in 8:26:11, managing to stay ahead of his closest challenger this season, AJ Linnell (Fitzgerald's Bicycles/Misfit Psycles), who captured third, just behind the Pfluginator, at 8:41:19.

"With a really stacked singlespeed field, including many of the top finishers from other NUE races this season, I knew the race was going to be difficult," said Pflug. "Additionally, the slower 100k race times from previous years led me to believe that the Hampshire 100 course was going to one of the more difficult courses of the year. Both of these thoughts held true for my Hampshire 100 race."

Right off the gun, all the main contenders in the singlespeed race, minus A.J. Linnell, were grouped together during the first fast 20 miles of the race. But, then, on the super steep power line climb, the race started to break-up. Harding and Patrick Blair put a 30-second gap over everyone else by running the climb. Pflug was the next to the top and knew it was going to be hard to catch the fast pair of SS racers ahead. He didn't know it would be until almost mile 80 until he saw another singlespeeder.

"I spent a lot of time alone during the race and was hoping that Harding and Blair were going to wear each other out with their fast riding and bigger gear choices," said Pflug. "After pre-determining my anticipated race time, I chose to use an easier gear than many of the other SS racers, a 30x18. It was a nice gear throughout all of the the singletrack, but I know using it slowed me down on all the fast stuff."

"After doing the race, I think it might be better to use a larger gear because many of the climbs are too steep to ride in any SS gear choice. Eventually, Blair did over-extend himself trying to break free from Harding, and I was able to catch him. I thought I might be able to catch Harding before the finish also, but he was riding super strong and I never did catch sight of him until after the finish. It was an awesome singlespeed battle, and I was very happy with getting a second place finish on the tough course and in the stacked singlespeed field."

Linnell, who killed it at the High Cascades 100 before dropping out at the Pierre's Hole 100 with stomach flu-like symptoms, finished third, 15 minutes behind Pflug at 8:41:19. "I'm not sure what happened out there today. The race started and within a few miles I was off the back of the singlespeed pack, riding in a crew of slower racers," said Linnell. " Somehow I just couldn't close the gap forward to the SS crowd. It was like my legs forgot that they were supposed to be racing for the first 30 miles."

Somewhere around mile 30, Linnell slapped them around a little bit and started pedaling like it was a race, but by that point he was so far back that he couldn't catch the leaders. "That said, once I started riding for real, I had a great time cranking around the course. I periodically passed a singlespeeder, even rode with Matt Ferrari (Freeze Thaw/ Hubcap Cycles/ Stans NoTubes) for a bit on the rail-trail section, but it wasn't until mile 99 that I passed Patrick Blair (Adventures For the Cure) and spun my brains out through the finish," said Linnell. " I was bummed that I didn't ride with Gerry but, oh well, I just didn't have it today. Call it good training for the Point 2 Point?"

Two minutes behind Linnell, Blair finished fourth in 8:43:30. "I learned a valuable lesson today. Never go into the red zone in a 100-mile mountain bike race unless you only have 10 or 20 miles left and you know you will make it to the finish," said Blair. "We hit a massive hill that would have been ride-able except it was super sandy and loose. Harding and I ran while Pflug inspired us all by riding it! He rode it as fast as Harding and I ran it so we reached the top together.
At about mile 85, Gerry passed Blair. "I told him he is crushing it and he is... he flies past me."

With less than two miles to go, someone caught Blair. It was AJ back from the dead.

Ten minutes later, James Harmon (Createx Colors-Benidorm-Cycle Matrix Coaching) took fifth with Ferrari coming in 10 minutes later to capture sixth in 9:03:33.

Masters 50+: Sanborn leads NUE series after capturing his fourth win

For two years now, Mark Virello has owned the masters podium but admitted Sunday that it just wasn't his day as he pulled out of the race, vowing to return next year to mix it up with the NUE Series contenders yet again next year, grin on his face.

Ron Sanborn (Einstein Racing), the unlikely series leader who stepped into mountain biking in an effort to reverse poor health that threatened his quality of life, has become the envy of all masters as he leads the NUE Series as the only masters racer with four wins. Cohutta, Mohican, Lumberjack, then, a second place finish at the Wilderness 101 behind his greatest challenger yet, Roger Masse (Trek).

Masse took second to Sanborn at Mohican then made the critical pass at the Wilderness 101 to stand atop the master's podium. But it would be a different story at Hampshire as Sanborn crossed the line less than three minutes ahead of Masse in 8:53:25 to cement his series lead.

"Roger Masse set the pace once we started on the gravel road out of town," said Sanborn. "I settled in behind him for a short time but felt like pushing harder. Jumping in front, I broke the pack up and started pulling Roger, Cheryl Sornson, Vicki Barclay and a few others up to some of the first wave. There was some more separation, and it was me, Cheryl and a few others. Not seeing Roger any more I rode aggressive to make my lead stick."

Sanborn caught up to Dan Kotwicki (Aberdeen Bike/ Trek 29er Crew) who was pulling on the rail trail opening up the gap further. They helped each other until Kotwicki flatted at mile 25. After that, Sanborn basically rode alone for the rest of the race and was very surprised with the amount of tight, rough singletrack. "That was a long day, but knowing I could pull off my fourth Masters win kept me motivated. Hats off to all that made this race happen, it was nice to see what New Hampshire has to offer," said Sanborn.

Just over five minutes later, Masse crossed the line at 8:59:45. "It was very crowded when we got to the first rail trail section. We had caught the tail end of the open wave which had started a minute before us. Ron was more aggressive and crafty riding through this crowded field and began to get some separation from me," said Masse. "After losing contact with Ron, I wound up riding with Rich Labombard for a while until I dropped my chain in one of the first singletrack sections. I'm not sure when I got around Rich, but I'm guessing it was at one of the aid stations since I only stopped twice all day. I chased hard in an attempt to regain contact with Ron for the rest of the race, but didn't quite have the goods. Ron was the strongest rider today."

Fourteen minutes later, Labombard (Joe's Garage) finished third 9:13:51. The dark horse Michael Johnson finished fourth three minutes ahead of Derek Griggs (Recycled Sports) in 10:40:09.

All proceeds from the Hampshire 100 benefit the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, a charitable organization employing more than nine hundred people, offering a lifelong alliance to people with disabilities. One mother from New York City, who was visiting her daughter there for the weekend, stated that the center was one of only three in the US of its kind. "Crotched has been a Godsend for me and my young daughter who became disabled as a result of a medical procedure at a hospital when she was just three months old," said the mother. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.crotchedmountain.org.

The next two races occur on opposite ends of the country and just one day apart. The Park City Point 2 Point will be in Utah on Saturday, September 1 and the Shenandoah 100 will happen in Virginia on September 2. Stay tuned to Cyclingnews for full coverage.

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