Comments on: Cohutta 100 Race Report: Finishing Never Felt So Good

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 20:49:42 +0000

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the results of this year’s Leadville 100 to see how the top Cohutta 100 finishers did there–you know, for comparison purposes. Both races are 100 miles but each offers unique topography, singletrack mix, weather, total elevation gain, and max altitudes so they’re not easy to compare. But a few top riders completed both races in 2012.

Jeremiah Bishop: won the Cohutta in 7 hours, 1 minute. Took third at Leadville with 6 hours, 42 minutes. Almost twenty minutes faster at Leadville!

Justin Lindine: fifth place at Cohutta in 7 hours, 35 minutes. Also faster (7 hours, 26 minutes) at Leadville.

So is Leadville an easier course? Perhaps, but the faster times could also be a function of the competition (more fast riders to push everyone to go faster) or the fact that Cohutta is the first race of the season and Leadville is near the end.

Anyone do both this year and want to chime in?

By: trek7k

trek7k — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:11:42 +0000

Good meeting you as well – congrats!

By: jasont75

jasont75 — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:50:29 +0000

It was very nice to meet you at the start. One of the best days on a bike I’ve ever had, also one of the hardest.

By: Fitch

Fitch — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:49:06 +0000

Congratulations, Jeff! What a massive achievement to ANY rider!

By: RoadWarrior

RoadWarrior — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:24:38 +0000

While you were doing the 100, I was doing 23 miles with 5500 feet of climbing, would not want to try what you did. Congratulations; you definitely have a “been there done that” to hang on the wall.

By: Doomed

Doomed — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:09:25 +0000

All I can say is WOW!

By: seenvic

seenvic — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:16:54 +0000

Good job. The last 25 miles being mostly DH has me interested in this event.

By: trouttrunnell

trouttrunnell — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:40:05 +0000

Awesome job! All your hard work and effort paid off. You deserve major props for your accomplishment!

By: eischman

eischman — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:35:58 +0000

I believe we were the last to come in and had to ride the last single track in the dark…I did not like all the extra climbing on our tandem. I was told there were 25 DNFs and believe we were the only DFL since they pulled most off the course…we were told we could ride at our own risk

By: maddslacker

maddslacker — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:22:33 +0000

!trek7km by 12,600, you mean the elevation, right?

By: PHRANQUY

PHRANQUY — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:13:21 +0000

The important part is that you finished. I’m looking forward to seeing your “finishers” training plan as my longest event to date was been the Dakota 5-0, and I’d like to be able to pedal consistantly through a 12 hour race or dirty (preferably offroad) century in the next year or so.

By: Jared13

Jared13 — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:04:25 +0000

Awesome job, man!

Excellent points about attitude.

By: skibum

skibum — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:34:42 +0000

Very cool report–thanks for sharing.

It must have been quite unnerving riding on a broken spoke for 40 miles and it seems pretty cruel to lay in the biggest climb that far into the race–this is clearly not for the ill-prepared!

Not being a racer, I’m not sure about how worthwhile it would be, but on long rides I add a water filter to my pack. Worst case scenario, I can always fill my Camelbak/bottles with fresh, clean water (provided I know there’s a reliable water source along the route).

By: trek7k

trek7k — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:12:54 +0000

I forgot to mention – this race was the first in the annual National Ultra Endurance series. Jeremiah Bishop won in 7 hours, 1 minute and Christian Tanguy took second @ 7:05.

By: arizonaglider

arizonaglider — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:07:57 +0000

Congratulations Jeff. I particularly like your attitude about attitude. I say riding is about heart, legs, lungs and mind and mind is probably the most important facet. I have never entered any event but your experience makes me want to try something, although I don’t think I could do what you did.

By: trek7k

trek7k — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:40:23 +0000

@dustin: I’m not sure how I feel about the water shortage. It seems like the volunteers could have done a bit more and the promoter has a lot of responsibility as well. Someone at another aid station mentioned they started the day with 50 gallons of water which was more than enough last year but that seems way low to me. I mean, if everyone filled up two water bottles or heck, a Camelbak, we’re talking half a gallon a person (150 gallons!). And that’s just one trip – each aid station was passed twice. It was also unseasonably warm which may have led to an underestimate of the water needs.

Now, all the pre-race info made it clear that hydration was up to each individual and that the aid station stuff was to be considered “supplemental” but how much water can you fit in a 1 gallon sag bag? Maybe next time I should just skip the energy bars and fill my bag with water.

@greg: I think my position in the (back of the) race sorta dictated the level of negativity around me. I knew keeping a positive attitude would be key so I really went out of my way to encourage everyone I saw and tried to strike up conversations with the riders around me. Misery loves company but there’s only so much you can take before it starts dragging you down.

I was curious about DNFs as well. The results only list finishers and I count 240 of those. The race was sold out @ 300 riders so I guess 60 people either DNF’d or DNS.

@corey: I think Leadville would be too easy. Only 12,600 feet of climbing compared to 14,000 at Cohutta.

By: maddslacker

maddslacker — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:32:41 +0000

Nice job Jeff! You should weigh your brake caliper and see how much lighter it is now.

Now that you have that mug, it’s time to work on a gold belt buckle, if you catch my drift…

By: mtbgreg1

mtbgreg1 — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:19:18 +0000

Congrats on the finish, Jeff! That seriously is a HUGE accomplishment. Stinks that so many of the racers along the way were so negative–glad you were able to stay positive and finish well! Any word on how many people DNFed the race?

By: dgaddis

dgaddis — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:09:00 +0000

NICE JOB JEFF! That’s a huge day. I did the Cohutta 65 a few years ago and had a way tougher time, bonked super hard, spent over 9hrs out on the course. My finishers mug is one of my most prized possesions though!

Sucks about the water shortage. I believe there was a new crew running the race this year, guess they just under estimated. That said, it happens to veteran race promoters too. ORAMM ran out of water a year or so ago as well. People actin’ a fool doesn’t help anything though, especially treating the volunteers like that, it’s not their fault, they didn’t make the ‘how much water do we need’ decision.

Again, good job. Big day.