LOUDONVILLE — When the sixth annual Mohican Mountain Bike 100 rolled out of downtown Loudonville at daybreak, over 300 riders hit the trail for two separate races at the same time. Several riders, including six-time national champion Chris Eatough, are competing in the 100-mile race while others are competing in the 100k (62-mile) race. Both races run simultaneously.
The full-loop, 100-mile race consists of over 11,000 feet of vertical climbing. Both races span four counties, including the newly dedicated mountain bike trail in the Mohican State Park and Mohican Memorial State Forest.
Eatough won the race last year in a record time of 7:08:57. It was his first time on the course.
Mohican was just another stop on Eatough’s illustrious career, which began in 1999. The British-born rider has spent the last decade making a name for himself – the name of a champion. Eatough has won six 24 Hour Solo World Championship titles and two 24 Hour Solo NORBA National Championship titles.
“I have transitioned to more of the endurance style racing,” said Eatough. “Over the last five or six years that’s what I focused on. I started out doing more of the traditional mountain bike racing. Now I focus on 100-mile races. I ride on the National Ultra Endurance Series. I won the championship for the series last year. I also do 24-hour solo racing. I’ve been doing that for seven or eight years. I usually do about two of those races a year. I’ve won the World Championship six times, and I’ve won the National Championship four times. I also won the 24 hours of Moab one time.”
Eatough, who holds a masters degree in engineering, hasn’t always been a rider. He was something of a quick learner, however.
“My dad was a mountain biker,” said Eatough. “When I was in college, he was a recreational mountain biker, and he raced in the masters class. I had no interest at the point. I was playing soccer in college. Once I got done with my college soccer career, I decided to try mountain biking because I knew my dad used to enjoy it. I started riding just for fun, and pretty quickly, started racing. I did well with that and just went with it.”
Eatough, who rides for Trek Volkswagen, played soccer for Clemson University, where he graduated from in 1996. While playing soccer at the NCAA Division I level usually means spectacular ability, Eatough doesn’t seem himself that way.
“I have some good, natural athletic ability,” Eatough said. “I think I have good mental toughness, which helps a lot with endurance. I don’t think I’m really gifted in aerobics area. Put me on a fitness test machine and I don’t think my numbers are all that exceptional. They would probably be quite normal, quite average. In really long races, I do well because of my preparation. I have the mental toughness you need as well.”
With every passing race, Eatough’s legend seems to grow. When asked what his greatest accomplishment was, he responded, “It is tough to say. I think winning races in a lot of different styles of racing is my one good accomplishment. I’ve won short races, cross country races and the endurance races — the 100-milers and 24-hour races. I’ve had success in all those areas.”
Preparation has taken on a new meaning for Eatough. Traversing the continent hasn’t left him much time to work on his skill. Any adjustments that need to be made have to be done during a race.
“I’m doing a lot more maintenance-type training now,” Eatough said. “I race a lot. I race almost every weekend, usually about 32 races a year. I usually do two 24-hour solos a year, but I do a lot of other endurance races like 100-milers and the multi-day events. I train less on my own than I used to because I am racing so much.”
When Eatough is not racing, he is a stay at home dad. His wife works full-time, so he often can be found at home taking care of his young daughter. That has presented some challenges, but one that he hasn’t managed to work through.
Eatough described the Mohican course as “unbelievably deceiving.” He wasn’t expecting such a demanding course to be found in Ohio.
Eatough is not the only rider that will be worth watching, however. Former Tour De France winner Floyd Landis announced in January his intention to contend the National Ultra Endurance Series of which Mohican is a part. Landis placed 26th at the first NUE race of the year (Cohutta 100, Tennessee) after suffering mechanical difficulties, and is entered in the Mohican 100 field.
Landis, originally from Pennsylvania, is returning to his mountain bike roots since undergoing successful full hip replacement surgery following the 2006 Tour De France. Just one year after his surgery, Landis placed second in the Leadville 100 in Colorado and third at the final event of the NUE Series in Shenandoah, Va., last year.
Other contenders are: Jeff Shalk, Team Trek, who is the current NUE Series leader after his win at the Cohutta 100; Harlan Price, racing for Independent Fabrications, is the 2006 NUE Series Champion and winner of the 2006 Mohican 100 MTB. Price placed second in last year’s race; and Josh Tostada, three time winner of the Leadville 100 in Colorado. Tostada is also undefeated at the Breckenridge 100, the fourth stop of the NUE Series this year.
On the women’s side, Carey Lowery, the defending NUE Women’s Champion, will be returning to defend her 2007 title. Lowery, who races for the Outdoor Store, was the winner in just 9:16:01. This season, Carey placed third at the Cohutta 100 behind Cheryl Sornsen, Trek East Coast. Sornsen was formidable at Cohutta, finishing two minutes ahead of the defending NUE Champ and is registered for Mohican.
Other entries include: Trish Stevenson of IF racing, who placed fourth at Cohutta in her comeback bid. Stevenson suffered a broken neck last year in a non race related cycling accident; and Danielle Musto, racing for Slingshot, placed second last year at Mohican and second overall in the NUE Series with wins in Tennesee and Michigan.
The race is also the second stop of the National Ultra Endurance MTB100 Series (www.nuemtb.com), a best 4 of 8 race series that began at the Cohutta 100 in Tennessee and includes stops this year in Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Virginia and California.
“The Mohican MTB100 event has doubled in size each year since its inception,” said Mohican 100 race director Ryan O’Dell. “I think once everyone has had an opportunity to experience what a great course and venue we have at Mohican, the buzz will continue to spread.
“Putting Mohican on the national circuit and on par with other great mountain bike venues like Colorado and Virginia is a real positive for the Loudonville community. This event will showcase the newly completed trail system in the forest.”
The race started, for the first time, in downtown Loudonville and will finish at Camp Nuhop. The public is invited to come out to cheer racers along the course. Ringing cowbells to cheer on racers is traditional at bike races. Black numbers will indicate 100 mile racers and Red numbers will indicate 100k racers. The current top 10 contenders of the National NUE Series will have numbers 1-10.
Editor’s note: Portions of this story were taken from a NUE press release.