The Lumberjack

This race has been on my bucket list for several years. I attempted it in 2006 but had 3 time-consuming mechanicals and didn't make the cutoff. It was my first attempt at an endurance mountain bike race (other than team 24 hour events). It was an experience and I'm very glad for it. Sure I was disappointed that I didn't finish the race but knew that I did what I could. And, I rode 60+ miles which was by far the most I've ever ridden on single-track. It was this race that fueled my interest in endurance races and since then that's been my focus. And, for the record, I finally hit the magic 100 mile target during a 12-hour race two years later.

Last summer, before I found out I had cancer, I had thought about trying the Lumberjack again in 2010. It's something I kept thinking about but in the end decided not to because I was so unsure of how I would recover from chemotherapy and radiation. I instead decided to focus on getting healthy while still doing some endurance races.

Having said all that, I am now doing the Lumberjack. It's a complete last minute decision but I'm really excited about it. Registration has been closed for some time but a friend, who was registered, is injured and can't do the race. I'm bummed for him, but excited for me.

I think it's totally insane that I'm doing the race with only a month out but what the heck, it will be fun and I will be doing something I love. Will it be hard? YES but cancer was harder.