Cohutta 100....

By: Cycling News

Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Co-op) and Amanda Carey (Kenda) won the Cohutta 100, the opening race of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series on a stormy Saturday in the south east.

Racers started in the dry at 7:00 am, but then thunderstorms rolled in around 40 miles into the race. The temperatures dropped, making what has typically been a warm race a cold one, especially as many racers were at the highest point in the mountains when the storms arrived.

Last year's Cohutta winner Schalk repeated this year, although his time was slower at 6:49:25 (vs. 6:23:06 in 2009). Schalk is also a two-time defending NUE series champion. He beat Chris Peariso (Adventure 212/Specialized) and Michael Simonson (Gary Fisher 29er Crew).

In the women's race, last year's winner Carey Lowery was absent, but another Carey took the win: Amanda Carey. Her time was 8:03:01, better than Carey Lowerey's 8:06:47 of 2009. 2008 NUE Overall Women's winner Cheryl Sornson (Team CF) was second ahead of Anna Ballaire.

2006 NUE men's overall champion Harlan Price (Team CF) won the singlespeed category while Robert Herriman (Gary Fisher 29er Crew/WSC/acfstores.com) took the Master's category.

Additional editorial assistance provided by Ryan O'Dell and Bridget Donovan.
Full report coming soon!