The infamous Lumberjack 100 kicks off very bright and early tomorrow morning at the Big M in Manistee, Michigan. Some of the best endurance riders in the state will take the line, and some might even finish. Crazy people. 

Traverse City area riders will be front and center, spearheaded by the NUE Series regulars from Einstein Racing, Jorden Wakeley and Ron Sanborn. Wakeley is in the habit of being labeled a ‘dark horse’, and is looking to drop that label for that of ‘favorite’. He’s been working toward the Lumberjack 100 title for much of the season and all signs indicate that he can threaten for the overall. Last year, Wakeley rode to fourth place in the singlespeed category, but has adopted gears for all of 2012. He’ll be up against against last year’s Lumberjack winner Christian Tanguy, Mike Simonson and Derek Graham.

2011 champion Amanda Carey is the heavy favorite to win the Log again, but Michigan native Julie Whalen will threaten. Cheryl Sornson from Team CF will be marking wheels, waiting to pounce like a puma, or mountain lion as they are also known.

Wakeley’s chances will be augmented by the support, where possible, from teammate Jason Lowetz. Einstein will also have the Master himself, Ron Sanborn, riding as the favorite for the Master’s race after a victory at Cohutta 100.  The Einstein team is riding with a lot of ambition against some of the best riders assembled for any NUE stop on one of the most relentless courses.

Also heading down from Traverse City is Marc Brunette from EpicHappens Race Team. While not shooting for the win, he’ll be looking to set a personal best on par with some of the high quality riders flocking to Manistee for the race. EpicHappens has also sent Jack Kline to New York for the Wilmington Whiteface 100k. That’s a metric century, because New York gets itself confused with Canada. Jack’s on a mission to get qualified for the Leadville 100 this August and nothing but a top finish at Whiteface will get him to Colorado for the big  showdown at elevation. Jack has been in New York preparing for the race for nearly a week  getting used to the accents and learning to hate the Red Sox.

To see all the riders signed up to torture themselves tomorrow at the Lumberjack, check out the link here. 

A very enthusiastic good luck to all the racers at the Lumberjack 100, but only good luck to Jack Kline in New York. Just him. If you have information during the race, have photos or just want to say hello, be sure to post them on the kolo t.c. Facebook page.