The 2005 Wilderness 101 proved to be the most competitive running to date for the epic mountain bike event that covers 101 miles of trails and forest roads in Pennsylvania's beautiful mountains. The gong made its way weaving through tents that packed the field at Coburn Park at 5:30am. The loud dull crash every few tents woke racers from their nervous sleep. By the time the promoter had covered half of the Park the racers were anticipating the sound of the gong and cheering upon it's passing. With 1.5 hrs to go before the 7:00 am start the racers had to get a move on it to get through their pre-game routine. Equinox Café, the breakfast sponsor had Coffee and Scones to get the party started.

The 101 has been five time 24 hr World Champion Chris Eatough's (Trek/VW) final test before heading off to Canada to defend his title in September for the past few years. This year it was much more then that. It was a rematch for many of the US's top 24 hr hot rod's. Eatough had suffered from nutritional issues in his most recent 24 hr race, the NORBA 24 hr National Championships in May. His body shut down and he was forced to withdraw from the event. This opened the door for Gary Fisher rider Cameron Chambers first National Title. Cameron took his momentum to West Virginia's signature 24 hr race, the 24 hrs of Big Bear one month later, only to have his winning ways ended by a local racer Ernesto Marenchin. (Speedgoat). The Big Bear event took down another top contender- Michigan's Mark Hendershot (Santa Cruz Syndicate), a proven top 3 finisher in any ultra event. Big Bear was also the coming out for Steve Schwarz (Independent Fabrications) who pulled off a big 2nd place ride.

Cameron pulled a Gary Fisher Rig from his quiver of bikes for this event. The Rig is Fishers first singlespeed production bike. This appeared to be a step back from a rematch with Eatough, as a singlespeed has never won this event outright. Skip Brown (Seven Cycles), Danny Brennan (Bicycle Depot), Eric Roman (Independent Fabrications), Mark Elsasser (Trail Head Cycles), and Les Leach (Wissahickon Cyclery) have all nipped at or just inside the top 10 on a singlespeed.

The race rolled out of the park as the sun took to the sky, with the lead motorcycle pacing the first two miles of pavement along Penn's Creek at a controlled chatty pace. As the field of 235 riders took a left turn heading up the first of 10 mountains a group of 25 split off the front. Only one major contender missed the selection as the group sped off to the first aid station 20 miles in. Local Bill Alcorn (Speedgoat / Mt. Nittany Wheelworks) flatted on the dirt road 12 miles into the race. The locals had praised Alcorn all week as the only singlespeeder with game enough to take down Brennan. Sitting in quietly on this lead group were shop owner's Harry Sherrill and Frank Maguire of Mt. Nittany Wheelworks, the local shop that handle's logistics and much more for the event. It's not too often that shop owners get out to ride and much less likely are they spotted sitting in with an elite group of ultra endurance cyclists.

Danny Brennan pulled to the front after aid station #1 as the course took to the trail for the first time. He cracked the whip on the climb trying to eliminate Cameron from the front field. This acceleration was so hard Eatough declined to cover. Eatough even told Cameron to let it go saying, "that pace will bury you this early". Still, Chambers stepped up to the plate to pull it back himself.

Brennan move's spread the field out going into the first downhill. His pace forced some of the big names to make some errors as Skip Brown and Jon Bruno (Independent Fabrications) flatted on a relatively smooth downhill. Eatough popped out of the downhill with Rob Lichtenwalner (Cannondale/Lupine) leading the charge. Danny had run out of gears on the downhill letting past Ryan Leech (VisitPA.com), a past top 3 finisher in the event and Harlan Price (Gettyesburg Bicycle/YETI). Cameron Chambers had to pull off at the bottom while Brennan rode away so he could fix a loose pedal. This would be a crucial blow to Chambers who chased hard to regain contact but was never able to do so. The remaining 20 contenders were scattered about trailing by less then a minute. Alcorn who had worked his way back onto the back of the group flatted for the 2nd of 4 times on the downhill.

The climb up and over Bear Meadows Road to Longberger Path set the stage for the days dynamics. It would be Singlespeeder's like Danny Brennan bridging up and passing the geared riders on the climbs. Only to have the positions shift again on the flats. The Duo of Eatough and Lichtenwalner rode clear of the others and entered aid station 2 with a two-minute margin over Price and Leech who were working well together. Brennan again lost time on the flats coming into station #2 - 40 miles in on the course. A group of 8 riders including Hendershot, Marenchin, and Mike Kuhn (VisitPA.com) were tailing the 2 leading couples. Rich Straub (Guy's Bikes), a top local and Garth Prosser (Cannondale), who was 4th last year both made foolish moves blasting straight by the feed station with the hardest two climbs on the course looming just ahead.

Straub and Prosser dangled off the front for a few miles on the flats leading into the first race-separating climb. They were both eventually swallowed by their chasers, with Straub getting spit out the back. Lictenwalner did a fine job of hanging with Eatough to the top of the climb. They dropped into the Croyle Run downhill together where Eatough's superior descending skills made it a race for 2nd place. Ryan Leech exploded on the climb leaving Price sitting alone in 3rd. Brennan had rocketed again up the climb to within striking distance of the leaders. Greg Montello (Independent Fabrications) was starting to creep onto the back of the large chase group pushing his Titanium singlespeed extremely hard on the climbs.

The longest, steepest and hardest climb of the race up Seeger Road to Telephone Trail saw Eatough increase his lead over Lictenwalner and Price. This climb was the last hard push for Brennan as his body started to feel the effects of his super human pace on the previous climbs, showing the other singlespeeders that maybe this time his gear could have been to big. Aid Station #3 was once again the crux of the race as many people had a rough time making it past this point. Leech stopped unable to continue while Brennan took a break and conceded his shot at another singlespeed victory. The sight of these two sitting at the aid station gave many riders a huge boost. Rich Straub licked his chops when he pulled in seeing Leech sitting, knowing he could ride away as the top local, a huge title to claim in this event. Eric Roman who was almost getting used to racing for 2nd behind Brennan tried to talk Danny into continuing to no avail.

Eatough increased his lead from 10 to 15 minutes on his way to Station #4 where the trail's get rocky and fun and are the most challenging sections of the course. Price inched his way up toward Lictenwalner and was able to pull into station #4 just as Rob was pulling out. Harlan gave chase up the long climb ahead finally making contact with Rob only to fall off again and again. The top 3 had a sizable gap. The battle behind for 4th was tight between Hendershot, Kuhn, Marenchin and Jon Bruno who was just pulling into range after fighting back from his early race puncture.

Eatough was getting his groove on at the front, not only pulling away, but also crushing the course on his carbon Fuel. He came off the last climb with a 25-minute lead and dropped into the fisherman's path singletract section with a mission. He wanted to clean this one-mile technical trail that runs next to the river where most competitors are forced to walk. After pulling off this feat, he put it in overdrive and cranked into the town of Coburn flying across the finish line at 6:59:48. 10 minutes faster then has last years winning time, showing himself and his competitors that he is on track for his 6th bid at the 24 hr World Championship Title.

Harlan Price eventually latched onto Lictenwalner for good as the two kept pushing it to the finish. Rob has proven himself as one of the top east coast endurance riders, placing in, if not winning about every 24 and 12 hr race on the east coast. Harlan has just come back to the top level of competition after taking 2004 off and is flying after his 2nd place ride in the Tour de Burg. They both seemed to be satisfied with their pace, neither of them feeling the need for a clean 2nd place finish. So they held hands like a couple of sissy's crossing the line in a tie.

Pennsylvania local Mike Kuhn put his power and experience to use as he rode ahead of 5th place finisher Erensto Marenchin, 6th place finisher Jon Bruno and the colorful and well liked Mark Hendershot in 7th. If the race had one more climb and was a bit longer 8th place finisher Skip Brown would have pushed his one gear into the top 5. Skip has been the only one able to pull off a top 5 finish on a singlespeed in either of the ultra endurance mountain bike events promoted by Shenandoah Mountain Touring. He placed an impressive 4th in the 2004 running of the Shenandoah Mountain 100 in Virginia. Finishing behind Brown was a bloodied Greg Montello, who had crashed his singlespeed on a dirt road when a youngster stepped out into the middle of the road away from his family. Rounding out the super competitive top 10 were Nicholas Broskovich (Stamford Cycle Center) in 9th. Nick looked to be peaking after just completing the Trans Alp stage race in Europe. Brian Lariviere (Team Bull Dog) nabbed the final spot and was very happy to be in the top 10. If Brian continues to improve like he has we will be a contender next year.

Rich Straub kept on the gas and was able to hold onto the title of "Top Dog" in the local's competition. Masters winner John Majors (West Liberty Cycles) squeaked by Andrew McDermott (Wooden Wheels) in last year's event by 3 seconds. This year he widened his margin over McDermott by riding 30 minutes clear by the finish.

Tiffany Mann (Independent Fabrications) riding her singlespeed yo-yoed with Sue George (Team Lucky Green) for the first 20 miles with Mann riding clear for good on the first large climb out of aid station #1.Tiffany had her best ride taking 10 minutes off her 2004 time coming in at 9:14. Sue George had a solid ride to finish 2nd ahead of Lauri Webber (Independent Fabrications). Rae Gandolf (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.) rode a strong ride for 4th just missing 3rd by 10 minutes. Linda LaSalle (Mt. Nittany Wheelworks) rode in for 5th on her home course.

Junior racer Alex Cox (Indiana Cycling and Fitness) put in a great ride placing 15th overall coming very close to the record set by Nick Pedatella when he was a top junior finishing 11th.

Everyone seemed to have a great time feasting at the BBQ dinner that ran up till the final finishers made it in just shy of 11 pm. Otto's Pub and Brewing Co. provided beverages that kept the crowds occupied while racers finished and the awards ceremony concluded. The crowd let out one final roar when Mark Schow and Vicki Milller (Bike Barn Racing) came in to finish the race on a tandem making them the first coed tandem to finish the event.