SEDRO-WOOLLEY — Tom Jacobson has spent a lot of time this summer on his bike.

Of course, that’s nothing new for Jacobson, who commutes each day to his job at Rothenbuhler Engineering in Sedro-Woolley and routinely puts in 100 miles on weekends. During the summer, Jacobson rides 300 to 400 miles a week.

This year, he has logged 8,600 miles. His goal is 10,000 miles. In 2005, his mileage topped out at 16,000.

Then there are times the Sedro-Woolley 47-year-old rides a couple hundred miles — in a day.

He recently competed in a pair of ultramarathon cycling events — the Seattle 2 Spokane (S2S) on July 18 and the Cannonball on June 27.

The S2S is a one-day, ultramarathon endurance ride between Seattle and Spokane. It follows Highway 2 and was designed for ultramarathoners in search of a challenging event. It covers 284 miles with elevation gains of about 12,000 feet.

Cannonball also tests cyclists’ mettle between Seattle and Spokane.

Cannonball is 276 miles, all but 17 of which are along Interstate 90. There is 10,029 feet of elevation gain.

Not only did Jacobson complete both events, he finished third in the S2S in 14 hours, 34 minutes. The winner reached Spokane in 13:31.

Jacobson won the 2009 Cannonball in a time of 13:50. He averaged 20.5 mph.

“I thought it was possible, so that is how I trained,” he said. “I trained to win. But with these types of races, you never really know who is going to show up.

“I was pretty excited to break 14 hours. I expected to finish somewhere between 14 and 16 hours.”

Ultramarathon cyclists don’t get a lot of attention. But that doesn’t make their accomplishments any less impressive.

“They are sort of low-key events,” said Jacobson, “because not a lot of people want to ride that far. There isn’t a lot of fanfare when you finish.”

Craig Langley, a friend and support team member for Jacobson, felt bad about that. So he fashioned a trophy — complete with an actual cannonball — and presented it to Jacobson at the finish line.

“That’s pretty neat,” admitted Jacobson.

S2S started out a little rough.

Jacobson and three other riders got lost on their way to Woodinville. Once he got his bearings, Jacobson biked the rest of the race by himself.

“My time was one hour slower than the record time (Jacobson’s 13:33) for the race in 2004,” he said. “To be within a hour, that’s pretty good.”

A big reason for Jacobson’s fast time was his strategy of minimizing his time off his bike resting.

“I was focused on staying on the bike,” he explained. “I spent less than nine minutes off the bike the entire race. Every time you are off the bike, someone else is catching up. Staying on the bike is more important than going faster. You just can’t stop.”

The terrain encountered on S2S is different than that of Cannonball.

“It’s quite a bit different,” said Jacobson. “There is definitely more climbing. Once you get past Waterville, it’s up and down, up and down. There are a lot of rollers.

“Of course, the Orondo Grade is about a six-mile hill with a six percent grade. With the sun beating down on you, it can be a bit intimidating.”

And it was hot.

“There was a stretch,” Jacobson said, “where the temperature was hovering around 113 degrees.”

Trying to remain as cool as possible, Jacobson filled a tube sock with ice and wrapped it around his neck. Every hour, he replaced the soggy sock with a new one.

Jacobson said that of the two races, he favors the more difficult S2S.

“I like it better because it is more challenging,” he said. “There is more variety in the landscape for what turns out to be a very long day.”

With temperatures for the Cannonball in the mid-80s, Jacobson was able to wheel right along. He was also the beneficiary of a tailwind.

“Usually, there is a good tailwind into Spokane,” he said. “This year, there was more of a crosswind. The last 30 miles there was a tailwind.”

Jacobson said the hardest part of the race was dragging himself out of bed at midnight in Sedro-Woolley in order to get to Seattle for the 3 a.m. start.

“Snoqualmie Pass really isn’t that bad,” said Jacobson. “And traffic doesn’t bother me.”

That coming from a cyclist who has twice been hit by cars.

“Snoqualmie has a wide shoulder and rumple strips,” he said. “I just ride on the shoulder. There is a lot of separation between you and the traffic.”

Debris is another matter.

“There is a lot of it (debris) on the shoulder,” said Jacobson. “I came across a truck re-tread and I started thinking that if that came off while the truck was beside me, it wouldn’t be good. I certainly wouldn’t want to get hit by it.”

Despite the hazards, Jacobson suffered only one flat tire in the two races.

“At night is when it really got interesting,” he said. “I would be riding along and, ‘Oh, look at that, I wonder what that is,’ as I rode over the top of it. I did manage to hit a Plexiglas moon roof from an RV. You think you’d be able to see that, it’s fairly big.”

And the hills?

“The elevation gain and grade (of Snoqualmie Pass) isn’t as steep as other passes,” he added. “Highway 20 over to Mazama is much more of a challenge.”

Jacobson was no stranger to either race.

He first rode in the events in 2004. That year, he finished first in both races.

Jaacobson has competed in S2S four times and in Cannonball twice.

In 2005, he road in the 540-mile Race Across Oregon. That was by no means an easy race.

“Where there were contact points between me and the seat, I had saddle sores,” said Jacobson. “I just wasn’t as experienced in that race. It was a steep learning curve in regards to eating and dress.”

Despite his inexperience, Jacobson finished fourth and qualified for Race Across America, which runs from Oceanside, Calif., to Annapolis, Md. — a distance of about 3,000 miles with about 100,000 feet worth of climbing.

That monster will have to wait.

“It’s a very long race,” Jacobson said of Race Across America. “Something that long tends not to be very much fun.

“Ever since Race Across Oregon, the distance from Seattle to Spokane I’ve found suits me best. It’s a good challenge and you feel reasonably well when you are done.”

As with other ultra racers, Jacobson has to deal with both mental and physical fatigue.

“There are a lot of mental hurdles, and a lot of physical ones,” he said.  “Once I reached Moses Lake (in the S2S), I knew I had another 100 miles to go. I felt fine physically, but mentally it was another story. I started watching the mileage markers and wondering why they were so far apart. When a race gets to that point, it’s really hard.

“You have to be able to let your mind wander. The last couple of years, I’ve used an iPod. Concentrating on the music helps. Having your crew there is also a huge help. Knowing they are usually just a couple of minutes away is important mentally.”

Jacobson’s crew consists of family (wife of 23 years, Lori) and friends. Langley crewed for Cannonball and Gary Minor for S2S.

The relationship between rider and crew is all about supply and demand.

The rider demands nourishment, gear, etc., and the crew supplies it.

Then there are riders who depend only on themselves for support. That boggles Jacobson’s mind.

“I can’t even imagine doing that,” he said.

Most can’t imagine bicycling from Seattle to Spokane.

Vince Richardson can be reached at 360-416-2181 or by e-mail at .