LOTOJA Classic 2009

Last Friday afternoon found us in the car headed south to Logan, UT. We motored into town, stood in a long line for our race packets and registration, then attended a race rules class at the USU campus where we met up with the rest of our team: John, Duane, and Janette. Ellen was also along to support. We then indulged in a carb heavy dinner and headed to our motel to get some sleep.

Morning came very quickly for our family. Other members of the team didn't sleep so well, so was a long night! We rose at 5:30, dawned our spandex (yikes!), repacked our support vehicles, and grabbed a bite to eat. Ellen and Keith couldn't wait to get their hands on a cup-o-jo-to-go.

Here we are near the start line. There were hundreds of people milling about. Packs of 20 to 30 riders were crossing the start line every five minutes with people shouting and cheering and music playing. Everyone was either nervous or excited or a little of both.

Janette fueled up and ready to go with her pack, just before their start. There were 69 riders in her pack.

Looking back at the start line. Janette is in there somewhere!

7:37am - Janette crosses the start line. Watch out, here they come! These are all relay riders, so they are not interested in conserving energy. Most of them are high on adrenaline. If you can hang with them and draft, they'll pull you along at 22 mph. If you lose them, even by a few yards, it's nigh unto impossible to catch up again.

The rest of us jumped into our support vehicles and drove up to the first switch point at Preston. Now it was Keith's turn to get ready.

Our team was sponsored by Duane and Janette's hog business! They provided us with these colorful jerseys.

The first activity at every switch point was to make sure the next rider was set to go: plenty of fluids, energy bar, extra tubes and tire pump. Here Keith is attaching the official race number to his bike.

Each racer also had to have an official race tattoo, and before they left the switch point, the timing chip had to be attached to their left ankle. Sounds a little technical, but it keeps the racers honest!

Here comes Janette...

...and there goes Keith! ~ 9:30am

After Keith took off, we headed over to a pancake breakfast at the fire house in Preston.

The fire chief took very good care of Tyler!

On the road again. Boyd took his second nap of the day, sleeping the entire 1.5 ours over to Montpelier, ID.

12:30pm - Keith rolls into Montpelier after grinding up the longest climb of the race: ~2500ft. He did have a 10 mile downhill stretch, but had a strong head wind, so wasn't able to gain much speed. He passed the timing chip off to Duane and off he went.

Time to stretch. The boys were pretty excited to see Daddy again.

Waiting for Duane at Switch Point #3. I didn't get a picture of Duane, but he did terrific, pounding over two passes, averaging over 16mph. He came in just before 3:30pm and I headed out with gusto! It was much funner than I had expected! The first rider I passed stayed right on my tail, drafting. After a couple miles he passed me and it was my turn to draft. We did this for awhile till we joined up with other riders and took turns drafting with them. It was great fun. We averaged 21mph for 34 miles! My goal had been 18!

Johny waiting at Switch Point #4. Boyd is anxious to have Mommy back.

5:00pm - I hand the chip off to Johnny and he's off like a streak of lightening only to get a flat tire several miles down the road. He quickly changed it on the side of the road and got back into the race. He had lost his drafting group, so had to go it alone until he found others to team up with. In the above photo: Keith, me, my drafting partner, and a very curious Boyd.

Support vehicle.

Johnny cranking out the last 47 miles. The support vehicles were not allowed on the same road as the riders most of the time, so this was the only real action shot of the day.

Waiting for John at the finish line as the sun sets.

~ 7:45pm - John rolls across the finish line!

All smiles!

John's welcoming crew! Katie and Beth and all of their families were there!

We all met at our house after the race for dinner, showers and a good night's rest! It was truly a fun experience - if we're not careful, we might end up doing this again ;0)