Maybe it's because this was my first time and maybe it's not always like this. Maybe I'll have to do it during a snow storm or with major bike problems in order to get the true feeling of surviving. But I thought Lotoja was actually a lot of fun. 200 miles in 1 day is a daunting task and I do feel a big sense of relief to be done but I had so much fun. It worries me a little bit that it was so fun. Maybe I didn't push myself hard enough? (though I did suffer.) Maybe next year won't be as much fun? I know the weather could never be better. Is it all downhill from here? I hope not. One thing I know is that there is a lot of room for improvement as far as my own personal performance goes. I'm already thinking about ways I could have been faster. (i.e. less time at feed zones, less feed zones, pedal faster, etc.) I'm not unhappy about how I did personally but I think I can do better. My main goals for this first time were to finish and to finish under 11 hours. We'll I finished, and my official time was 11 hrs 5 min. so I'm calling that close enough. Overall, I'm happy. On a more somber note, I was really sad to hear about the cyclist who died on this ride. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
This is how my race went down:
Once in Logan we went to packet pick-up. It was easy and quick, just like it should be. We then wondered the staging area before heading to Randy and Nicole's.
I stayed at my Uncles and Aunts house who live in Logan and they were very gracious hosts. They fed us a big pasta dinner, helped us prepare food for the next day, and even gave us their bed for the night while they slept downstairs with their kids. A big thanks to them.
My start time was 6:58 a.m. in the Men's Licensed Cat 5 Group. I was a little worried about the late start time compared to the other starting groups just because I would have less time to finish. But, it turned out to be a blessing in the end. After getting up around 5:15 and eating breakfast and packing up our gear we were off to the start line only a couple blocks away. It was just getting light and I was grateful for that because it's always more fun, and safer to ride in the light. I was a little nervous.
Once at the start we only had a little bit of time to joke around before they called my start group up. Then we were off.
I was impressed with the starting/staging area. I thought it was well organized and there was a lot of excitement in the air which made for a party atmosphere. Time to start pedaling. It was cool, in the upper 40's I think, when we left and once out of town the temps dropped noticeably. We went along in our large group on the west side of Cache Valley at a fast but comfortable pace. I noticed many riders from earlier groups off to side of the road fixing flats and I remember thinking that there seamed to be an lot them but it was just a fleeting thought. I was just praying that I did not get a flat because I was riding on tubulars and I had no way of really fixing them except the pitstop stuff I kept in my pocket. We soon caught the group that started before us which made for a very large riding pack. It was uncomfortably large but everyone road safely along.
In what seemed like no time we came upon Preston. My plan was to not stop in Preston and ride on through to Montpelier as my first stop. The sun was just coming up over the mountains and I remember a guy riding next to me telling me to watch the sun as it would be all the way on the other side by the time we finish. I found that funny. I rollled on through Preston as a number of people stopped and dropped off their cold weather gear and grabbed food. I kept going and took off my wind vest and arm warmers and stuff them in my jersey pockets. I was still with the lead pack outside of Preston but I knew I'd have to stop soon to pee. I came upon some port-o-potties along the side of the road and stopped but found that I had to wait for they were occupied. This cost me some time and once I got on my bike again I had lost the front group.
We went through some beautiful country of rolling hills and as I went I heard some guy talking about strawberry pass. It felt like we were going generally uphill so I wondered if we were already on it. I didn't dare ask though in fear of sounding arrogant. As if I were saying, "I'm so good I can't even tell that I'm going up a mountain." But as we went for a while longer I realized that we hadn't started the official first climb yet. Once we did I was well aware of it. But it wasn't too bad. It felt good to get in a rhythm and climb at a good pace. I felt good all the way to the top and stopped at the neutral support near the top. I ate what I thought I had time for and was off on the decent. It didn't take long before I found a good group to work with all the way into Montpelier where I would first meet up with Jen. I was getting hungry for some real food at this point and I knew it was important to keep eating. I pulled up into the feed zone to find what looked like thousands of people crowded around the designated area looking for their riders. I knew it was going to be a miracle if I found Jen. But as I pulled up to our predetermined sub-zone I heard her call my name. That was a big relief.
I ate as fast as I could and saw my cousin who happened to be their waiting for her husband in the same area and then I was off to do the next two big climbs.
Which cousin?
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