Deskjockey Cyclist: Lotoja 2014

Hey gang –

You asked for it (you made me do this!), so you got it. Here’s a [brief] report on Lotoja.

By the numbers:

Distance: 204.5 miles

Climbing: 9,000 feet

Avg. Speed: 19mph

The Story (in five parts):

The cool thing about this day is that we ride as a team. 7 guys, no drop. All for one, one for all. Heck, we even wear the same kit, all matchy-matchy like. The goal is to have a great day on the bike and finish in less than 12 hours and beat sundown (you get an automatic DNF if you come in after dark). That means we have to keep moving. Andrew Tappe and his friend (and now mine) Tai Bright have assembled a great group of guys. We agreed to 10 minutes per stop, no more. Nobody wants to go 204 miles only to DNF!

(L-R) Andrew, me, Todd, Jason, Tai, Chad, Jose

The 1^st 30 miles – flat, cold and fun:

All for one took a blow at the start. I got slotted by the organizer into a start group 6 minutes behind the rest of the guys. No exceptions on hopping up into a different wave, so the guys murmured something about soft pedaling until I caught them. Tai introduced me to 3 friends of his in my wave. I assumed we’d collaborate to catch Andrew and Tai’s pack. You know what happens when you assume…

At the start, I went to the front and pulled at 24 mph. There were 100 riders in our start group, so it was fun to look back and see how long the pack stretched out along the roads out of Logan, UT (a town surrounding by rolling mountains on both sides).

As soon as I hit speed, I was asked to slow down to 19-20mph and was given the message that the leaders had a plan to save their energy for later. So, I took my spot in the rotation of four at the front. Each time it was my turn, I punched it a bit, only to find myself alone 50 yards off the front.

The other three in rotation were pretty erratic when it came to holding a line. At mile 10, that came to roost. I was in 3^rd position in line and rider one swerved, took out the front wheel of rider two and he went down in a flash right front of me. I swerved and missed him my a hair.

The pack was not so lucky – about 15 people went down, some hard. The sound of bike and human meeting pavement is not a good sound.

I stopped, circled back, got Tai’s friend’s bike back in order, back on his bike and checked on a few other riders. Luckily, only road rash and some sore joints. Then went to work to pull him back to the pack. We caught them a few miles later.

I stayed at the front, a bit freaked out by all of the erratic riding. At mile 27, a pack came by from the back, and I decided to hop on.

Now we were flying at 25mph. Much better. I like these guys! Unfortunately, it would only last 3 miles. A few hills into the first rest stop at mile 30 thinned out the group and we came into town about a group of 15.

I sort of thought I might see Andrew & Tai’s group waiting at the rest stop, so I rode through the entire stop to see if they were waiting at the exit but, no luck.

Unfortunately, everyone else in my little pack stopped for support, so I was alone. Not good for what was to come next.

Queue the internal whining.

Section 2: 47 miles, including Strawberry climb

Leaving the rest stop leads to a right turn right up a canyon and into a steady wind. Not good to be alone. To add insult to injury, the race bible warns that this section is 22 miles uphill, including two 7% climbs.

Out alone, I hopped from group to group just sort of time trialing in the wind by myself.

Then it got worse. My seat felt low and I looked down and could see the post slipping. That meant two stops to fix it and dial in the right height.

I started doing the dark math: 6 minutes behind at the start, 10 minutes lost to the crash, another 10 to the seat issues. The odds of catching the guys was bleak!

Then it got even worse. The sky turned black and it got cold. Like 40s cold. Then the rain came down. Steady and really cold (too early to start daydreaming of a hot shower?).

The internal whiny voice became gnashing of teeth. It was stinkin’ cold! AND WE WERE CLIMBING!

Misery loves company and with about 7 miles of climbing to go, I settled in with a father in a Norwegian champions jersey (a sign Mom?) and his super fit son who set a great tempo up the climb. Thanks to their help, the climbs in these sections were PRs.

Was so psyched to get to the top and see Andrew, Tai and the rest of the gang. They had waited in the rain at the top (thanks guys!).

60 miles of solo chasing came to an end. Whew!

The organizers gave Andrew and Tai some trash bags while they waited. Those went pretty fast, so Andrew grabbed me a piece of a cardboard box to stuff in my jersey to help me keep warm on the descent (it worked).

We flew down the went descent for 15 miles and then out onto the flats to get to the first supported food stop at mile 75.

Special Callout: Tai’s wife and daughter (Vicki and Lakeyn) do an amazingly long day of support. They speed from stop to stop and log over 250 miles in the car. Tai had cooked up some amazing rice cakes and boiled potatoes. Vicki and Lakeyn met us with our food and Tai’s treats at each stop. Huge!

Section 3 – the KOM section.

Get to mile 108 and you’ve knocked off the bulk of the climbing in Lotoja. However, between mile 75 and mile 108, you’re going up.

It felt so good to finally be with the guys, we climbed steadily up the Geneva climb and waited about 20 minutes for the last rider in our group. That made one of us (no names) a little ansty about moving on.

Much like being the slowest skier in a pack, the slowest climber comes to the top and doesn’t get a rest – as soon as he gets to the top, the rest of the guys take off!

We descended a bit and then began climbing again.

Andrew drilled it and Tai and I followed just behind him up the final climb of the day to the peak of Salt Creek. Another set of PRs.

108 miles in and I felt WAAAY better then last year (infamous photo of last year at this point – “Lord, please let it be over.”)

That was last year, this year was different!

Next section: 50 miles. Goal: get to Alpine for the right turn into the Snake River Canyon and the final push to Jackson Hole.

Mostly flat with wind. Andrew and I hammered with a friend of Tai’s named Ken. The three of us rotated and averaged 22-25mph all along a beautiful valley.

We met Vicki and Lakeyn and loaded up on food. Grabbed Tai and the gang of 7 and we were off.

Last Section: 50 miles.

Getting to 160 miles and feeling good means you’ve made it. You still have a Harvard ride to go, but the scenery is breathtaking.

The valley climbs steadily, and Andrew, Tai, Jose and I set a great tempo, climbing 1-2% for 25 miles.

About 25 miles to go and the Tetons come into view. It gets really hard to think about anything but the finish line.

Rather than being exhausted, Andrew takes off to get a Strava segment on a climb and Jason and I stupidly chase after him. We descended together and waited for the rest of the group to roll the last 15 miles together through Jackson and then out to Teton Village.

The horse smelled the barn with 5 miles to go and Andrew took off. I turned to Tai and asked if he wanted to go with him. All I got in return was a grunt! So Todd, Tai, Jose and I held a steady 22mph and let our big buddy go.

There is nothing like going to the edge of your physical limits and finishing!