Well, there it was. 2nd LOTOJA and this year I finished the race. The day went as follows: I raced in the CAT 5 5300 Class on Sept. 9, 2006 in LOTOJA. My start time was 06:57 am with 50 other riders. And my race within a race story is that I was also racing my father who started 15 minutes before. I narrowly missed the first crash about 15 miles in when an entire team got taken out. Not sure what happened but it happened about 10 yards in front of me. I reached feed zone 1 in Preston, ID with 10 minutes gained on my father. The 5400 class CAT 5 caught up with us right before Preston and pulled the whole group at 25-28 miles an hour into the feed zone. Felt great and was energized with the news about my dad. After Preston came the first and longest climb up Strawberry Canyon. This climb is just under 3,000 feet within about 30 miles. Avoided my second crash just inside the canyon when a whole group of people went down right in front of me. One of the poor souls went off the road and down the embankment in a violent, dramatic fashion. Didn’t get to see how he fared as I was dodging bikes and bodies. Shortly after this incident, I cought my dad. Climbed like a champ up this first climb and motored down the back at 40+ miles and hour. I was just getting close to Montpelier, ID when a large peloton including my dad passed me. I was alone at this point and had no chance in shooting in. After the Montpelier feed zone I hit the wall. It was extremely ugly. I climbed the second summit at a snails pace. Geneva summit was a 1000 ft climb in about 15 or so miles. Lost my race group as I struggled up the mountain. Fortunately made it and again got up to 45 mph on the way down. The next stretch was a blurr as I felt like falling asleep. Weirdest feeling. Body’s motoring, no pain but the mind is bordering on sleep.

I was still within the wall. Reached feed zone 4 at the base of Salt River Pass. My father was just getting ready to leave when I pulled in. I had to get off my bike. I choked down an apple, some jerkey, gummy worms and a Power Bar Shot and it was like I was good as new. I stormed up Salt River Pass. 3.5 miles with 1000 ft climb. Summit is the highest of the day @ 7700 feet. Reached the 110 mile time interval at the summit at 06 hours 41 minutes. At this point I was 01 hour 31 minutes behind my race leader and approximately 10 minutes behind my dad. I started sprinting just before the summit for my (useless) King of the mountain points. But ah well. The decent felt great. Reached 48 mph down the back side and enjoyed a smooth ride into feed zone 5, Afton, WY. At this feed zone I was 6 minutes back from my father and felt great again. Kept slamming shots, jerkey, drink, and gummy worms. Met up with a very fast peloton at this point. We maintained 22-25 mph the whole way into Alpine. Blew by my dad 2 miles out of Alpine with me leading the peloton. Excellent feeling at 25 miles an hour leading the pack especially after hitting the wall so hard. I cruised into Alpine for the quick pit stop reloading of supplies and was off. I left the peloton in Alpine thanks to my wonderous support crew my wife. She was johny on the spot the whole day! Started down Snake River Canyon alone and still moving at a respectable 20 mph. Beautiful ride! The river was gorgeous and the temperature was perfect. My peloton caught me about 8 miles in and I hung with them for a bit until I realized I could no longer climb. Ah well, as I thought that I was almost there so I let them go. Biggest mistake. From here on I was able to maintain 15 mph with an occasional decent @ 20-22 mph. I thought that I was good to go coming out of the canyon until I saw the first sign reading 13 miles to Jackson. This was a bit demoralizing. But I trudged on. I reached Hoback junction 191 miles into the race and I ran out of food and drink completely. I turned for Teton Village, thinking I has 6 miles or so and the sign said 10. I started obsessing about the distance. After 11 hours, I couldn’t believe that I was still in the saddle. I started crashing again and this time I had to dig deep for I was completey out of sustinence. The last few signs were 5k-1k signs leading up to the finish. They seemed like a mile long between them. I finished the race at 11 hours 43 minutes. 16th place in my class out of 50, which I couldn’t believe when I saw it. Must have been the bike and the new, never before worn Fetish Cycles Jersey! I beat my dad by 40 minutes. Which was great because he said that I couldn’t do it.
Now the cycle starts over for next year.
Looking forward to some good training in 2007 riding Fetish!