LOTOJA

It's been talked about for over a year. All the training, dieting, reading about, talking about, and lose sleep over day finally arrived! September 8th was the big day! The torturous 206 mile bike race from Logan, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming.

It's LOTOJA!

That's right! 206 miles, 3 States, 1 day. Can you say crazy?!

A few weeks before the race Jorden hurt his knee. After a few days when he didn't feel better I finally convinced him to go have the doctor look at it. He told Jorden he had a badly sprained LCL. Jorden had to take some time off training. But refused to withdraw from the race (Plus he didn't want to waste his nonrefundable $200 participation fee!). They were quite the riding group, with Jorden's hurt knee, Brad still recovering from his fractured elbow which wasn't healed yet, and Jorden's friend Drew who had a 3 day old baby at home and had to be plenty sleep-deprived! 

Brad, Jorden, Drew

They were the "Patterson Dental" team. A company that Brad and Drew work for. It was a cool morning, so Jorden's wind jacket is covering his matching outfit :)

At the starting line! The anticipation at the starting line was killing me! I can't imagine what the riders were feeling!

Off they go!

Go Jorden!

I was so happy to hear Jorden's little brother Blake, and his girlfriend Megan were coming! They were so helpful with Krew, and Krew thinks the world of both of them!

I've ruined Krew, and he hates to have his picture taken!

Towards the beginning of the race, Jorden hurt his knee worse and decided to stop. I was so glad he was smart enough to stop and not make it even worse! Jorden was dedicated to cheering on his Dad the rest of the way. We followed Brad in our "Support Vehicle". The course was full of open range and we had to stop and wait for horses and cows to cross the road. At one point we were behind a cyclist who was getting chased by a cow. I have NEVER seen a cow run so fast! I was too shocked to pull out my camera. I just kept thinking, "This cow is going to knock this rider off his bike!" Luckily he didn't! I think it was probably pretty good motivation for him to ride as fast as he could!

We stopped and waited for Brad at the top of one of the hills mountains.  The cars were flying by and everyone was pretty busy trying to get Brad fresh drinks and power foods ready. I wanted to help, take pictures, and keep a close eye on Krew. So I opened the glove compartment in my car and found Harvey's leash. Let me just say, I am normally completely against children on leashes but I felt like this was one good exception! I really didn't want Krew to fall off the cliff or get hit by the fast cars or bikers going by!

Taking a quick break at the top of the hill! Krew was so proud of his Grandpa. Krew said to me, "Grandpa climbed that hill all by himself! He has big muscles!"

Notice Krew's matching jersey! He was so excited to wear it and match his Dad and Grandpa!

Brad had another huge climb ahead of him. Jorden and Blake gave him a running start up the hill. 

As far as they could keep up with him!

After the running start we got in our car and drove to the top of the hill to wait for him. Jorden walked down until he met up with his Dad, then ran up the hill the rest of the way with him. Which probably wasn't great for Jorden's knee! I know Brad's elbow had to be killing him, even though he never complained about it! 

At mile 124 Jorden couldn't stand seeing his Dad ride by himself. He decided to get his gear back on a draft for his Dad. (So much for my saying Jorden was smart to stop, although there were no more hills to ride which is what really killed his knee). Drafting or riding behind another rider, rather then alone, can take away up to 30% of the work. They caught up to this guy, Dave (center in picture). Dave has attempted LOTOJA for 5 years in a row, but has never finished. Last year they pulled him out of the race with just 7 miles left, thinking he had suffered a stroke. This year he was determined to finished no matter what happened or how long it took!

Jorden, Dave, Brad

At mile 160 there was a rest stop in Alpine, right before the pass. It was just about to get dark. The officials are done once it gets dark but I could sign a wavier saying I was now responsible for my rider, instead of the officials. Right after I signed the paper we were told that a rider had just died today in the pass right ahead of us. The rider had swerved to miss a pot hole, overcorrected and went over the side rail, 35 feet into the Snake River. You can read more about it Here. I was pretty shaken to hear about this, especially since it was about to get dark. Brad and Jorden decided it was the right choice to stop, even though there were just under 50 miles left in the race. I was so grateful. Brad even said, "That was the first adult decision I've made in a long time!" Ha! We all know he could have finished, even with a broken elbow, but are SO grateful he didn't! Dave went on to finish the race! He finished at 11:30 that night and said he will never do it again. Their friend Drew finished just before dark, therefore receiving an official time! He also said he will never do it again! Jorden and Brad are planning for their ride next year and hopefully Jorden's brothers will join them! They are planning on starting at 5:30am instead of 7:30am so they have more daylight! Let's hope everyone is in healthy condition when they attempt it next year!

Until next year LOTOJA!!