LOTOJA 10

I ended up getting a different Hotel in both Logan and Jackson than the other guys on my team this year because of what Kevin did last year. I figured i would rather have it be a little harder logistically but get a good nights sleep than be awakened in the middle of the night by the fire engines again.

When we rolled out in the dark just after 6:30 it was around 35 degrees. I shivered for the first hour. About an hour and a half in, the pace picked up climbing the first climb and i got dropped by the lead group. I caught Cousin Kevin who lasted 2 minutes longer than i did and we rode together. My intention was to ride with the lead group as long as i could and if i couldn't stay with them, i would drop back and ride with Jose and Lil bills dad, who was doing it for his first time.

Still Smiling at 20 miles into the ride

As i pulled into Montpellier, somehow, i dropped Kevin. I sat up and soft pedaled for a minute waiting for him and my legs started cramping. It is a funny thing that as long as i would keep a nice consistent cadence going i would be fine, but any time i tried to speed up or slow down, i would cramp. I got the time split back to the Jose group and it was around 25-30 minutes. I knew my legs couldn't wait that long so i had to keep going. I set out doing a mellow pace and figured Kevin would catch me from behind. I stopped and waited at the top of the geneva climb and saw a group of cyclist that looked like Kevin was in it so i started descending with them. It wasn't Kevin but another guy from our team riding in a different category. I rode with them for a couple of miles and then sat up and soft pedaled some more. I had a pedal giving me problems and luckily my wife and Jenn drove by so i had them pull over. I had a spare set of pedals in the car. I have learned over the last 5 years that over 206 miles, just about anything can happen. While i was switching my pedal, Kevin pulled up. We rode together for the rest of the day. He flatted going through a construction zone so I stopped with him for that. We got that fixed and he pulled from the last right hand turn all the way to the finish to keep our time sub-10 hours, if only by a few minutes.

Like the jerk that Lil Bills dad is, he had Jose pull him the last 15o miles while he suffered, and then he jumped him at the line to come in one place ahead of Jose.

You may be looking at his outfit saying, that is a really cool helmet. I thought those are only available in the Europe and not the States, but wait, it doesn't really match the rest of his biking costume. What gives?!?

In typical LOTOJA fashion, Lil Bills Dad wanted to kill me and said it was the longest and hardest day of his life and he would never do it again, but by the next day he was already trying to figure out how he could do better next year. SUCKER!

Luckily next year, we are taking it at a much different pace.

If i can't keep up with a 60 something year old fat man and a one legged pirate, i am really in trouble.

The old man did climb all the way up to Snowbird yesterday which is a great improvement from when he tried to climb little cottonwood a couple of years ago. I can't figure out why he didn't want me to film it this time?

Thanks to the best looking support at LOTOJA. not just for Saturday, but for all year long, juggling around my rides.