September 7, 2013
Who would
have thought that I would get hit by a car and break my left clavicle (same one
I broke in 2003) on August 14 and still be able to line up for Lotoja 24 days
later and not only complete the race, but set a PR of 10:11 in the
process?
This Lotoja
was a long time coming. In 2011, I was
at my lowest weight in years – 158 pounds compared to 168 pounds this
year. I struggled that day with a number
of issues, the biggest one being the position of my cleats. Still I finished in 10:38. I decided then to go after a sub 10 in
2012. The first thing I did was get a
professional fit on my shoes. It was a
great decision. Since that fitting I’ve
felt much better on the bike. In
November of 2011, I was in the garage and sprayed lubricant on my garage door
springs. When I stepped off the ladder I
stepped on the overspray on the painted garage floor, slipped and tore my
hamstring. It took months for that to heal. In December I had a double hernia fixed –
also an injury from my fall in the garage.
In May of
2012, I tried to wheel a garbage can full of construction cement debris down
the ramp of my trailer. As I stepped on
to the ramp, I tore my other hamstring.
That injury kept me off the bike for the month of June. Lotoja 2012 was not looking good.
Broken right clavicle, July 2012
When I
finally got back on the bike in July it was only a few weeks before I found
myself flying over the handlebars at 30+ mph and breaking my right clavicle and
beating up the rest of my body. Lotoja
2012 was not going to happen.
Before I was able to start my 2013 training, I had a melanoma scare and had a stage 1A mole removed from my shoulder in February. It kept me off the slopes for a week and out of the pool for the rest of the winter.
Before I was able to start my 2013 training, I had a melanoma scare and had a stage 1A mole removed from my shoulder in February. It kept me off the slopes for a week and out of the pool for the rest of the winter.
My 2013
training got off to a slow start when I broke my thumb and tore the ligament on
the last day of the ski season. I didn’t
get the cast off my thumb until the end of May.
That gave me 90 days of training for Lotoja. I started riding with the ‘Rusty Cranks’, the
local 55+ guys plus others in the neighborhood.
They do a ride to Tibble Fork every Tuesday. The first few rides in June I was dropped
within the first mile of AF Canyon guard shack.
In July I started to hold my own, but still had 2 or 3 of them ride away
from me. By August I was able to hang
with the fast guys and was starting to get some of my old form back. Then on August 14, a FedEx guy on his way to
work didn’t see me until my head was banging off his passenger door
window. As I lay on the asphalt, I
thought maybe my shoulder is just separated and I’ll be OK, but after a trip to
InstaCare I was told the bad news. The
family doc covering instacare that day told me my break was a bad one and would
require surgery. Turns out he couldn’t
read an X-Ray and was looking at the break from 2003. My new break was not displaced (the break was
about a 2mm gap) and was out near the end of the bone. The complete opposite end of the spectrum from
my break last year.
Broken left clavicle 2013 (big lump close to ribs is the 2003 break. The 2013 break is near the end of the clavicle almost under the L/JH tab).
Another view of the left clavicle. X-Ray taken 10/2/13. Still not healed. The break in this view is near the center of the photo.
After about 10 days the bruising on my hip had healed enough that I decided to climb on the trainer. I felt pretty good. That week I caught up on about 4 episodes of ‘Breaking Bad’. The next step was to climb back on the bike and see how I felt. Not good, but not bad. 30 miles didn’t really bother the shoulder. After a couple of training rides, I decided to give Lotoja a go. Worst case I could quit in Preston or Montpelier. I already have a LoToMo on my palmarès . Best case I would finish.
The day of
reckoning arrived. Lotoja has a new
start schedule this year. Licensed Race
groups started every 6 minutes and would travel a new route for the first 30
miles to Preston. The non-licensed
racers (‘Ride group’) went off between the other groups and traveled the old
route through the west side of Cache Valley.
It was a big improvement having the groups 6 minutes apart on the road.
This year
John turns 35 so he was able to sign up in the Masters 35+ group (200 group). I have raced with the Master 55+ groups the
last few years but this year I signed up in the M35 group to race with
John. We ended up in the 35A group with
the fast guys including John’s Adobe teammates.
My friends Tait Eyre, Shayne Kennedy, Jim Lundberg, Paul Badger and Tyson
Manning were in the 35B group starting 12 minutes behind us. Corte Haggard was in a 45+ group another 12
minutes back.
This was
perfect for me. I could ride the first
35-40 miles with John and then when I got dropped on the first climb, I could
take it easy and wait for the 35B guys to catch me. In previous years when I
started with the M55 group, I would chase them. In past years
I’ve caught Tait somewhere between mile 40 and 100 and then we’ve
finished together. Today the tables were turned. While I expected to get caught at some point,
I had every intention of playing to role of the rabbit and staying off the
front as long as I could and make Tait catch me. Plan A would
be not to get caught. Plan B would be to hold on when I got caught and the
worst case Plan C was that if I couldn’t hang with my friends I’d find a way to
finish.
John left
Twin Pine at about 5:45 to go down to the start line early for a ‘Team Adobe’
photo. I followed about 15 minutes later
and arrived in plenty of time for our 6:15 start time.
0615 Start - My future's so bright I have to wear shades
On our way to
Preston, I chatted briefly with Kent Carlsen, who would eventually finish 2nd
in our group. He is a Logan Race Club
guy and was wearing ‘Norda’s’ socks. I
told him I liked his socks. John and I
stayed near the front, but never actually got to the front of our group. We weren’t in a big hurry. In fact, the 35B group was a minute faster on
the first section than we were. The big
surprise was that we caught the Cat 1’s (100 group) on the turn at Riverdale.
John observed, “Cat 1’s are notoriously lazy racers.” The marshal waived us through making the M35
group the first group on the road with the exception of the Tandem group. It was a new experience not having the road littered with individuals and small groups of racers and fun group riders.
I had been popped on the short climb out of Preston and had just barely chased back on and had the Cat 1’s tell me that my group was up ahead. I worked through the Cat 1s and got back with the M35s near the Mink Creek sign. John was in good shape but my time with these guys was about to end on the uphill rollers through Mink Creek. I popped off the back and watched John and the rest of the boys ride off. After the Cat 1’s caught me I quietly slid back through the group and was about to come of the back when their marshal pointed at a couple of us and told us to let a gap open. He didn’t want us using the 100s to chase back on to the 200s.
I had been popped on the short climb out of Preston and had just barely chased back on and had the Cat 1’s tell me that my group was up ahead. I worked through the Cat 1s and got back with the M35s near the Mink Creek sign. John was in good shape but my time with these guys was about to end on the uphill rollers through Mink Creek. I popped off the back and watched John and the rest of the boys ride off. After the Cat 1’s caught me I quietly slid back through the group and was about to come of the back when their marshal pointed at a couple of us and told us to let a gap open. He didn’t want us using the 100s to chase back on to the 200s.
On my own at the start of the Strawberry climb
Yes, I was
kicked out of the Cat 1 Group. Money.
My good leg
Now I was on
my own. John was up the road with the leaders.
On the steepest part of Strawberry, the leaders of the 300’s a Cat 3
group and 400’s, the other M35 group went by.
No sign of my friends in that group.
I chased on to the splintered groups of 300/400 riders at the false
summit and followed them to the neutral feed zone about ¼ mile from the
summit. I grabbed a couple of bottles of
water and felt a hand on my back. It was
John. He had been dropped by the leaders
and had some knee pain so he had decided to wait for me. This was the scenario I had dreamed
about. Plan A was back on the table.
John crushing it on the Strawberry Descent
I didn’t have
enough in the tank to catch back onto the large group of 300/400 chasers before
the summit, but by the time John and I finished our descent, we had about 5
other guys who worked with us. By the
time we got to Montpelier, we had reeled in the larger group. I did more work in this section than any other. My first panic of the day was the over pass
going into Montpelier. I couldn’t hold
on to the small group so I was chasing down Main Street praying I wouldn’t hit
a red light - there are only two lights in Montpelier. Luck was on my side and I made both lights
and caught John at the first feed zone.
Kristin hooking me up with a bite size Snickers
High Five from Lily
Kristin,
Annie, Jack and Lily were waiting at the feed zone. Cold drink – one Perpetuem and one
Carbo-Rocket Raspberry Lemonade. On the
way to Geneva, John and I split a banana.
Three Amigos: Bob, Nate and John
On the descent into Salt River Valley we worked a little, but mostly sat on for the 10 miles leading to Salt River climb. Just sitting on with fast groups of 300/400 riders was tough for me. If I ever got to the front, I was off in a flash. After we crossed the KOM start line, I popped of the back and was on my own. John sat up and waited for me and helped pace me on the lower portion of the climb. As we approached less than a mile to the summit, the road turns up. John pulled along my left side and quietly put his right hand on the small of my back and pushed me along. I’m pretty sure I teared up more than once. It’s impossible to express what it is like to have your son not only sacrificing all of his personal goals, but sacrificing his legs and lungs to help me get over the top. At about 600M from the summit, we passed by Robb Lifferth, a friend from work who was parked on the side of the road waiting to cheer on family members doing the relay race. With John’s help, we went over the top ahead of Nate. We descended into Star Valley and found ourselves alone. We looked up the road to see if there was a group we should chase but couldn’t see anyone, We looked behind and could see only one rider – Nate.
Ivy, Annie, Jack, Lily and Kristin. Best Support Team Ever.
Somewhere
between Thayne and Etna we picked up a relay racer who jumped on the back of
our small train as we went by. When he
came to the front, he accelerated with his fresh legs and the three of us in
unison yelled “whoa”. It was obvious he didn’t have any real experience riding
in a pace line. He took a good pull and
then managed to hold on and work his way back to the front again. The second time he came to the front he rode
away off the front and John just let him go.
John slowly pulled him back without changing our pace and then that was it for
the guy. He couldn’t catch back on when
we went by. We had no idea who he was
until we saw him at the finish line with his wife – Brooke Clayton Boyer from
Irvine! This was Nate Boyers first time
riding Lotoja and he really enjoyed his experience doing the relay.
Kristin, Annie, Jack and Lily at the Alpine feed zone
When we
pulled into the third and final feed zone in Alpine, I knew we had a good time
and a shot at breaking 10 hours. My
cramping had been minimal and my food and hydration seemed to be about
right. The only problem I had was weak
legs. The late start to season, the 3.5
weeks off the bike with the broken clavicle and the weak legs did not bode well
for a sub 10. John and I left Nate
behind in Alpine because he needed a nature break, but so did I. We stopped at a pull out at the mouth of
Snake River Canyon and Nate caught us there.
For the first time since the road between Geneva and Salt River, we latched
on to some good guys to ride with. We
were flying up the canyon and I was on the rivet just holding on. Never before have I ridden so many miles at
my limit. Not close to my limit, but AT
my limit. It was a blessing in disguise that I had forgot my heart rate monitor
strap. I didn’t have to look at me red
lining all day.
We were
sitting near the back of a train of about 12 guys when we came around a bend
and I could see the most difficult climb of the canyon just ahead. I looked at John and said simply, "crap". I worked my way to the front of the group as
we rolled into the base of the hill.
John was right behind me. As I
started to fall back and the group passed on my left, John did his best to push
me along in the hope that we could hang on.
Alas, I was cooked. We crested
the small climb and John led me as we chased back on but as soon as the road turned up again I
popped of the back and had no chance of chasing back on. Nate was smart enough to stay with these guys
while John was compassionate enough to stay back with me.
Getting dropped
in Snake River was the end of my sub 10 hopes, but I still had a PR in
sight. We grabbed some water at Hoback
and were surprised (not) that construction on the new bridge across the river
appears to have made no progress since 2010. We made it through the new
roundabout and across the bridge where Rob Verhaaren tragically lost his life
last year. It was sad to see the flowers on the bridge and river bank as we
pedaled by. We lost some time here as we were on our own and John was doing ALL the work.
We hooked up with a group just before
the turn off of 89 onto Southpark Loop road. Just before the turn off is a short climb Brian tagged as “Back
One”. Strava calls it U.S 89 climb. Whatever you call it, it’s a short .4 mile
climb that is guaranteed to get me spit out the back of any group I’m trying to
hold on to. John once again tried to
help me stay in contact with some riders, but it was in vain.
Once we
turned on to Southpark Loop, we found ourselves mixed in with a bunch of 700 (45+)
and 800s. The 800s were the leaders of
the 55+ group. The 800s went to the
front followed by the 700s. We fell in
behind the 700 group.
After we came
out of the tunnel of the bike path onto route 22, the 700s moved to the front
and the 800s let them open a gap. John
asked me if I wanted to chase on to the 700s or just sit behind the 800s. I elected to stay behind the 800s. I don’t think I had another short chase left
in me plus I didn’t want to get caught up in the middle of two groups still
racing for top 10 (700s) and the top of the podium (800s). Had we chased on to the 700s we would have
knocked about a minute off our time. Had
I known then what I know now, I would have said lets go get on with the 700s.
With 10 miles
to the finish, John and I had a front row seat sitting behind 5 guys. We knew the rules of the race and stayed out
of the mix. All five had a podium spot
secured, but no doubt, each wanted the top spot. There were two Bountiful Mazda guys, one
Logan Race Club guy, previous winner Elton Reid of FFKR Architects and another
guy from GAS/Intrinsik out of Boseman MT.
In the end, no one was able to make a move to drop the others and the
Bountiful Mazda guys ended up leading out the guy from Bozeman who won with
Elton taking 4th.
10 hours and 11 minutes later. The guy in black is a stud.
I stopped my
Garmin at 10:04:21. The Lotoja clock had
me at 10:11:00.731. Just 11 minutes and less
than one second from my goal of sub 10. Only
6.5 minutes off the bike is pretty good, but I will have to knock a minute or
two off that in the future.
It was an
emotional day. It really is impossible
to describe how awesome it was to race with John by my side in front of
me. I teared up a couple of times during the day. The final run in to the finish line was the
most emotional. While following John into the finish I thought about being a father, a son and my dad, who passed away almost 3 years earlier. Dad always said, “families that ski together,
stay together”. I think the same can be
said of cycling.
John cooling down in the creek while John and Lily watch.
I love the
time at the finish where you get to see your awesome support crew. One constant is that Kristin is always
there. I love that girl. John and I really count on her and she always
delivers. This year she had her friend
Ivy along to help and Annie was there to keep an eye on John’s kids, Jack and
Lily.
Unlike
previous years when we’ve had to wait for a long time for all our friends to
arrive, this year the wait was short.
About 11-12 minutes after I finished Tait rolled across the finish
line. Was it 11 or 12? Did he beat me by a minute or did we have the
same time? We would have to wait over
night to see the official results. Turns
out Tait got me by 17 seconds with a final time of 10:10.44. He’s promised me a t-shirt with 17 seconds on
it to remind me that for the next year he is the king. All I can say is “Well Done”.
We didn’t
have to wait long for Corte Haggard and Shayne Kennedy as both set PR’s of less
than 11 hours. Jim Lundburg, and Tyson
Manning were another hour behind and Paul Badger missed breaking the 12 hour
mark by 3 minutes while setting a PR. Jim is my brother-in-law and was complaining the weeks ahead of the race that I'd talked him into doing something stupid (that part was true), but his performance was awesome. He had a ton of natural talent and I'm sure he'll be back again.
John and Kristin with John's 2000 mile award. Kristin was there for every mile.
I’m already
planning to be 10 pounds lighter next year and to get 5000 training miles in
vs. 1800 this year. I just need to find
a way to stay out of the hospital, ER, and Physical Therapy
Bob
EMMETT 2013 LoToJa 7Sept 2013
Racer
Number:
|
221
|
||
Gender:
|
M
|
||
Age:
|
58
|
||
Representing:
|
TEAM
DIALOGUE-PORCUPINE
|
||
Chip Time
Information
|
|||
Actual
Start Time:
|
06:15:00.530
|
||
Stop Time:
|
16:26:01.261
|
||
Chip Time:
|
10:11:00.731
|
||
Gun Time
Information
|
|
Assigned
Start Time:
|
06:15:00.530
|
Stop Time:
|
16:26:01.261
|
Gun Time:
|
10:11:00.731
|
Final
Time: 10:11:00.731
Race
Distance: Race
Overall
Placing
|
|||
Place:
|
329
|
||
Time Back:
|
01:13:46.590
|
||
Gender
Placing
|
|||
Place:
|
319
|
||
Time Back:
|
01:13:46.590
|
||
Division Placing
|
||||||||||||
200s Men
Masters 35+ A Place:
|
48
|
|||||||||||
Time Back:
|
01:13:46.590
|
|||||||||||
No
|
Name
|
Interval
Time
|
Total
Time
|
Pace
|
Overall
Place
|
Overall
Back
|
Gender
Place
|
Gender
Back
|
Divsion
Place
|
Division
Back
|
||
1
|
Preston
|
01:22:44.290
|
01:22:44.290
|
21.8
|
497
|
+15:56.840
|
497
|
+15:56.840
|
34
|
+15:56.840
|
||
2
|
Montpelier
|
02:26:24.696
|
03:49:08.986
|
9.4
|
424
|
+19:12.352
|
400
|
+19:12.352
|
50
|
+19:15.170
|
||
3
|
KOM Start
|
01:34:09.288
|
05:23:18.274
|
15.9
|
347
|
+9:52.229
|
329
|
+9:52.229
|
38
|
+9:50.013
|
||
4
|
KOM Finish
|
00:23:02.621
|
05:46:20.895
|
13.0
|
427
|
+5:42.569
|
392
|
+5:42.569
|
46
|
+7:47.722
|
||
6
|
Wilson
|
04:09:33.782
|
09:55:54.677
|
10.1
|
264
|
+35:43.818
|
259
|
+35:43.818
|
41
|
+35:43.818
|
||
7
|
Finish
|
00:15:06.054
|
10:11:00.731
|
19.9
|
343
|
+1:44.219
|
337
|
+1:44.219
|
51
|
+1:44.219
|
||
