Since 2003, I've blocked out the first Saturday after Labor Day for LoToJa, a 200+ mile bike race from Logan To Jackson. This year I completed my 15th edition of the race. Over the span of 19 races, I've missed two with injuries (2012 and 2020) and a couple more where I've abandoned mid race due to snow/rain (2005) and lack of training (we built a new house in 2017). LoToMo (Logan To Montpelier should be more of a thing. A nice 80 mile ride with friends, then a burger and Raspberry shake in Bear Lake).
Quick Summary: I finished the race in 10 hours 30 minutes and fourth in my group - which for Lotoja gets one onto the podium which was my primary goal for the day.
Saturday I lined up with my new start group, Men's Open 65+ Race. At this age, the size of the group starts to dwindle. Only about 20 registered to race and only 10 finished. The forecast of rain for the early part of the race may have scared a few sensible men away. The best part of the race is being with so many of my cycling friends from near and far. My longtime friends from SoCal continue to participate in the race with a larger number each year. TBD Racing had more than 30 racers lining up in at least five different race groups. Our Orange jerseys with Duck Camo bibs were everywhere. So many positive comments on both on the look of the kit but also the quality and skill of the riders. During the day, I passed a handful of the TBD Racing crew and when possible, I gave each one a slap or a pinch on their left butt cheek. The reactions were quite memorable.
The first group of boys (they are all young enough to be my sons, in fact, one of them is) were off at 5:58. The 400 group of M35 racers included my son, John, Nate Lines, Perry Dickson, Mark Blain, Johnny Williams - all from Heber City, and Brad Perry from Ladera Ranch, CA. This was going to be a first for Mark, Johnny and almost first for Nate, who crashed early on last year and had to abandon with a broken clavicle. Last year Nate took over my spot in the race because I had to a broken clavicle and a cast on my broken hand.
Nate suffered through the race with hip issues. Johnny fell off the pace and was one of the recipients of my left butt cheek greeting when I passed him early on the Salt River Climb about 100 miles into the race. Perry and John kept Mark in tow for most of the race and brought him home with a very respectable 10 hour 9 minute finish.
The second wave (500 group) of M35 racers included my long time Lotoja buddy, Corte Haggard, who could have started with the M60 group (part of my start group) but he prefers the earlier start time of an M35 group. Corte paces himself and always finishes. I caught him near the top of the Strawberry climb about mile 60, but it was on the downhill section of the saddle before the summit so I wasn't able to slap his butt but I did yell some encouragement as I went by. Ric Pinarija from Irvine and McRay Murdock, Jim Taylor and Nick Pulman from San Diego county were also in this group. McRay, who I first met when he lived in Highland would go on to finish 2nd on the day, just a fraction of a second from the top of the podium.
McRay, who is a super strong cyclist, has a history of 'riding' Lotoja rather than 'racing' - meaning he would rather hang out with his slightly slower friends than worry about hanging with the leaders and challenging for a podium spot. Saturday started out no different. As McRay passed John on Strawberry (John's group started 8 minutes ahead of McRay), McRay said to John, "Tell Nick and Jim I will wait for them at the top" to which according to both McRay and John, John replied, "No, Don't wait for them! You've got this!" to which McRay reports, "That did it. That's when I decided to race."
The 600 group of M35 TBDers, all from SoCal, included Shayne Kennedy, winner of his group in 2019 and Nate Cazier, the lead out and fellow podium winner in 2019 plus other previous podium appearances, Tait Eyre, who would complete is 14th Lotoja, Shayne’s brother, Eric, Tyson Manning, Doug Moon, Danny Gibson, Ray Montague and Corte Haggard. Master strategist Nate and his partner in crime, Shayne, hatched a plan to take a year off from racing and focus their efforts on helping those of the team who are chasing a goal of a sub 10 hour finish. In the past, I’ve been with Tait when we’ve missed the goal buy a handful of minutes. This year, if all things worked out, Tait, Eric, Tyson, Doug, Danny and Ray would have a great shot at sub10 hour finish because Shayne and Nate, both of whom have flirted with sub9 races planned to be out in the wind all day working as domestiques. At the end of the day, the rain, wind and road conditions being less than optimal worked against the group and they fell a few minutes short of the goal, but the chatter today is they are already planning another attempt next year.
The 600 group had a 24 minute head start on my 900 group. I caught Tyson on the Salt River climb about 105 miles into the race. I can confirm he has a tight butt and was not expecting me to grab a handful of it as I passed by doing more than 4mph. I caught Eric on the run into the feed zone in Thayne, WY. He was easy to spot up the road, in his Duck Hunter kit, struggling with his pedal. When I pulled up next to him he explained that his entire pedal body had broken off leaving only a spindle for him to try and push – an impossible task. Too. Many. Watts. He had dug deep and tried to ride for about 50 miles, which is an incredible accomplishment. Sadly his race would end in Thayne. I passed Ray at the ‘Back One Hill’ neutral feed zone which is on the last little climb into Jackson. Note: my son Brian, dubbed it “Back One Hill” several year back. Back One, being cycling lingo to tell the person in front to slow it down one notch. Ray would soon pass me back and I was so cooked I couldn’t hold his group’s wheel for the last 5 miles.
Now, back to Logan and the 900 group start at 6:38AM. Included in the 900 group were 4 tandem racers. One was my former neighbor and friend, Michael Coombs, a very powerful rider. His plan was to race with his 17 year old son Brock who is super fit, super light and super strong. Sadly for Brock he was nursing an IT band injury and a 200 mile bike race could potential ruin his cross country season so in stepped his back up, 14 year old sister, Genevieve, who had only 3 weeks to train. These two super humans pulled it off. Huge congrats to them. As we were heading back to Jackson after the race, we spotted them, cruising along with only 3 miles left to go.
I knew a few of the guys in our group. Heber local, Bob Sheidler, aka ‘Ponytail Bob’ was here for his second Lotoja. Bob and I ride together often. He’s a couple of years older than me, stronger than me, better looking than me and has better hair than me. Great guy all around. Bob didn’t get the finish time he was hoping for but he finished strong. I also said hello to Mark Christopherson, from Ladera Ranch, who would go on to podium in the 60+ group and Tod Turley, Eric’s neighbor in Augora Hills, who would just miss out on the podium. The two guys in my group I needed to keep an eye on were former winners Larry Peterson and Ravell Call.
Morning temp in Logan was unseasonably warm at about 58 degrees, with rain just up the road. My brother, Bill, told me he would be in front of Lee’s in Smithfield if I wanted to drop a vest or a jacket, but with the warmer temps I elected to leave vest and jacket in my truck. I second thought that decision more than a few times, but it all worked out. I had easy access to food and water in my jersey pockets and when the rain mostly ended near Mink Creek, I didn’t have a wet vest or jacket worry about sticking in a pocket. The rain started falling as we left Smithfield and continued to rain pretty hard until we made it to Mink Creek and the start of the Strawberry climb.
Our pace out of Logan to Smithfield was crazy fast. We had two tandems splitting time on the front and crushing it (Mike and Genevieve slid to the back of the group near Hyde Park). We caught our 8 minute group of 800s in Franklin and the 700 group near the turn toward Mink Creek near Riverdale. I stayed near the front and tried to keep an eye on anyone with a race number of 940-960, which was my group of 65+. As the grade went up I watched the eventual top three of Ravell Call, Jeff Bryson and Larry Peterson ride on at a pace I couldn’t sustain. There were a couple more of my group nearby, but by the time I went over the summit, I couldn’t see anyone in my group. Near the summit, I spotted my first TBD orange jersey up the road. Corte and I spend less than one second catching up.
On the descent into Ovid, I caught one of the Pro Women who had passed me right before the summit. She had been dropped by the two leaders. Their marshal was keeping a close eye on her so she couldn’t sit on my wheel and her marshal didn’t want me sitting on her wheel. Eventually other riders came by that I was absorbed by and I rolled into Montpelier on the familiar wheel of Arjen Koens, The Dutch National Champ (of Heber Valley), one of my frequent cycling mates. Arjen was riding the first 80 miles of a two person relay with Hannah Schindler, another super strong cycling partner.
I said goodbye to Arjen as he rolled into the neutral non-race feedzone. Kristin and granddaughter, Lily, were waiting and ready. Kristin cleaned my glasses while Lily loaded fresh water into my cages and refilled my jersey pockets with gu and chews. I grabbed a Gatorade to drink on my way out of town. Hannah quickly caught me with some other fast riders but I could only hang on for a while and ended up climbing Geneva on my own. Near the top, I passed Heber local, Jared Jensen. He was off to the side fixing the first of two flats he would have on the day. Jared has really enjoyed his last two Lotojas because he’s figured out starting in Montpelier and making it a MoToJa makes for a much more enjoyable day. On the Geneva descent I hooked up with Trizon friend and frequent Ironcowboy Conquer 100 rider, Hoz Toro, and another 900 guy, Jim Hutton from Mi Doule, who was completing his 20th Lotoja. We had a couple of other guys jump in and do a little work on the run toward Wyoming and the final climb – Salt River. By the time I got going on the climb, Jim and Hoz were off the back and I was on my own. On lower part of the climb I could see two orange jersey’s up ahead. The first I recognized as Johnny Williams because of his blue helmet. After I gave him my familiar greeting, I asked who was up ahead. From a distance I could tell it must be either Tait or Tyson. Johnny said it was Tyson. I finally reeled in Tyson and of all those I greeted, he jumped the most.
I grabbed some water and a Hammer nutrition bar from the handups at the top of Salt River and started the lonely descent into Star Valley. No one in sight behind me, no one ahead. A lonely 1100 kid finally caught me and I followed him to Afton. From Afton to Thayne there were a few more riders on the road. I had been looking over my shoulder expecting the Cat 4 TBD Super group of Steve Low, Jim Yokoi, Jordan Turner, Chris Johnston, Will Bollard Alden Murray and Patrick Coffey. Steve finally appeared with two others in his group (and two more in the Cat5 part of his start group). I was a little disappointed the entire super group wasn’t together. I didn’t get to chat with Steve and his marshal was the south end of a north bound horse. He did not want the hodgepodge collection of us sitting on the leaders wheels and even went so far as to force his motorbike between us and then hit his brake forcing us to hit our brakes. It was a super dangerous stunt that luckily didn’t cause anyone to crash.
As I pulled off the main road into Thayne to go to the feed zone, I caught Eric and got a 15 second download on his bad luck. In Thayne, Annie, Beth, Jack, Isabel, Emmy, Timmy and Evelyn pumped me up with encouragement, fresh water and gu, snapped a group photo and sent me on my way.
Mostly alone in the wind and with bad roads including gravel sections from Etna into Alpine, I found myself cooked. Almost bonked, but still enough in the tank to continue to one last stop for fuel at Alpine. Kristin and Lily were waiting. After grabbing my food and water, I jumped into a porta potty for only my second potty break of the day. Probably a bad sign that I wasn’t forcing enough fluids. Jordan and Chris passed me during my nature break. They would go on to take 4th and 5th in their group. Steve Low would end up taking second after getting pipped at the line in a sprint finish.
Early in Snake River canyon, Arjen caught me. Hannah had passed me on the way into town, passed the baton to Arjen and now he was with me. On a normal day with only a few miles under my belt, I can hold Arjen’s wheel on a 1-3% grade with a tail wind. But that day wasn’t Lotoja. His youth, good looks and fresh legs were more than I could handle and he was soon out of sight.
Still mostly on my own, I didn’t see any other 900 racers so I thought, much like Jim Carey, “so there’s a chance”. I thought best case I was number 4 on the road. Worst case number 6. The outside chance of a podium spurred me on. I was disappointed there was not water at the old neutral feed before Hoback. I was out of water and over drinking my Carborocket lemonade energy drink. The reroute and gravel mess out of Hoback didn’t kill me, but it was very annoying. I followed two relay riders from Logan down the steep gravel descent onto the wooden bridge and the girl in front of me struggled to stay upright. We made it across the bridge and over the 15% grade cattle guard and I could finally see the neutral feed zone at Back One Hill. Ray was off his bike and shouted something that I couldn’t hear and I was off with fresh water.
I was passed by a few groups on the bike path that bypasses Jackson on the westside. I couldn’t stay with any of them, including Ray who passed me with a couple of 900 racers, but not 940 or 950 numbers so my position on the road still looked good. The rest of the Cat4 guys, including Jim, Will, Alden and Patrick also passed me just before the finish. Patrick said, “it took us over 200 miles, but we finally caught you”. I watched them cross the line from about 2k out.
Crossing the line, I heard my name announced and I also heard 4th place. I wasn’t sure at the time if the two announcements were connected, but as it turns out they were. Not bad. The best possible outcome since the three leaders rolled away from me 160 miles back came to fruition. Found some friends to congratulate and received a few congrats myself. Snapped a photo with Tait. No tears this time. Mark Christopherson was limping around the finish line and snapped a family photo for us. We hustled over to the Teton Village base and the awards ceremony. It turns out they handed me the 5th place finisher swag bag. They wanted to move the awards ceremonies along so we did our presentation while the eventual 5th place finisher, Kerry Robbins, was still on the road. I hope that they eventually got him my 4th place finisher swag bag. The one I received included Ibis gourmet coffee, lotoja socks, multi tool, Kodiak Cake pancake mix, coffee mug and a plaque. Before the race I joking told my favorite mechanic in the entire world, Kenneth Acklin, at Slim and Knobby’s in Heber, that I would split my earnings with him. Today I presented him with the bag of coffee. I think he will enjoy it. I also brought him my brother-in-law, Rod Smith’s, 1970 Peugeot road bike, all original components. Kenneth is going to clean it up and find a spot for it in the S&K bike history display in the shop.
This was among the 2 or 3 hardest days on the bike ever. I was alone much of the day and uncommonly unable to hold the wheel of faster riders. Riding bikes with friends is fun. Riding bike by yourself is less fun. The amount of power I am able to generate seems to decrease each year, even as I train and ride more. Last year before my crash in July, I was lazy and careless with my eating habits and never dropped below 170. In years past, I would usually peak just above 170 mid-winter then get to the low 160s by Lotoja time. Last year I stayed well above 170, broke my clavicle and hand and then proceeded to gorge my way to 186 pounds by the holidays. Pathetic. In March of this year I started to wake up and slowly brought my weight down to 164 by July. I wanted to get to 159, but lacked the will power and discipline. Check back to this site next year to see if I find the will power and discipline I need in order to compete at a higher level.
Last. I started out mountain biking seriously in the early 1980s. I only got on my Schwinn Tempo road bike to keep in shape for mountain biking. In the 90s we did regular fall trips to Moab which I will always treasure. It wasn’t until 1997 when I blew my ACL and messed up my knee playing basketball that I got serious about road biking. By 2003, Allen Barbieri and I, on a whim, signed up late for Lotoja and went on to complete it. That was a life changing decision. Much less time on the MTB since then. I love the comradery and team component of road cycling. I get teary eyed thinking of the times my son, John, sacrificed his own glory to make sure I had a shot at my glory. He led me to my first sub10 finish in 2014 and in doing so helped teach others that there is rich reward in working toward a common goal or perhaps someone else’s personal goal. I see it every year with this crew I am lucky enough to associate with. One doesn’t win a Lotoja sprint without someone leading them out. No one breaks the 10 hour time barrier without someone else spending hours out in the wind making another’s day just a little more tolerable. I know my association with these good people has helped me focus less on me and more on others and I see the same traits in them. Riding bikes with friends is good.
The list of our crew who have said, “never again” at the end of the race to “see you next year” by breakfast the following day continues to grow.
Thanks Annie and Kristin for 19 years of helping me (and John starting in 2004) chase this time consuming craziness. I know I’ve benefited from increased fitness and I love looking forward to this family weekend. It was just as rewarding supporting John last year with my hand in a cast and arm in a sling as it was this year stopping midrace for a quick photo with grandkids. See you next year for the 20th annual Emmett family bike ride with friends.
