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The event comes around once every year, at the end of the season when the summer is over and work, school, and the holidays take a front seat to the daily hustle and mindset.
Yet, something pulls from within, telling you to stick it out one more week, to maintain your healthy regiment for another day, to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn because work started earlier this week, to committ to finishing the longest USCF sanctioned race in North America.
Friday night September 11th 2009 was a memorial for most Americans, but for some it was the eve of anticipation as professional and amatuer cyclists descended on the quaint town of Logan Utah to participate in the LOTOJA classic. This would be my first time in the race and my first sanctioned race ever. To think, I just bought my Trek Madone last September to compete in a local sprint triathlon and in just four months of riding throught the spring/summer I was poised at the start line, destined to have my place amongst the elite.
The horn sounded and ready or not I was pedaling to keep pace with teams far superior to my two man operation. It didn't take long to realize I was out of my league, but I put my head down and kept pace with a rather large group. With one hour into the ride I had burned over 1500 calories. Yet, I've sweated much worse in a thirty minute game of nieghborhood tag. It's a good thing I researched nutrition, as I unwrapped a cliff Bar and turned into the first feed zone.
One hundred and twenty miles and 8,000 feet of elevation later I had burned over 8,000 calories. Not to mention a knee injury that about ended the race. In all my days of Rock climbing, running, basketball, gym workouts, hiking, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, and cycling did I ever burn this many calories, yet I was having the time of my life and barely over half way into the 206 miler. It never felt like excersize and thank god, otherwise I would have quit a long time ago, but I wanted to finish no matter what happened.
It didn't matter if you were skinny, fat, large, small, male, female, young, or old. All walks of life were there to put there mental and physical toughness to the test, some finished and some didn't, but they all tried.
Riding into the majesty of Teton Village with just enough energy to get out of my saddle and put a 1km sprint like Mark Cavendish and Thor Gustav in the Tour de France, we crossed the finish line to the cheers of what seemed to be the entire cycling community and a presurized euphoria welling from within. I was 12,000 calories weeker, 7 pounds lighter, and I couldn't be happier... Well, at least until next year when my knee won't harass me and I'll stand on the podium.
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