Matt made a commitment to race in the LOTOJA race from Logan to Jackson Hole for a total of 206 miles in one day. Bright and early we left from NSL to Logan. Here's Matt doing his final preparations for the race.
Here is his racing team buddies he was racing with.
The chaotic starting line - so many racers...
Matt's dad (Kurt) and I were his support team. There are certain points during the race called feed zones where racers are fueled up and fed to they can continue on the race.
FEED ZONE BABE! Michelle waits for her hubby to make the stop at Montpieller feedzone.
This was the final feedzone before Jackson. Matt was tired, but was still rollin'!
Matt's idol, Ricky Bobby finished an amazing 8th place in the PRO 1, 2 & 3 category. Good Job Ricky!
Still standing after 206 miles!
Matt put his race in a nut shell, here's the story... I wanted to update you on the race. I was able to finish with success. My race started at 6:49 am at a friendly ‘warm up’ pace, even though the temperature is 45 degrees as we rode through the low water marshes of Logan. I had forgot my gloves so my hands were completely numb after 4 minutes of riding. The clothing we wear to race in has an insulation value of 0, so I was a little worried as my body had to work to keep warm. In a race like Lotoja you HAVE to harbor and save any amount of energy you can. Lotoja is the longest single day race in the country covering 3 states and 206 miles. As we approached the first ‘Feed Zone’ in Preston the sun was beginning to rise and so my hands were starting to warm. Monique and my dad were my support team. There are 4 ‘Feed Zones’ in the race. At these zones you will find your support crew waiting for you. It’s very comparable to a ‘Pit Stop’ and a Nascar race. You pull over and start emptying your pockets and water bottles. Monique and my dad scramble to fill me up with food and hydration. I only take one foot off the pedal and I’m stopped for a total of about 10 seconds, and then I’m off again. There are 1500 participants in the event. They are divided among ‘just for fun’ groups, relay groups and competitive racers. Inside the racing group you are divided again based on your experience. I was in the CAT 5 competitive racing group since this is my first year. There were 50 other guys in my group and I was hoping to finish in the top 10. I ended up finishing with the best time in 1st place. My teammate and I put a 13 minute gap between us, 1st and 2nd, and 3rd place. It was a sprint to the finish line and I found out later my result was changed to 2nd due to line judge that saw the results differently. .03 seconds separated me and my teammate between 1st and 2nd. I felt great pretty much the whole time and am very satisfied with the results. The race resembled a war zone as there are many risks in cycling, especially with that many riders over that distance. I witnessed 3 wrecks right in front of me. The worst was on a descent from Strawberry Pass when another competitor from another group tried to grab on to our group and lost control. I saw this all unfold in front of me as I was right behind me. He crossed tires with another cyclist and went down hard at around 37mph. When he first came into our group something told me to hold my distance from him as I could clearly see he was not very experienced. I’m glad I listened because it wasn’t 30 seconds later he went down, I was able to hit my breaks as my teammate hit the back side of me. We were both able to swerve out of the path of the wreck and stay clear. My teammate was on one wheel as he hit me. We were truly being watched over. Another fellow rider (in a different group) wasn’t so lucky. As he was 18 miles from Jackson he was crossing a bridge, he swerved to avoid a pothole and went over the guardrail. I’m guessing I was about 60 seconds behind the accident. I saw the bridge in the distance as we approached and people were gathering towards the end of it. As I got closer I noticed people looking over the edge and I remember thinking, “there’s no way someone went over the guard rail”. It was the unthinkable. A rider had swerved to avoid a pothole on the bridge and fell 40’ into the snake river, ultimately to his death. This race has been going on for 30 years and this is the first death to something other than natural causes (ie. Heart attack). We slowed down as we approached and people were already descending to the shore. After we realized we were of no help and would actually hinder the medical professionals by being in their way, we moved on. We had hoped he had survived, but later that evening found out he died in the hospital. This put a somber sad feeling over the whole event. The following day after the race is usually a celebration day with podium ceremonies, pictures etc. They decided to hold off in respect to the person that died. Here’s the complete story… Sounds like a great man. My God bless his family. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=22068813&nid=148&title=cyclist-dies-after-crashing-in-lotoja-race&s_cid=featured-1 Overall I traveled 206 miles and climbed nearly 10,000 feet and did it in 9 hours and 30 minutes. A special thanks to my beautiful support chief, Monique and my Dad. It was just as much a sacrifice for them, and I credit them to the success. I had a blast and can’t wait till next year. Ride on…….
0 comments:
Post a Comment