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Lotoja - CycleRoad Race

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Logan, Utah
United States
Epic Events
57F / 14C
Sunny

Total Time = 12h 35m
Overall Rank = 866/1037
Age Group = 55-59
Age Group Rank = 22/31

Pre-race routine:

NOTE:The overall rank above is all men including teams.
So so nights sleep as usual. Woke up at 5am...bowl of cereal, half bagel/cream cheese. Scoop of Perpetuem/Hammer Gel 45min before start.

Event warmup:

10min ride around streets near start...realized must have tweaked my rear derailer when I tipped the bike over in the garage early that morning. Couldn't ride in top 3 gears without a lot of chain noise and skipping...too late to see a mechanic...oh well!

Bike

11h 50m
206 miles
17.41 mile/hr

Comments:

I was just ecstatic that I made it before the cut off at 8:30. It was a little close for comfort but I am proud of what I accomplished...and at my age too!!!

What would you do differently?:

Would do this ride again but only with a small group of friends. It would make the ride a bit easier and more fun (if you can call this fun)! Also would sign up in fun ride category so we could leave earlier and have more time to get there before dark.

Post race

Warm down:

My chest and rib cage were a bit sore...not too bad...legs felt ok...low back sore...butt a bit sore but no true saddle sores thanks to a good bike fit and Hammer Seat Saver. Drank water/chocolate milk...could not wait to get out of my riding clothes and get those bike shoes off. Slow walk to the car. Cydney drove us over Teton Pass to Tetonia, ID where we spent the night in a nice, quaint hotel. Showered, watched a movie and slept like a baby.

Last updated: 2012-09-10 12:00 AM

Biking
11:50:00 \| 206 miles \| 17.41 mile/hr
Age Group:	22/31
Overall:	0/1037
Performance:	Good
My total time, with breaks, was 12:35. I was planning on 30-45min worth of breaks, so that was pretty close. Very happy with my avg speed for such a distance.
Wind:	Some
Course:	206mi with 9600ft climbing. Mostly smooth/chip seal...no real rough stuff until the last 50mi or so. The first leg from Logan, UT to Preston, ID was with the entire start group of 31. Most of these guys had done this race before and were racing it! We traveled 23mph avg for that first 34mi. I wasn't about to keep up a pace like that so I let the pack go ahead at Preston. Most of them didn't stop anyway. I had to stop because I needed food, drink, and Hammer capsules from my wife, my support for the day, who would have been very upset if I didn't!! She was nervous enough as it was, worrying about driving to the feed zones and meeting me. The feed zones were very well organized with numbered spots...we just met at #2 all day and it worked out great. The second leg was 46mi from Preston to Montpelier, ID. The climb up Immigration/Strawberry Canyon was 14mi with up to 5% grade. There was plenty more climbing from there to Montpelier. 60% of the total miles were spent climbing. This section took me 3:14 and I was mostly riding by myself. I liked this because I had to ride at my own pace....didn't want anybody pushing me in a group because I was concerned about wearing myself out before the finish. After all, I still had 126mi to go! There were some good decents, up to 45mph, but much shorter than the uphill climbs. Fortunately there was a bike mechanic at the pass to get my gears working perfectly...only took a few minutes. The feed zone at Montpelier was a nice park with grass and shade. Had a nice chat with my wife, replenished my supplies and I was off again to some pretty serious climbing. Montpelier to Afton,WY was 45mi with climbing up to 7% grade. I felt good on the climbs because I had trained on long climbs and up to 14% grade. The toughest thing about this section was little to no air movement. Without the breeze every rider I saw or passed was not very happy...it was HOT! Passed a couple of riders with a breakdown...I asked if they needed anything and one said "you got an extra chain?" Bummer. Getting to the top of that 2nd climb was a tremendous relief and the downhill was awesome. The next leg was 34mi from Afton to Alpine, WY thru Star Valley. Mostly flat with some rollers and a light head wind. We were real lucky here because usually the head wind is brutal. By now my stomach did not want to eat any more and I think the capsules were upsetting me some too. I was able to force the liquids without too much trouble but my protein/gel mix was not going down well. My legs were feeling good but my neck was mighty sore...Ibuprofen was not helping. My wife put some Aspercream on it and then an ice pack...man did that feel good. It was funny how many guys I saw with ice packs on their necks! I said one last goodby to my wife and headed for Jackson. Just when I didn't feel like riding anymore I had 47mi to go! It was a pretty ride though. Winding my way 25mi through the Snake River canyon was beautiful. Passed a guy leaning over the siderail puking....must have eaten too much in Alpine. Some head wind but not bad...again very lucky. Once we left the canyon we could see the Teton Mountains. By now I really didn't care much about that...had seen them before. All I wanted was to get to that finish line before it got dark. About 8mi of the last 15 was spent riding along a 2 lane road under a canopy of trees...no traffic and real pretty. When I knew I had about 10mi to go it seemed like 100...with 5mi to go I still couldn't see the town, even though it was getting to be twilight. Too many trees in the way to see any lights. With 5km to go each km was marked with a sign...the nice thing about km are they are shorter than miles and went by pretty quick! I took my sun glasses off at this point and realized it wasn't as dark as I thought it was! I kept praying I would make the cutoff. And I did with 15min to spare!!!! My wife Cydney was right there, I heard my name announced as I crossed the finish line and I almost cried. What a day....it was epic.
Road:	Smooth Dry	Cadence:
Turns:		Cornering:
Gear changes:		Hills:	Average
Race pace:	Comfortable	Drinks:	Just right

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?	Yes

Evaluation
Course challenge	Just right
Organized?	Yes
Events on-time?	Yes
Lots of volunteers?	Yes
Plenty of drinks?	Yes
Post race activities:	Below average
Race evaluation [1-5]	4