2008 LOTOJA Results & Ride Reports

To save folks the hassle of locating the various 2008 LOTOJA ride reports I've created a list of those that I'm aware of below. If I've missed a report let me know and I'll update this post accordingly. Congratulations to everybody who completed the ride this year!

Official Results

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Blog: The Idaho Falls Peloton
Post: Mike’s Montpelier to Afton Relay Leg

My leg was Montpelier-to-Afton, with the Geneva and Salt River climbs and downhills. The auto route we were required to drive from Preston to Montpelier took longer than expected so I didn’t get to warm up at all. But, since we weren’t “serious,” I kept telling myself this wasn’t a big deal.

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Post: Kevin's Lotoja Letdown

It has now been 5 days since the 2008 edition of the LOTOJA road race. The body has had time to recover and enough time to reflect on the day without the short term emotions that come from abusing the body without the expected results. I’m not much of a writer, however after reading several of my fellow riding friends stories, I feel determined to put my thoughts of the day in print.

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Post: Sal’s First Epistle to the Lotojans

“We’ve got to get you out of the road!”

“Are you OK?” “ARE YOU OK!?!”

That’s what I remember hearing. Sitting on the road, right butt cheek on fire, someone grabbing my right arm trying to pull me towards the white line.

“Son-of-a-Bitch, my butt hurts!” I thought. “What the hell’s going on?”

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Post: Ron’s Logan to Preston leg for the IF relay team

I am sorry to say that my LOTOJA was pretty uneventful. There was a breakaway as soon as we made the turn to head north, not far from where Dennis broke his arm two years ago. Anyway, I was determined to catch that group because I knew I could suck wheel all the way to Preston.

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Post: Dave C.’s “Trek”

Somewhere between Logan & Preston the Unmanageable 80 (45+ peleton) bridges to the 35+ thus making the Hardly Safe +100. But wait there’s more, lets throw in the relay group that started behind and the fun riders that started first making up the Ludicrously Dangerous +200. “Oh cool, that guy just flew over the handle bars and landed in the ditch just like the TdF advert. I wonder if that’s a part of the ‘Fun Ride’?” Thereafter my hands are glued to the brakes and eyes to all wheels in front of me so I can’t eat or drink until sometime after Preston.

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Post: Anna’s Sufferfest

My knee was pissed on Strawberry and I wasn’t able to climb out of the saddle the whole day. It didn’t hurt in the saddle, though, so I wasn’t worried. However, the stomach issues started on Strawberry and didn’t subside until I made it to Teton Village. From Montpelier, I was only taking one mile at time - taking Tums and just trying to stay positive.

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Post: Greg’s Lotoja ‘08 Musings

For me, it was another day of Gregtopia - sure, there was the morning discomfort that sent Terese scrambling for Imodium, the continued GI discomfort on the bike that resulted in eating and drinking way less than I should have even for a ride half the distance, and the inconvenience of a neuroma in my left foot (surgery on Monday to fix that bad boy!!). But on the balance, I had a great day!

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Post: Ken’s Lotoja ‘08 Bloviations

I started seriously (as seriously as a middle-aged, fat, habitual under-achiever can be) cycling last year. I spent the summer getting dropped on the Wednesday night rides but I was just stupid enough to keep coming back. The thing that I enjoyed though was the camraderie and encouragement I received.

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Blog: GC Connection
Post: Lotoja 2008

I am in the 1,000 mile club! I think we have all earned every mile of it. It was fun to get to see everyone again. When it comes to the Lotoja - you love it and you hate it at the same time. It is always better when you are finished.

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Blog: I Ride, I Write
Post: A day in the life of a LOTOJA rookie

It’s now 48 hours since I rolled across the start line with almost 70 other Cat 4 cyclists on my way from Logan to Jackson. I finally have a few moments — before I start playing taxi driver for the kids — to pop a few ibuprofen and blurt out a few thoughts.

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Post: After the fog has lifted...

My mind is a little more clear now — and I have a little more time to do what I do when I have nothing better to do. So I’ll write some more.

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Blog: UtahMtnBiker
Post: LOTOJA Part 1

I decided to split up my LOTOJA tale this year.

Part one: Running with the Devil. (Should we get into the whole Roth vs Hagar debate?)

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Post: LOTOJA Part 2

After missing my feed in Montpelier and having to stop for 3 minutes to grab neutral I left with Denny toward Geneva Summit. As we rolled out Denny told me he was done that he was cramping and it was all over. I took the hint and dropped him to catch some riders. As I rolled toward the climb I was surprised how much easier it was this year without having to navigate the construction.

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Post: LOTOJA Part 3

I left the Alpine feed zone in a hurry trying to catch the tandem group that just left. I caught them after a few minutes and did my best to hang on. My legs were gone though. I could power through the flats and the descents but on the short hills I was dropping down to 13-14 mph. I finally let go and thoughts of quitting entered my mind. I kept thinking if my wife drove by I would just flag her down and quit since I wasn't even close to my time goal and I didn't know how long I could ride with no legs. Group after group rode by and I talked to a few riders and received a lot of encouragement.

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Blog: Ski Bike Junkie
Post: Lotoja 2008 race report, part 1

I'll get this out of the way right up front--I am doing my race report in two parts. I am doing it this way for one reason and one reason alone: the final eight miles or so and the immediate aftermath when we crossed the finish line were so delicious that they merit their own post, which I will publish tomorrow.

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Post: The Sprint: Lotoja 2008 race report, part 2

My conditional goal for the race was to finish in under 11 hours. This goal was conditional because I know that the weather (Snotoja '05, for instance) or a mechanical can have a much bigger impact on my finish time than my preparation ever would. So I wasn't going to beat myself up if I came close and didn't get it due to circumstances beyond my control, including just plain old feeling like crap (which is how I felt for the three days leading up to the race).

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Blog: AtomicMiles
Post: LOTOJA wrap up

I wanted to share a brief recap of my LOTOJA experience. I rode in the "fun ride" category which I thought was an oxymoron. It was nice to start at 6 am as the first group out. The first 25 miles had a lot of accordian action as the field was nervous and it was still dark. The peloton even made a wrong turn at one point.

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Blog: Watching the World Wake Up
Post: 1,000 Skinny Angry White Men and 1 Old Dog

So while this post has pretty much nothing to do with the natural world, I can’t really do a post like the last one and not follow up. Especially when it affords a final opportunity of the season to brag about race results.

First off, the feed-bag hand-offs went perfectly. “Jason”- who in his 3rd year is a seasoned hand-off veteran- performed flawlessly in what is the most dangerous part of LOTOJA.

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Blog: Luis Zamudio
Post: LOTOJA

I couldn’t wait to start my first 331 km race, and it finally came today, although not with that much luck. I wrecked my rear wheel 80 kms into the race, and it took more than 30 minutes to get another wheel from the neutral support. There I was just standing on the side of the road with my bike on one hand, and my wheel on the other one watching everybody ride pass me…

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