2011 LOTOJA
Our Group: Kevin, Jamie, Shauna and Nate
206 miles, 1 day, 3 states
Nate's finish!
Our Finish!
Since I am writing this blog, I want to Thank Kevin for encouraging me, believing in me and riding with me.
Jamie for being my trainer all summer long, your magic push fingers and your
"you can do it"'s.
And Nate for wanting to ride with us even though I am slower than you guys!
Our support crew: Morgan, Chase, Adam, Grandpa Bullfrog and Grandma Froggie
Without the support crew, we couldn't do this every year!
This was Kevin's 10th (actually 11th) year to ride Lotoja. The first year he rode was with his Dad in 1990. Kevin got the stomach flu the day before the ride and only made it half way before he had to get in the vehicle. But this year. We were riding in a group and we were going to finish strong.
During sign in, Froggie won $125.00 from the All About Socks kiosk. This is a good sign! Not to mention the ride was on 9.10.11
Our original plan was to ride with Tony and his family on their tandem and John and his family on their tandem. But they weren't quite ready at the start so we headed out with the first wave off the line at 6:30 a.m.
Sieverts caught us about half way to Preston and we rode with them into Preston.
On to Strawberry Pass and the first climb of the day. I was suffering with stomach aches from Preston to Montpelier. Not bad enough to throw up or go the bathroom, but it did slow me down.
Just before Salt River Pass, I felt better and wasn't bothered the rest of the day.
Not so for Kevin. He got sick to his stomach at the top of Salt River and started throwing up. Salt River is half way. Kevin than had trouble keeping any thing in his stomach the rest of the day.
Weather was perfect! Warm and beautiful!
We didn't have any flats!
Our Support crew did a fabulous job keeping us fed, watered, positive feedback and if it wasn't for Chase, I would only have 2 photos of this entire day!
But we did it! After the Snake River neutral feed zone. Nate rode on ahead. We found a coke for Kevin at a support spot about 8 miles from the finish and Kevin was able to keep that down. Nate ended up finishing only 10 minutes ahead of us. Sieverts finished about an hour ahead of us. We finished and we were stoked!
And the rings were delivered at the awards ceremony.
It was a great ride from my perspective. How can you go wrong when your support crew and riding buddies keep you going. It helps if you want to succeed!
Love you guys!
Every year I ride Lotoja I get a life lesson, this year my thoughts are:
Life is like a Lotoja ride. Some parts are easy, some are hard. There are hills to climb and then there are hills to zoom down. We practice all summer for a one day ride. In life we practice all our life for that one moment or event that let's you know your alive! Some things can be done alone, but when you have others with you, your success has a better chance of happening.
Keep the Lord with you everyday! We could all use a support crew!
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