The Big One: LOTOJA!

Here it is folks, the big one. The race that many of us trained all year for. Logan to Jackson is the longest one day race in the US that's sanctioned by US Cycling. Its 206 miles of climbs, wind, cold, beautiful vistas and sore keesters. Some race to win, others just to finish. Either way its an amazing experience. One that rewards those who conquer with pride and the overwhelming feeling of an awesome goal accomplished. LOTOJA is on many a bucket list and this year Team Excelerator had 12 riders in the race. Here's some of their stories:

3-5 Man Relay

Ben Towery, Kevan Steed, Targhee Child and sponsor Cory Price on "Team Excelerator White" battled it out against sponsor Rob Perkins and his buddies on "Team Excelerator Blue" for bragging rights in this competitive relay category. The loser was to buy lunch for the winner in this showdown that was a year in the making.!

Targhee and Rob led the two teams off to Preston. Last year Targhee averaged 17 mph for the first 35 miles. Much to the teams' surprise, Targhee and Rob rolled in to Preston at an average of 23 mph! Ben was to take the next leg to Montpelier for the White team and was barely ready as they came in so fast. After sizing Blue's next rider up for the first few miles, Ben put in the climb of his life, motoring up Strawberry Pass and into the next stop in just over 2.5 hours. It was then Kevan's turn to show his climbing prowess. He raced into Afton to pass the batton to Ben completing the tough stage with an average speed of 22 + mph. Ben was able to warm up prior to taking a second stint on the road and hammered the windy leg at just under 23 mph. It was then up to Cory to bring it home.

We had been hoping to get in to Jackson in 10.5 hours. It was a huge surprise then when Cory raced thorugh the finsih line with a total time of 9 hrs and 53 minutes! 6 teams finsished within 5 seconds of each other and the White team took 16th place overall out of 58. Cory absolutely slammed his way to Jackson and won the White team a nice dinner. The Blue team rolled in a little over a half hour later all smiles. While they lost the bet for dinner, they still finished in the top half and knocked over an hour off of Rob, Cory and Targhee's relay time from last year. Rob and his boys put up some impresive numbers up the climbs and on the flats.

Fun Ride Relay

Team members Kirk Johnson and Troy Headly also participated in a relay. Here's a shot of Kirk in this year's Xterra Triathon in Ogden. This was supposed to be a family event for Kirk but unfortunately his wife was hit by a car earlier this year and broke her hip. One of many horrible car/cyclist encounters this year on the roads of Utah. In her place, Troy took over and put in the most miles he has all year. A true LOTOJA addict now, Troy wants to ride the race solo next year. Good job to both of you and we hope Kirk's wife recovers well.

Cat 5

Our long hauler, Jerald Olsen, competed in LOTOJA for his first time this year. There isn't anyone out there who prepared better for and rode more miles than Jerald to get ready for LOTOJA this year. With his family supporting him along the route, he put in an incredible 10 hour and 45 min time on the clock. What was amazing was how good Jerald looked at the end. He was smiling ear to ear. Last year, when Ben and Kevan finished, the ylooked like death warmed over. Not Jerald. His preparation paid off in a big way. Having climbed more than 120,000 verticle feet this year, the LOTOJA climbs were no match for this mountain goat. Way to go Jerald!

Master's 55+

Jim Gilland is our inspriration. Riding as much as he does and as fast as he does, gives us all hope for all our athletic futures. Having done LOTOJA multiple times, Jim was wanting to put down his best time ever this year. Illness struck however halfway through the race and it almost put the breaks on the race for him. This is where it gets inspiring however. Jim dug deep. He thought of friends who have experienced much worse during their rides and decided to push on through. Looking quite pale at the end, Jim also had the look of someone who didn't quit. Good on 'ya, Jim

Cat 4

Joel Rackhem, Casy Marker and Russ Parry all represented in the very competitive Cat 4 division. Joel won the event last year in his class and was looking to repeat. Casey is another one of oru workhorses on the team and can climb like a mad man. Having missed their meals in Montpelier, the raod looked long in front of the three. They however also dug deep and bridged the gap back to the leaders in the group. Hanging tough all the way to Jackson this class had 2 riders break away and the battle for third came down to a field sprint. The fast and furious finish saw Joel come in 5th, Casy 6th and Russ a very respectable 12th. Russ had to bridge a big gap to get to where he was. Way to go guys!

Good job to all. This has been an awsome year for TE. We have one more race, the Harvest Moon Crit on Sept 27th. Watch for TE to take the podium in at least 2 classes.