LOTOJA promised to be 206 miles of beautiful scenery, hot temperatures, joy, and pain.  It delivered on all of those.

My start time was 7:09 am, and Jonathan’s was 6:39 am.  We rode 30 miles to the first rest stop before meeting up.

There was drama from the very beginning in my group.  About 10 miles in, one of the riders flatted and because we were riding single file in a tight group, that caused some chaos but thankfully no one else went down.  5 minutes later another rider dropped her water bottle.  This could have been very ugly, because if you hit a water bottle with your bike tire you are going down.  Again, we were lucky that no one hit the bottle.  A short time later a deer crossed the road.  We slowed down, waited for the second, but no second deer appeared.  The rest of the way was uneventful, but cold.

I made a friend in the first 30 miles.  It was a woman in my age group  (35-45) who was also riding in her first Lotoja.  She was struggling a few times to keep the wheel in front of her so each time I pulled her up to the group so she wouldn’t get dropped.  This kindness would pay off big time for me later.

Jonathan and I met up at the first rest stop and were able to hook on to groups or form our own for the next several miles.  Unfortunately the heat soon set in, just in time for the climbing.  We climbed about 7500 feet in unusually warm temperatures.  We saw people walking their bikes, lying down on the side of the road, and some just calling it quits.

Unfortunately about 130 miles in, the heat got Jonathan, too, and he had to pull out.  I was left on my own for the remaining 76 miles.  Thankfully, there were 2 ladies who were my angels that day.  The first one was Lonnie.  Lonnie was in our small group when Jonathan had to pull out of the race.  She and I chatted for a while and I explained that this was my first Lotoja, and that my husband just had to quit.

She was a little older than me, but said she had completed Lotoja several times.  This year she was on a relay team so she wasn’t completing all of the legs.  I asked if she’d be willing to work with me until the next rest stop – about 30 miles – as it was the section with a nasty headwind.  Her reply was music to my ears, “I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

The two of us hooked on to a few groups, but they weren’t going as fast as we (really, I) needed to go so we ended up leaving them and doing the work ourselves.  Although she was very slight in build, she gave me enough draft so I didn’t have to work 100% of the time in the wind.  It made a huge difference as I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible.  We parted ways at the rest stop and I thanked her profusely for helping me.

This was the last rest stop that  my support crew (now my mom, sister and Jonathan) could meet me on.  It was a very quick stop, as it was 5:35 pm and I had to ride 43 miles before dark, or 8:30 pm, whichever came first.  With over 160 miles in my legs and no help from Jonathan, I knew this would be tough.

Enter “angel” #2.  About 10 miles in, I was riding by myself, unable to stay with really fast groups and passing slower groups as I knew I couldn’t finish in time if I stayed with them.  I heard a familiar voice, and I knew it was the same woman I started the race with and helped stay with the group early in the morning.  She was riding by herself, but looked really strong.  More importantly, she was determined to finish before the cutoff.

I asked if she’d like to work with me, as my husband was no longer riding with me and she was happy to do it.  We shared the work for about 20 miles, sometimes hooking on to some men’s groups but most were going to slow for us to finish on time so we’d leave the group and go alone.

I was fading fast and the same woman I helped that morning, whose name I learned was Virginia, ended up doing a lot of work when I was struggling the last 15 miles.  I was still able to share some of the work, but she did the lion’s share and we crossed the finish line together, with more than 20 minutes to spare.  It was a great way to finish the toughest ride I’ve ver done.

As I crossed the finish line, nearly delirious with fatigue, I could clearly hear my husband, mom and sister cheering loudly for me as my name was called over the loudspeaker.  It was surreal.  Once you cross the line they immediately herd you into a separate area to remove the timing chip from your ankle and give you your much-deserved medal for finishing.  Below is a picture of me trying to get my cleat covers on after finishing.  I am smiling!  Below that is a picture of the medal.  I have a lot more to share, but will save some for the next post!