LOTOJA reportSubmitted by: Steve2009-09-16 Here is a very rough draft of my LOTOJA report. I'll write a more detailed summary at some point and post it on my blog(Yeah, I've got one. I just haven't used it much. I am about ready to post my Park City report there). This will probably be long after everyone has forgotten about the race, but maybe it will give you some winter reading.
The ride to Preston was pretty slow and uneventful. Like others I decided to skip the feed in Preston because it is just too chaotic and by the time you get out of there the lead pack is gone. My 32 oz. bottle from Zefal came in handy by giving enough water to get to the neutral feed. I was supposed to toss my vest and arm warmers and gloves to my in-laws at Preston. I never saw them and tossed them next to a volunteer hoping to get them back in the lost and found (I never got them back. So, with the vest and arm warmers I lost in Park City I am now down two vests which means I now own zero). I rode with the lead group to Strawberry taking an occasional pull at the front. The pace up Strawberry wasn't too bad. However, since I'm still not climbing like I used to (better than the last few years though) I still had to put in a lot effort to stay with the group. I was able to reach the summit with the leaders, but I started having muscle cramps in my vastus medialises (inner thigh muscle just above the knee, I learned that in 9th grade). Due to the cramps I was unable to stand up. I immediately started trying to drink a lot of water and Gatorade, eat bananas, etc. I was pretty much relegated to sitting since everytime I would stand up my muscles would lock. Geneva was the same story. I had to put in a strong effort, but I stayed with the lead again. Salt River was really challenging. I fell of the pace in the last mile. I turned myself inside out to get to the top as quickly as I could (16:44). I knew if I lost the group here it was over. I summitted about 30 seconds back. I then saw a guy about 20 meters ahead of me that had a bulkier build. Hoping that his extra mass would get him down the descent quickly I made another dig to get on his wheel before he was at full speed. This effort paid off as we were reaching speeds around 55 mph on the descent. When it leveled I went to the front and pulled as hard as I could. When it got steep again he went to the front. Then again as it leveled I pulled again. We clawed our way back to the group and sat in the slipstreams to recover. The group swelled with riders from multiple categories. It was impossible to separate. The biggest challenge was the yo-yo. The peloton became so large and strung out (due to only riding two abreast) that the yo-yo in the back was enormous. Sprint. Stop. Sprint. Stop. I slowly worked my way closer to the front. I made sure to watch riders 4-5 spots up the line to anticpate the surges. Reacting quickly and staying on the wheel in front of me saved a lot of effort. Afton and Alpine came and went. We went into the canyon with a very large group. The short climbs/rollers were painful. With each one there was an acceleration. I think the peloton began to shrink over time, but I just kept myself around the first 15-20 riders. The last hill before turning left off the highway into the outskirts of Jackson brought the biggest shake up. The riders at the front put in a hard dig. I gave everything. My legs were still cramping. I just had to ride through the pain and hope that the muscles never completely locked. At the top of the climb in was in the top five. Despite my suffering I had shown myself that I was one of the stronger riders in the group. This gave me the confidence to fight on. I didn't realize it until later down the road, but this hill decreased the size of our group tremendously. The group was now small enough to work with and we all agreed to seperate categories. We still had a nice groups of 4's (It turns out there were 16 of us left). I wasn't ready for the steep pitches on the bike path before and after the tunnel. I hit these in a big gear and my cramping vastus medialises screamed 4-letter words at me. I pushed through it and got back on the wheel in front of me. After exiting the bike path nobody wanted to take the front. Simply Mac had at least 4 guys in the group so I wasn't about to do any work. I ended up on the front, but just soft pedaled. Coming in to the last 5 km the pace increased. At 1 km to go it was all out. I gave everything, passed a rider, and clawed my way to a wheel. After a brief respite of a few seconds I surged again and passed that rider. I faded a little near the finish and one guy got by me. I averaged 32.5 mph and over 400 watts for the last km after 205 miles and held on for 5th place. My goal was 9:45 and a top 10. I finished in 9:37 with a top 5. So, I have to say that things went pretty well. I just need to figure out what brought on the cramps so early. My guess is that while I did a lot of training on my own I didn't have many miles with race intensity this year. One thing is for sure, after not being able to stand up for the most of the day I had one really sore butt. | 
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