Folks, LotoJa was epic as always. Here are the results of CTR's most longest rides riders' accomplishments this weekend. Because I feel the traditional awards ceremony left a lot to be desired, I developed my own awards.

 

Couldn't have done it without them Award - To Kate Gunnison, Karen Nye, Linda, Angie, Amy's mom, Amy's son Jacob, Rob's mom and of course Sam Barkley. These people supported all of our stupid arsches through the 206 miles it took to get from Lo to Ja and did it smiling and in perfect form. Not one of us would have finished without you all. Grazie!

 

Gold Ibuprofen Award + Gold in motion support Award - To our fearless captain and his stoker wife. Captain Steve, at 6:38 am, on the tandem start line, looked much like he did on his last lap in the men's solo single speed category at the 12 hours of Mesa Verde. Our man was not looking rosy or fresh, was running a 101 degree fever and had not eaten for around 20 hours. But with massive help from his herculean stoker pushing him over the hills and coaxing ibuprofen down his throat to get his fever down so he could stand to eat something, Amy and Steve rolled across that finish line, 206 miles after they started. They even looked bright-eyed and nearly bushy tailed at dinner that night. ;) Excellent job!

 

Best Doping Award - Rob Lungstuyl started with the 35+ masters and finished in under 11 hours, having only ridden flat miles his FIRST summer on a road bike. We found him on Strawberry (actually my pants were down and Clem was also compromised when he found us) and we rode together to the last climb. Rob tucked into that tandem draft like his life depended on it. And he was the ONLY one to stick with us on the 55 mile an hour descent. He looked strong despite his hacking cough, and out road the performance anyone in their right mind would have expected from someone in his position. Nice work Rob!

 

Robbed of a better place Award - Derryl Spencer was robbed of a first place title, having finished Lotoja in around 9:45 and only placing fourth in his cat 5 group. With a time like that he should have won his group. Alas. He was second in the KOM challenge for his group, which might have made up for it. Great job!

 

Smallest Ball of Power Award - Dan Nye never ceases to amaze. That little compact body carries a whole lot of muscle, willpower and determination. Enough to shoot him over the line in under ten hours, having soloed many parts of the race. He was composed enough at the end of the race to quaff a glass of wine and remain an active part of the conversation. Sweet!

 

Earned it Award - Doug Davies must have raced everything this year, whether people joined him or not. And it all paid off. He started with the tandems and promptly flew by us with a strong group up the Strawberry hill climb, to finish the race with a sub-ten hour time. he even rallied to join the CTR'ers at dinner all the way in Jackson that night. 

 

Defied even her own expectations Award - Erin Arnold was equipped with strong legs, lots of training hours, motivation, determination, and if all that failed, a headlamp and rear blinker should it come to that. And of course it DID NOT come to that, because she finished in under 12 hours, having encountered chaos in the mass Cat 1-4 women start and the subsequent stop by USCF officials, as well as a threat of being thrown out of the race (along with all the other competitive women in) if they didn't fix the problem the race officials had created in the first place by breaking up the huge pack. Despite the crawl she had to maintain from Logan to Preston so as not to pass anyone she wasn't allowed to pass, she whopped it up and over the hills and streamlined into the finish well before dark. Wahnsinnich!

 

That guy finished? Award - ;) Mike Bernier was also an expectation defier. Albeit everyone else's. But since he's Dan's friend we all should of known there was a massive engine in there that would get him to the end, and it did. Humor and satire in tact, to boot. He too soloed portions of the nasty headwind through Star Valley and blasted by many others along the way to complete his first (?) Lotoja in stellar style. Ye haw!

 

You mean you couldn't have gone a minute or two faster? Award - This one is self-bestowed on me and Clem, who despite knocking about 22 minutes off of last year's time, came in fourth instead of second and finished in 10:01. Yep one minute of a mis-coordinated pee break cost us one goal. Alas. We were very happy to know that the competitive tandem win came down to a sprint finish between the team that has won it for about 7 years in a row and two guys who had mis-registered last year, but who came through for the win this year. There was a pesky team from California in the mix there too, we beat them in the K/QOM tandem competition but couldn't catch them before the line. Clem was strong from Lo to Ja (no surprise) and I even finished without swearing loudly that I would never do that crap again. Ha.

 

Congrats to all!