Don’t forget about LotoJa!

If you were lucky (or unlucky) enough to register for LotoJa before it filled up you certainly are aware of this Saturday’s drama. If you won’t be participating in the country’s longest single day road race then I strongly encourage you to take at least 5 minutes out of your day this Saturday to stop along the roadside and cheer on any of the riders you see. There will be especially good drama unfolding sometime around 4pm when Fitzgerald’s riders Ian Tuttle and Kris Lunning will be looking to win the CatIV and Pro Categories respectively.

Endurance races are very special events in the lilves of these athletes. Recently our own Dave Byers completed the Park City 100 mile mountain bike race and wrote a great insight to what these events mean to a rider. The submition below should get everyone pumped for some LotoJa cheering!

For the 2006 E100 100-mile race in Park City I had one simple goal: FINISH

Since early 2006 this beast of a race has been looming on the horizon as my first attempt at a 100-mile mountain bike race. With 18,600’ of climbing and roughly 95% of the course on singletrack trails, the E100 would be a huge challenge and gave me plenty of motivation to train this summer.
In the end I crossed the line in 13:41:49 for a middle-of-the pack finish, my first off-road hundie under my belt, and my proudest achievement on the bike to date. After many highs and lows throughout the day the final 4-mile singletrack descent into the Canyons Resort was euphoric. I had a serious case of perma-grin throughout the final descent as I could hear the crowd and see the race banners below me at a distance and all the pain that had accumulated during the day temporarily melted away. As I crossed the finish line I was cheered by my wife Michelle, many friends, and many more strangers. Receiving my “100-mile Finisher” medal was a feeling I will not forget.
So many factors influenced my day of racing that it would be tough to give a detailed account. Pre-race anxiety, darkness, rain, hail, wind, brutal climbing, tricky descending, crashes, beautiful singletrack, more climbing, and a lot of time riding alone shaped the whole experience.
There were a few highlights:
- The anxiety and excitement of lining up for a race that I was not 100% sure I could finish
- Ripping along the Mid-Mountain trail during Stage 1 with the sun rise peaking through the storm clouds
- Seeing my wife Michelle face her demons in the rainy darkness and toe the line for the 50-mile race; her first solo mountain bike race of any kind.
- Receiving support and motivation at aid stations from Tracy Petervary, my homie Rick, and my wife Michelle when I had expected to race fully self-supported
- The ebb and flow of insane amounts of climbing followed by incredible and challenging descents

My short journey in endurance mountain bike racing has been filled with memorable experiences and inspiring people. I am inspired by the super-fast guys like Jay P. as well the racers who toe the line not knowing for sure if they will make the cutoff times. Seeing my fellow Fitzy team members at races this year and getting to know more of you has added to the experience. Only 362 days til’ next year’s E100!
Dave