LOTOJA 2009

Please excuse me, but I'm about to have a proud wifey moment right here on this blog. Big time. BD raced in the 27th LOTOJA Classic on Saturday. Decidedly, he loved all 206 miles. When I passed him on the last uphill towards Jackson at roughly mile 175 he was still smiling and I felt a rush of pride drench the whole front seat of my car. It felt good to see him enjoying the race entirely despite how painful all those mountainous miles sounded. He's been training and planning for this event practically all year. It's ALL he has talked about for months and months. The few days leading up to the event he was a nervous and excited wreck. So was I. He was a first-time rider and I was a first-time support crew so neither of us knew what to expect. Other than sending him off at the start line without water bottles {oops} I did a pretty descent job of keeping him fed and hydrated along the way. And I'm only trying to give myself an ounce of credit here because the feed stations were stressful! I would arrive early and plant myself at station 9 {as instructed} and wait and wait. After about 6 false alarms of other riders flying by in red/white jerseys, finally BD would come pedaling up frantically searching all the faces until he found mine. Now both of our adrenaline was pumping. In less than 7 seconds he would throw out all his empty bottles and garbage while I shoved more food, water, and Gatorade into his pockets. A sweaty kiss {if lucky}, a slap on the rear and a Way to GO babe! You look HOT in spandex! Keep up the pace! and he was off in a flash. A quick wipe of my brow and and I was rushing off to the next feed station with a long line of support vehicles. It was actually nice to have all that alone time in the car, driving through the remote farm lands of Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Small towns make me feel nostalgic and I always picture myself living there. I'm sure people in the country have the same old problems that people have in the city, but on a quiet Saturday morning when the early sun is kissing the fields just that way...it sure doesn't seem like it. I was almost certain that I could have knocked on any door only to be offered fresh huckleberry pancakes served over a red gingham table cloth. There was lots of beautiful scenery along the way. Lush farm lands, winding rivers, green hills, rocky mountains. The weather was cooperative and absolutely gorgeous; all 206 miles were sun-shiny and pleasantly warm. I was just grateful to be a part of it.Dan and Ali were there at the finish line anxiously waiting for him to sprint through. We missed the others who would have come; Lee, who is battling a wicked kidney stone, and Michelle and Ben who were nursing him better back home. BD felt their support along with many others throughout the day with lots of good luck text messages and phone calls. I have to give a BIG thanks to my aunt Polly and JoAnn who not only fed us, but let us sleep at their house in Logan the night before.We hooted and hollered like wild hyenas when BD came sprinting over the finish line at 4:20 pm with a super fast time of 9:37:49. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this goal. Covered in at least 1/4 inch of salt-sweat and grime, he was exhausted to his very core, but in true form...still smiling. Perhaps beaming wider and brighter than I have ever seen before.