Lotoja and Island Park

Brad competed in the Lotoja again this past September for the third time.  It is a 206 mile bike race from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY.  Even though he has done it twice before and statistically did better those two times I can tell you that I have never been more proud of him then I was this year.  Brad signed up for it before his work schedule changed making it pretty impossible for him to get the appropriate training in.  A race like this requires serious training and Brad was unable to do any of it.  I thought he might just not do it and I think he did too.  Ultimately he decided to go for it since he had signed up.  In the years before my Dad was Brad's support driver but this year I was his support so I met him at different check points along the way and replaced his empty water bottles and feed him food and filled his jersey with other food. It was a long and lonely day but what I had to endure was nothing compared to what Brad had to do. 

Brad started off doing well but as time went on he was really suffering and his muscles were cramping up really badly.  At one support station about 60 miles into it he came off his bike and as I tried to rub the cramps out of his thighs he was considering quitting.  I knew at that point just how bad he was because Brad is not a quitter and I knew he would only stop if it was really bad.  I wanted him to stop because I couldn't stand seeing him so miserable.  I told him to stop and lets get in the car and meet up with my parents who had the girls at a cabin in Island Park.  We were closer to them from where we were anyway and there is nothing to prove.  He didn't train, no big deal.  Let's go. Before I knew it he was back on his bike peddling away.  I gave him a brave smile and told him he could do it and that I was proud of him and as I turned away tears poured out of my eyes.  I felt helpless.  At each support station I watched him endure and slowly scratch away at the miles ahead.  It was amazing to see him be so positive when I knew how much he wanted to stop and how much pain he was in.  The race has a cut off time of 8 p.m and any rider who has not finished by that time is not allowed to finish.  It is dark by then and too dangerous for cyclists to be on the road.  I was calculating his speed and how long it would take him to finish and knew that he was going to be super close to the cut off time.  I tried to motivate him and tell him that he had to pick it up a little if he was going to finish in time.  I felt terrible saying it because I knew he was already giving it everything he had.  I got to the finish line around 7:45 just hoping and hoping that I was going to see him coming down the road.  After hours and hours of being a support driver you recognize other cyclists and remember how far ahead or behind they were in relation to your rider at the different check points.  So I was looking for familiar people to get an idea of how close Brad was and I could tell unless Brad got some kind of second wind it was way too close to call.  I watched the count down clock tick closer to 8 and the anticipation was killing me, I couldn't believe how badly I wanted to see Brad show up.  I just couldn't imagine him going through all that misery and being so incredibly strong and so close to not even finish 13 hours later.  As the clock hit 8:00 and I listened to the announcer say "if your cyclist has not finished, they will no longer be able to.  You need to go find them and they are no longer considered Lotoja participants" I felt the tears well up in my eyes.  I felt so bad for Brad and was really worried about him.  I had no idea how I was going to find him because he didn't have a cell phone on him, he also didn't have a light on his bike.  In the other years he has done it he had always come in way before the cut off and we didn't even consider preparing for that.  I knew he had to be close and I was parked far away so I was afraid that he would come in as I was getting the car.  I just sat there indecisive and alone.  After about 5 minutes my phone started ringing.  It was Brad and he had pulled over and borrowed someones phone to call me.  The relief was really amazing.  He was about 3 miles from the finish.  After 20 minutes of searching for my car in the pitch dark and in the wrong field I finally found it and drove to get Brad.  When I got to him he was shivering and honestly in pretty bad shape. It was crazy to me because I had never seen anything even phase Brad before.  In the other years he didn't even act like he had just been on his bike for 10 1/2 hours. 

It was amazing for me to watch Brad endure such misery and not give up.  It is so representative of the kind of person he is and it made me fall in love with him even more.

At the starting line. 

This picture is at the top of the most brutal climb of the day.  

This is right when I picked him up and it was over.  I snapped a really quick shot but I don't even know if he knew what I was doing.  You can just see how exhausted he was. 

After the Lotoja we got to spend 4 days with my parents at a cabin in Island Park.  We had such an incredible time and it was so relaxing.  Just what we needed.  Thanks to my parents for taking the girls up a little early and watching them for us!

 This picture is my favorite and brings a huge smile to my face because the entire time we were there she was obsessed with that bird book and eating dried mangos.  

We got to see these two bisen get in a big old fight.  It was awesome. 

 Laela helping my mom out with the windows.

 Oh, what is this?  haha

Such a stinker!