always first in my book

this post begins three weeks ago. right after John placed 2nd in the 1000 warrior bike race, a 96 mile race that started in Park City, winds through Summit County, through American Fork Canyon, skims Alpine and Highland, heads straight up and over Suncrest, skirts Draper and Sandy to end up top of Little Cottonwood Canyon at Snowbird. a long way to ride a bike, but a great ride to train for a longer distance. the ultimate goal for this season. 206 miles, Logan to Jackson most commonly known as LotoJa. John's training was at it's peak and he was in great form, things were looking good for him to make all his goals. then oops! everything was suddenly up in the air - a driver pulled out in front of him and bang. the results were not pretty.

luckily John took the brunt of it with his head. and if you know John, you know he is hard headed.

but as I mentioned before, all is well that ends well. a now cracked helmet saved his head, and he was able to even out his shoulders without surgery this time. lots of bruising and soreness, but nothing more was broken. except maybe his bike. even that was ride able. the worst part for John was taking time off his bike to heal. but nothing would detour him from riding LotoJa.
and his goals were still intact. so with a well planned out itinerary for me and a schedule to keep, John busted up the road to Jackson Hole.


and even injured I had a hard time catching him in pictures* - barely got him here.
John had only one other team mate to ride with in his group. as things began it seemed no one was eager to get to Jackson, and being as they had the latest start time the chances they would find more eager riders was pretty slim. he and Ryan road very powerfully, but all that mileage with only two riders is not ideal, and very tiring. at one point they were 30minutes behind their scheduled times.

John was always focused and I had a hard time reading him at the rest stops.

my job was to keep him fueled and moving. and move they did - although you could tell they were exhausted they gave it everything and rode hard.

by the finish they had made up most of their lost time, which amazed me. John sprinted into the finish and found that he and Ryan had placed 1st and 2nd in their category!

way to go boys! our neighbor, Mike, even made it onto the podium with them, which was another bonus. John is now guaranteed entry to next years race, to defend his title. all this has lead him to think he wants to do a little more racing. hopefully near by so our girls and I can practicing our cheer leading together. it was a lonely trip for me this year. and since I am committing to relay this distance next year, there may need to be some friendly competition - I mean he better make it before our relay team or he just may be treating us to dinner.

well done babe - always a pleasure to ride by myself in a car for 10 hours with no music or company to prove my love is yours forever!

LotoJa or BUST.

much better podium pictures here!

*maybe my picutres would improve with the help of a new fancy camera. just a hint for the coming birthday/Christmas season!