Linton Family: LOTOJA 2013

History of the Linton Bicycle insanity. A few years ago Josh was doing a triathlon at Pineview reservoir. He asked me to take him and help him in transition. That year it was cold and I believe snowy. He didn't get to swim but he biked and ran. Amazingly I thought it looked fun. He told Rich and I there was a triathlon at Yuba dam in September. We signed up and we happened to be lucky enough to have an actual tri coach in our ward. To make a very long journey short we did that first tri at yuba on mountain bikes. I never shifted out of the gear I started in. I swam by some guy that I actually thought was Rich and thought I beat him out of the water. I didn't and Rich and I were probably the last people out of Yuba. I don't know why but I still loved it. Maybe it was the variety. I listened ( although it took a while for me to be compliant) to my trainer and the next year we did the Yuba tri I actually beat Rich. He then took that as a challenge and took some swim lessons a few weeks before the next Yuba tri. He then beat me and won't do another tri.   We did decide that we needed better bikes and we bought some Trek Madones. We have been hooked ever since.

Ride from Reno A few years ago while doing a radio spot for the Huntsman Cancer Fundraiser I met Jeff Warren who started the Huntsman 140. Jeff rides from Reno to raise money for cancer research. Because they ride through Fallon where my brothers country kitchen is, we became friends and fed the riders lunch at the farm their first day on the road. Rich rode that first year from Reno to Fallon. the second year he rode the entire first day 130 miles. This past year he rode the entire 667 miles from Reno to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Every Saturday needed to be a long ride and he joined the Bountiful Mazda Cycling Club that Jeff Warren is part of so he could learn to do his part on the Ride from Reno. He joined the Huntsman Hometown Heroes and was able to get a guaranteed spot in the LOTOJA race. He trained all spring and summer for LOTOJA. I supported Rich on the Ride from Reno and you can read about it at www.ikickedcancersbutt.org.

LOTOJA 2013
Rich is a very determined person and has a tremendous amount of self discipline. Our biggest problem was we really didn't know what we were doing. HINT to LOTOJA: you need a newbies section that tells you what you should even sign up for.    Because of not even knowing what to sign up for - Rich signed up for the rider category in his age division. He signed up with 6 other Valcom riders who are a bit younger than he was. Therefore when it was all said and done he only got to start with one other rider his age from the Valcom team and that start was almost 45 minutes after the other 5 riders.

Rich seldom gets visibly nervous about challenges. But this time was a bit different.   Some work challenges decreased the amount of time he could ride during the week. Had he done enough? Had we figured out his nutrition in order to sustain him through the race? Had the training rides been hard enough and long enough? Was his taper week too little or too much? Did I understand what he needed when and would I be at the right place and the right time? So many questions with so few answers. I was nervous enough for both of us. I found myself being very edgy. ( Sorry about that Rich and Trevor)    At some point I will journal exactly what Rich did because should he do this again I want to learn from our mistakes.

Most worrisome time. We were at the Afton feed zone and someone came in and said a rider was down. He was not getting up and he was in a blue kit. Rich is in a blue and white kit and I began to worry. He was a bit past when I thought he should be in and I am such a good worrier. The ambulance came in and then the bikes. When they unloaded the bikes and I realized they were not his, I could breathe again.

The Mountains: Rich did start behind the Valcom team, but they took a few more minutes at each feed zone, bathroom breaks for 5 can take up a bit more time and Rich can climb. He caught up with them at the top of the last pass and was able to ride the rest of the way in with the team. He loved that.

The drive: Trevor kept me company. Thanks to Trevor for being patient with me. I was so edgy that I could hardly stand myself and yet he was as cheerful as could be. We listened to Peter and the Starcatchers. Awesome audiobook. Thanks to Amy Johnson for the recommendation! I ate enough calories to replenish Rich's lost calories.

My frustration: There are 7 feedzones and I got to see him at 3. After fully supporting him on the ride from reno, I was feeling a bit useless.
Lesson learned: The guys and gals that do this race are so driven and capable, that they could do this with just neutral support and be fine. I would still be frustrated that I couldn't do more.

The end: Rich and team came in under 13 hours and before dark. That was Rich's goal. To finish and to finish before dark. 205 miles, 3 states, 1 day. Rich is awesome. He complained a bit ( once)
about some knee pain and his shoulders were sore. Other than that - he is not a complainer. ( I need to give him lessons, so he can get some sympathy)