I’m planning on LOTOJA again this year, possibly the Tour de Park City and if I’m lucky, perhaps I’ll ride the 1000 Warriors ride. I’ve been spinning lately but am anxious to get on the Mirror Lake Highway and Wolf Creek Pass soon.

Doesn’t this look fun!?

Lotoja?  Well, despite all the mayhem that was my life this summer and the lack of training that followed, I managed to shave an 1:01 off my time from last year.  That’s one HOUR and one minute!  HOLLA!  Yea, pretty stoked on that.

So here is a Blow by Blow shortish recap of Lotoja 2008.

Started out at a semi slow pace but the yo-yo of the back of the peleton and the sub 20 mph speed was unbearable so the group of us with PROBAR jerseys moved to the front and pulled most of the way to Preston.

It was faster than I wanted but safer than the back.

Just shy of Preston there is a little rise that split the pack and my two buddies that I agreed to stay with were slowing up.  Frankly, I didn’t think my day would be more more than a leisurely ride so I sat up, rode without hands and ate breakfast until the feed zone when they caught up.  We took WAY too much time here taking off leg warmers, eating, general time kill.

Starting out from Preston were held a good pace as I was pulling most of the time through the hills and rollers.  As we started the big climb of Strawberry I surged forward to stop for a pee break and as I did so a guy came up on my side and in front of me.  I noticed he had an ONCE jersey from Spain so I hung on his wheel.

After a minute or two he looks back RIGHT as I was getting ready to pull over to take that needed break and he says, “Kendall? It’s Chad Eberhardt!”  I was like, “Chad?!?”.  Sure enough, a guy that I served with in Spain on my mission 16 years ago.  Haven’t seen him since Spain.

After that we were like a couple of old women out for a lazy afternoon ride (no offense to my women readers or women in general) just chatting away, pedaling pretty solid up the climb, oblivious to the riders we were passing. In fact, a gal looked back as we were passing her and said, ‘Kinda chatty back there eh?”

After catching up about families, wives, work, old buddies from the mission and more, we were at the water station just before the Strawberry summit.  So I figured I’d just hang with him until Montpelier and meet my support (the wife of one of the guys I was riding with) there.

Long story short, she wasn’t there and so I ate some of Chad’s food and we jammed the entire way.  He rode a 10:06 last year to place in his age group but we were on pace for something like a sub 11 and so we pushed hard from group to group – joining up with a group, pulling it, working a few pulls and then pushing on to bridge to the next group.  It was brilliant.

The last leg we hung with another buddy of mine and his friend who we rand into along the way and the 4 of us pounded most of the last leg.

Just before the finish as you enter Jackson there’s a little hill and it ate up all my energy.  I fell off the back and couldn’t catch the now group of 20 or so.

After a little more than a mile solo I thought to myself, “Please Chad, come back and give me a wheel.”  Lo and behold, I looked up to see a guy sit up from the group about 1/4 mile ahead of me.  Chad came back, pulled me until the turn in Wilson and then we pushed hard together to the end.

Finishing time – 10:44.  1 minute faster than my pre-season goal for Lotoja.

I’m already trying to figure out how to break 10:15….

Yesterday it dawned clear skies and cold, but by noon when I went to the rec center for my swim work out it had warmed up considerably (from low 30’s to low 60’s).  As I rode home from swimming on my new-to-me Schwinn Continental circa 1970 baby blue ride, I felt that same happy feeling portrayed in the video.  That of riding a bike on the perfect autumn day, the warm air and sunshine soaking me to core.

So instead of stopping at home I rode on by, went to the post office, cruised main street Kamas, stopping by7 the nursery to check out some bushes and trees that might be on sale. As I finally made my way back to the home office, I couldn’t help but smile as I weaved back and forth on my bike, just like a kid again.

And that’s what riding a bike can often inspire – the kid like feeling that so often escapes our norm as adults.  While it won’t entirely ease the current pain of the economy, it sure feels good.

Don’t call me at noon today, I’ll be out on my new ride.

—

About my bike

I picked up this gem from my friend Bill Krause who works in the Cloffice at the Salt Lake Visitor Center.  He had cleaned and restored this gem and let it go for a fair price.

I further outfitted it with a 1970’s Pletscher chrome bike rack that has a spring loaded book holder latch, formerly mounted on my late father-in-laws trusty steed that he used to ride to BYU from Orem.  They were going to throw his old bike out (complete with old school Campi components, gear shifters in the drops and the Swiss made bike rack) so I rescued the entire thing.  A perfect winter project for my newly completed shop.

So in the midst of the heat and with the ‘need’ to demo a number of next years mountain bikes for FeedtheHabit.com, I got after it and left it all out on the trails.  By the end of the day I was spent.  When I took off my helmet my buddies saw some rare stalactites of salt as evidence of my efforts.

Evidence:

Thanks to Jonny Aand Dustin for spotting them and taking the photo.

I’ve been sticking to weekdays and mornings and the reward has been in my favor.

It’s starting to get cold in the mornings and I’ve been riding with my vest, leg and arm warmers. I don’t recall feeling this much chill in August but then again, the top of the pass is well over 10,000′.

Once Labor Day passes the roads will be virtually abandoned other than Friday and Saturdays as the deer and elk hunts go full swing. I’m hoping for an Indian Summer through the end of October after which it can snow like crazy!

I think those questions came to mind because at the time I was showing films like The Collective, Kranked, and New World Disorder, mountain bike films with big hits, crashes, fast descents and more.

Let’s see, road biking has crashes, fast descents and more…with enough drama to indeed make a film! More than that it has a rich history, in particular in places like Paris, Belgium, Spain and Holland.

So when I was checking out Michael’s post on Velodramatic the other day and read that he went to see the film “Road to Roubaix” I immediately searched out the trailer. After watching it at least 5 times I am now asking myself:

“Why doesn’t someone bring this film to Salt Lake to show in a theater?”

Perhaps I should be that someone…

No American has ever won the Paris-Roubaix. I wonder who, if anyone, ever will.

Read about the Paris-Robaix race

The thing is, he wasn’t biking but instead brought along his video camera. He was looking to shoot something fun and had wanted to add cycling to his demo reel.

To get all these shots, he drove his car with the camera hanging out the driver side window, rode in the back of my wife’s car, used a tripod as well as his signature remote control helicopter. I’ve worked with him controlling the camera while he flies the heli. This time he just flew and from the looks of it he may do just as well without my help.

Someone on a message board said this of the video – I still can’t believe this is your “hobby”. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve got a feeling that it won’t be a hobby for too much longer.

–More video edits from Derek at Piton Productions

It’s a steep climb up to the top regardless of which side you enter but the views are out of this world.  If and when I have the money I’m going to buy lot 44.  Check out the view! (camera phone again)

Only 28 miles of riding and 2200 vertical but the views are worth it!

I’m in Oregon for the week and brought my roadie along so that I can get some rides in. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a great week for riding.

This morning I left my parent’s house in Tualatin, Oregon and headed west through Sherwood, linked up with Kruger Road that rose and up over a small mountain to finish up in Beaverton.  Along the way I passed by this beautiful Bed and Breakfast called the Chehalem Ridge.  I’m jotting this down for a get-away.

It was only a 30 mile ride but the views of Mt. Hood, Saint Helens, Mount Adams and even Rainier combined with the picturesque forest roads that were winding and beautiful made this ride a definite repeat! To top things off I saw 2 cars on Kruger Road and not a one coming down from Chehalem Pass.

These low quality shots from my soon to be retired cell phone don’t do it justice, but imagine the type of road that BMW would feature in a commercial – winding, ups and downs, 180 degree curves, tree canopy with sunlight cutting through…and you’ll get the idea. Add to that the bluebird skies and I was in heaven.

It’s nice to come home.

I don’t care about the critics.

I do care about the cheaters but I still believe that Lance was clean.

There I said it, I took a stand, drew that line in the sand.