"low-tuh-juh"

That is what it says on the shirt the race gave me. So now you know how to pronounce it. Well, sort of. You do have to run it together and mumble it in the way that only a true Utahn can.



Here's the Ski Utah boys at the start. Yes, it was the middle of the freakin night. Holly had the hotel have breakfast ready for us at 4:30 am. That is early even by my standards.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day. Ski Utah was well represented and finished well. . .

M Cat 1,2,3:

Jeremy 4th
Jan 14th
Kirk 20th
ET 21st
Spence 22nd
Clint 34th
Todd 35th

W Cat 1,2,3:

Alison 2nd

M cat 5:

Norm 4th

Masters 45+

Ken 33rd
Ted 37th

2 Person Relay

Sean & Dave 9th
Breanne& Chris 11th
Sheri & Shane 13th

My good friends the Greens did awesome taking first in the "Fun" tandem category and Tara, Steve, Brent, Doug, Curtis and DW all finished strong.

I spent the day keeping track of the Men's licensed Cat 4. Before we even hit Preston they were combined with one of the Master's Men categories. I didn't worry about separating them out. I couldn't even think about how to get 100+ cyclists back into their own racing category. I knew that Strawberry would do plenty of separating with no help from me.

I leaped frogged the leaders of the Men's 4 all day. They were good boys and played by the rules. I got to see a lot of my friends and teammates throughout the day. It was pretty fun and pretty exhausting. Once my group hit the bike path I was off to the finish line. The sun went down taking the warmth with it but thankfully at 8:15 Holly said we could cut it off. Ash and I went to our hotel and warmed up in the hottub.

Sunday was nice. Ash and I did some shopping then we met up with friends and hit the alpine slide and a movie. It was nice to actually be able to enjoy Jackson without needing to eat every hour and without having to use the handicap restrooms to lower myself to the seat.

A friend of a friend had extra bunk beds so we spent Sunday night in Teton Village. The situation was quite interesting. At dinner the Friend of a Friend (FOF) kept asking me questions about DQs and what my job as an official was. He also asked me about the groups mixing and working together. I told him that there wasn't enough of us to watch everyone so we mostly keep track of the licensed riders and that everyone else is on the honor system. I mean really, how could you feel good about beating someone or getting an extraordinary time if you cheated?

After dinner we went back to the condo. He showed us to our room and then the FOF and his wife hurried out the door. They didn't get back until very late. This morning they were in a hurry to get out the door once again. Later I found out the reason for the weirdness. Turns out the FOF actually did cheat and started with a different group 20 minutes earlier. Pitiful. I hope his conscience bothers him and I was glad I was there to make him squirm, even if it was unknowingly on my part. It may be too late to see if I can get him DQ'd but since he took 3rd in his group I'd like him to have a big X on his name.




Today Ashley and I headed home early. We took a small detour so she could show me the Snake River. She had spent a week rafting the river and wanted to show me the cool rapids she had run. It was beautiful.

We made it home in plenty of time for me to go get my Dad's tire and windshield fixed. (I took his car to Jackson since mine died right as I was leaving the city.) If you can't tell I'm quite hard on cars. I managed to chip his windshield as well as get a giant nail in his tire. Steve and Brent are studs and helped me change it despite their aching knees and legs. Ashley was disappointed that they weren't as fast as NASCAR and she made a point of letting them know it.


Overall it was a great weekend. Now I'm eager to get back on my bike. No I didn't at any time wish to be riding 206 miles. Although a nice, free 50 miler would have been perfect!