LOTOJA: Take 3

It's no secret I had been looking forward to LOTOJA this year for a very long time.  Unlike the past two times Dave has biked it my babes were finally old enough for me to feel comfortable leaving them for the weekend.  It was going to be a relaxing (for me) weekend full of peace and quiet, lazy book reading in the sun and of course some one on one time with my handsome honey. It's been years, YEARS (like before kids) since we have had a weekend away together.

Dave and I spent Friday night at his Dad and Paula's house and kissed our sleeping kiddos goodbye just after 4 in the morning on Saturday and headed to Logan. I saw Dave off at the starting line with a lot of cheering and whooping.  I love the excitement and tension in the air that is always present at the start line. 

Dave insisted he wouldn't need me the first 80 miles so I skipped the first support stop and made my way to Montpelier.  I stopped at the store to grab a few things for Dave that we had forgotten and a snack or two for me. I may or may not have taken my sweet time and basked in the freedom of wandering around the store sans children.  I was then able to enjoy my snacks and a quiet leisurely car ride to Montpelier all the while completely engrossed in a book on tape.  Do you get the picture?  I was in heaven.  Because I had skipped the first support stop I arrived with hours to kill.  I decided a nice, long, cozy nap was in order.  It was delicious.  I finally made my way to the feed zone to meet Dave.  He came in happy and feeling strong.  Montpelier is usually where Dave struggles but he was doing great! After a quick 5 minute stop to restock on food and water he was off again. 

I headed to the car knowing it would be a little bit of a time crunch to get to the next support stop before Dave.  He was cruising.  I hopped in my car, turned the key and... nothing.  *#$%.

 I set off frantically looking for anyone with jumper cables willing to help.  Unfortunately most everyone was in a hurry and no one had any.  I finally found the nicest guy who was willing to help.  Long story short - he knew about as much as I did about jumping a car and the jumper cables ended up crossed.  There was a lot of sparks and smoke and bad smells.  We recruited help from his friend and all seemed well.. until I tried driving off.  I had a million engine lights flashing and no power.  I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  I made a few teary and frantic phone calls to see if I could find someone to meet Dave at the next stop and to try and figure out what I was going to do.  A plan was formed- Paula was going to stay and watch the kiddos, Dave's dad was hopping in his truck to come and grab me and the supplies and we would try to catch up with Dave and just leave my car at the park overnight and figure out what to do with it later. Paula found someone else who was supporting a rider that was going to try and meet up with Dave at the next stop since it was apparent there was no way I was going to be able to make it. My sweet Dad called in and canceled his shift at work and him and my mom were on standby to help in anyway they could. Whew. There was nothing left for me to do but sit down and wait. 

Here's were it gets a bit embarrassing... I sat down under a tree and cried. Yes, cried. It's been a very long time since I've cried that hard.  I called my sweet sister and complained and cried some more. Bless her. I'm not sure she could even understand me half the time.  I was lost on the self-pity train.  I was embarrassed that I broke my car and sick with worry over the potential costs to fix it.  I was horrified that I was letting Dave down. This was an important ride for him.  He was going for a PR and been training hard all year for this ride.  It was a big deal to him and I worried about how he was going to make it the remaining 120+ miles without car support.  And most of all I was mourning over my lost plans for the weekend. I had been SO excited for a weekend away with Dave.

About this time I got a phone call from Dave. He had made it to the next support stop but the sweet guy that Paula had found to meet him hadn't been able to find him after all. Dave was just going to plug away to the next stop where hopefully his dad and I would catch him.  I could hear the worry and frustration in Dave's voice and it set me off again.  After my good, long cry I finally started to calm down and then I was overcome with shame. Why was I crying?  Why was I feeling sorry for myself?  This wasn't a tragedy.  In fact it was just a little hiccup.  Dave and I were SO lucky.  We had so many people willing to drop everything to come and help us. Regardless of their feelings they knew this was an important goal for Dave and didn't give a second thought to canceling their plans to help him achieve it. I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  I vowed I was going to man-up, put away my feelings of self-pity and disappointment and do everything I could to let our families know how very grateful I was for their help.  By the time Dave's dad arrived I had a smile back on my face and was ready to go.

The goal was to meet up with Dave in Alpine (the last stop).  Just as we were getting close to it I got a text from Dave letting me know he was just leaving the feed zone. Poo. I was crazy impressed because he was making amazing time but worried about how he was doing, and how he could keep going without food.

He would be burning an estimated 18,000 calories on the ride and needed to get some of those calories back in him somehow or else he would bonk hard.

Even though we missed him at the feed zone we were able to flag him down and pull over on the side of the course to see how he was doing.  He was still going strong.  He had stocked up on water, red bulls and gus at the neutral station and just wanted to keep going.  We pulled over a few other times along the last 40 mile stretch to cheer him on. 

It was a rush to the finish line.  Traffic was crazy and Dave was making amazing time.  As we neared the end, Dennis, Dave's dad, let me out in the middle of the road and I sprinted the last 1/2 mile to the finish line.  I had just enough time to turn my camera on and turn around before Dave came barreling in. 

He had done it!!  He had made his goal and finished in just over 12 hours.. hiccup and all.  He had beaten his last time by almost an hour and a half!

 It was a good feeling watching him cross that finish line. 

I was pretty dang proud of the boy and once again extremely thankful for all of the help we had received that made him finishing possible. 

Getting lodging in Jackson Hole was almost impossible.  The only room I had been able to snag for the weekend was one with two queen sized beds.  As Dennis and Dave and I checked in that night I had a good laugh over how perfectly it had all turned out.

On another note: my heart, thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two bikers that died during/because of this year's ride.  My heart literally aches for them.