By James Knight — The popular and long cycling race known as LoToJa provides opportunities for cyclists to push their limits while also having some flexibility. If you can’t cycle the whole 200+ miles, there are still opportunities to be a part of it.
According to LoToJa’s official website, LoToJa was started in 1983 by two cyclists for Logan, Utah, David Bern, a Utah State University student, and Jeff Keller, the owner of Sunrise Cyclery. LoToJa’s first year only featured seven cyclists who raced 187 miles from Logan to a finish line at Jackson’s town square. In 1986, the distance was expanded to over 200 miles when the finish was moved to Teton Village. Over time, LoToJa has grown into one of the nation’s premier amateur cycling races and attracts both top level riders, and everyday recreational cyclists.
The founders passed LoToJa’s future into the hands of current race director Brent Chambers, who has overseen LoToJa since 1998. Chambers describes how LoToJa is both a ride and a race, which allows it to incorporate both competitive and non-competitive recreational riders.
“LoToJa is both a race and a ride. We sanction the event through USA Cycling, and it’s sanctioned as a licensed race. It’s also sanctioned as a non-competitive ride. So, about half the event are cyclists that are there to compete, and the other half are there to just get from Logan to Jackson. I mean, their goal is to basically compete with themselves,” Chambers said.
One of these non-competitive riders is Stephen Fredrick. He described his first experience racing LoToJa with his brother Johnny.
“I’m not necessarily riding competitively, but I like the challenge to ride from Logan to Jackson, and I thought it would be something that would push me and something really hard, but really rewarding if I was able to finish. So, me and Johnny both signed up, but we didn’t sign up to do the full thing. We said, hey, let’s sign up and ride it in groups. So, I rode about 100 miles. He did about 100 miles, and we both did together. The first year I didn’t ride the whole thing, and that’s partly because it takes a long time to be able to train for a race like that.”
At over 200 miles, LoToJa is the longest one-day USA Cycling-sanctioned bicycle race in the country. Cyclists must conquer three mountain passes through the scenic terrain in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. With a final destination line below the Teton Mountains at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, which is also a popular ski destination. LoToJa offers 31 different start groups which feature full-distance, tandem, and relay team categories. All categories and classes leave Logan in timed intervals. To win or even place in a respective LoToJa category is a considered a great achievement. Some past winners have pursued careers in professional cycling.
One such winner is Stephen’s cousin Micah Fredrick, who won the women’s 25+ citizen category last year and is looking forward to racing in one of the more the more competitive yet slightly shorter USA Cycling sanctioned racing categories this year. She describes the training and effort it takes to race in the competitive categories and how it differs from other sports she’s played.
“Training has been a learning curve. I was going almost every day for a bike ride. I was upping my distances. And then once I decided that I really wanted to compete with LoToJa, I just started having mileage goals. So, I would set weekly and monthly goals that I needed to meet. And then, biking is different than anything else, because the nutrition is different to me. When I’m running, I don’t typically eat. I just run, I get it over with, and then I’ll eat after. But with cycling, you kind of have to eat throughout. So, I’ve had to learn how to do cycling nutrition,” Fredrick said.
Fredrick also emphasized the importance of having a team and a support system cheering you on. She describes how LoToJa has great staff and people always willing to help and provide encouragement throughout the race.
“It has the best atmosphere. All of the staff and everyone helping you. They want you to succeed. So, when you get to a pit stop, you have all these people there that are just trying to help. They’re getting you water. They’re getting you whatever you need. One year, my dad’s cleat broke, and someone went in their car and got their biking shoe out and gave him the screws out of their cleat. The staff are so awesome, and then you ride with a bunch of different people. My first year and my and last year, I wasn’t really riding with a team. I ended up just riding with random people. And it was so fun, because you just talk to them, you can get to know new people. It’s my favorite race by far,” Fredrick said.
Race director Brent Chambers also gave some insight on how to prepare for such a long race. Emphasizing that proper preparation and knowing what your body needs is key for success.
“Obviously, there’s lots of training. It’s not something you can just do off the couch. The racers that compete in LoToJa, their preparation will include not only their training but also include lots of races that they compete in during the months leading up to LoToJa, lots of miles and lots of climbing. They need to understand and be prepared to know what their body is going to need as they ride a double century. That’s a long way to ride a bike, and they might be good for 100 miles, but the last 100 miles might be a different story. They need to know what their body needs when they ride long distance like that, how to keep that fuel tank as full as possible throughout the day. Because as they leave Logan and they finish in Jackson, as they’re going that distance, the gas tanks emptying the entire way, and they just need to try to keep it full as much as possible with the energy that their body needs,” Chambers said.
For more information on LoToJa, visit their official website https://LoToJa.com/
September 6 — LOTOJA Classic Road Race, Utah Triple Crank, Logan, UT, 43rd Annual, 1 day, 3 states, 200-plus mile road race from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY, Brent Chambers, 801-546-0090, info@LoToJa.com, LoToJa.com
