Just like last year, it was perfect weather for the LJ. None of us slept very well the night before with pre race jitters and a major rain storm that busted through the National forrest at about 2 am. I think we all had thoughts of last year's storm that had chain saws running until just hours before that race, not this year, the rain just kept the dust down and firmed everything up very nicely.

Daryn worked his butt off at the shop so he could come up and support us, and that was huge. So Daryn, my son (Jack 3) and Josh's parents would be our support for the race.

Jim, Josh and I positioned ourselves in the middle of the pack before the start, not because I had any delusions of grandeur, but because I knew that is where Jim wanted to start. As we were rolling along at the start, I asked Jim whose bike was 'squeaking' and he said it was mine...more on that later. The three of us worked our way to the front 50 or so riders by the first hill, and that was the last I saw of Jim and Josh.

Things went really well for the inner loop, I was 10 minutes behind Jim and Josh and under 40 minutes elapsed time. I had no serious crowd issues and only a couple crashes around me, one rider spilled behind me and nearly took me out. As I worked my way through the next 3 or 4 miles, my 'squeak' got loud enough that riders behind me were trying to help assess what the problem was while we were riding. As it turned out they were right, my hub was shot.

About 6 miles from the end of my first complete lap, I stood up to keep my legs loose and busted my chain (I need to figure out how not to break my chain) spent 5 or 10 minutes putting a quick link on and then rejoined the race. I was behind a huge group of riders, but, since it was the first lap, and they had a pretty decent pace, I was happy to just ride along.

When I got to the pits, I told Daryn there was something seriously wrong with my bike and he looked at and said 'there is nothing I can do to fix it, just go ride your bike'. I thought this meant there was a potential for a problem, but not to worry and just ride on. About 4 miles into the inner loop, it was as if someone turned up the gravity. I was really surprised that I was having so much trouble riding after only 30 miles, but the squeak was gone, so I thought to just tough it out.

After the inner loop hand up, things went from bad to worse, it felt like my back brake was on and I had to use my granny gear even in the flats. I made to the outpost aid station and was going to abandon the race, I was getting just trashed having to work so hard with my back wheel shot. I spun my back wheel and it did a rotation and a half before seizing up....I was just completely devastated. All of the training and prep and I was not even going to finish 2 laps. I decided that maybe, just maybe Daryn could pull a miracle or maybe I could find the Trek rep and beg him for a wheel. If I could not, I would not be able to continue. In any case, I still had a chance but I needed to stay on my bike and get to the pits, so off I went, granny gear and me.

That next 8 miles just sucked and I had thoughts of olympians who worked for years just for one day and what it must feel like if they were sick or injured just before the race. I was completely depressed, but I stayed hydrated and fueled hoping that I would get some luck in the pits.

Josh was having a great race and was close to Jim but had to abandon 59 miles into the race. This bad fortune for him turned out to be the bit of luck I needed. When I finally arrived in the pits, I saw Josh eating cookies and asked if he was alright, he knew that I trained really hard for this race and when he knew I needed a wheel he said that I might want to use his wheel. It fit my bike and it even had my favorite small block eight tire. I went from complete depression to elation to know that I was now in a position to at least finish. That was my goal when I started, so I was back and very happy that I did not abandon at the aid station.

Third lap was uneventful other than hugging a tree when I was trying to put my water bottle back and did an endo. I grabbed a tree to break my fall and I have a little pine tree rash, I was going pretty slowly, so not a big deal. I did get a chance to see Etough for a second time as he lapped me (Jim was only minutes behind my 3rd lap time for his finish, so he certainly rocked!)

The 4th lap was hard, I used a lot of gas trying to finish the second lap with my bad wheel, and it started to hurt bad. I caught up with a guy that I chatted with at the start of the race from Founders and it was nice to have the company. On the back side by Udell hills, he was flying down the hills. I was concerned about going too fast since my reaction time was getting very slow from fatigue. While hanging back a little bit from him, I heard a big thwack down the hill and my fear was confirmed when I rolled up on him. He was standing next to his bike with a mohawk of leaves and branches in his helmet from skidding through the dirt after clipping a tree. I helped him put his bike back together and continued to the finish.

I went through a full spectrum of emotions yesterday and want to thank Josh again for letting me use his wheel and Daryn for making the trip up to help out. We'll do this again next year, though I will be pit crew....it may take a couple years to recover.

Great race Jim and Josh. Thanks Joe for all the advice. See you all soon.
Jack Miner