The LoToJa Classic is a long distance one-day amateur bicycle road race from

Logan, UT Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...

to Jackson Hole, WY, USA. It is held in September on the first Saturday after Labor Day.

About LoToJa

LoToJa was started in 1983 by two Logan cyclists, David Bern, a student at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

, and Jeff Keller, the owner of Sunrise Cyclery. The two men wanted a race that resembled the difficulty of a one-day European classic like Paris-Roubaix or the Tour of Flanders. LoToJa's first year featured seven cyclists racing 192 miles from Logan to a finish line in Jackson's town square. The winning time was just over nine hours by Bob VanSlyke. Many compete to win their respective category, while others just ride to cross the finish line. At 200+ miles, LoToJa is the longest one-day USAC-sanctioned bicycle race in the country. Cyclists must conquer three mountain passes as they pedal through the scenic terrain of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming en route to a finish line below the rugged Tetons at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Course

The race starts at the bike shop in Logan, Utah and heads north into southeastern Idaho and winds across western Wyoming. The finish line is near the base of the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in t ...

at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (at Teton Village), one of America's ski destinations. Along the scenic or course are three mountain passes, plus hilly to rolling terrain that results in more than of climbing.

Notable Winners

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...

(

Team RadioShack Team RadioShack was a professional road bicycle racing team, with RadioShack as the title sponsor, the creation of which was announced on July 23, 2009. Lance Armstrong co-owned and led the team, which raced in the Grand Tours and the UCI ProTour ...

) *

Marty Jemison Marty Jemison (born May 18, 1965 in Salt Lake City) is a former American cyclist. Since retiring from Professional Cycling, Marty has been leading tours for his own companJemison Cycling ToursAn extended list of results can bHis most successful da ...

( U.S. Postal) *

Scott Moninger Scott Moninger is an American professional road racing cyclist. He was born October 20, 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and moved to Boulder, Colorado, in the mid 1980s to further his career in cycling. Moninger turned profess ...

* John Frey *

Alison Tetrick Alison Marie Tetrick (born April 4, 1985) is an American racing cyclist. She rode at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. Tetrick comes from a sporting family – her grandfather, Paul Tetrick, won more than a dozen national time trial titles, ...

Charitable Fundraising

LoToJa is a major fund-raiser for the

Huntsman Cancer Foundation A huntsman is a hunter, especially a fox hunter. Huntsman or huntsmen or ''variation'', may also refer to: People * Huntsman (surname) * Huntsmen (military), a medieval and renaissance soldier type Characters * Huntsman (American Dragon: Jake ...

, Autism Spectrum Disorder Connections and other medical research foundations. As of 2014, LoToJa organizer Epic Events has raised over US$250,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation

Course Records

The current course record was set by Spencer Johnson, of Riverton Utah, with a time of 8:18:29 (2018). The women’s course record, 9:35:00, set in 2013, is held by Melinda MacFarlane.

History

2006 - Epic Duel

In 2006, racers Zach "Sick Pony" Hope and Jason Sawyer had an epic duel to the finish. Jason Sawyer blew a tire right near the end.

2007 – 25th Anniversary

The 2007 race included roughly 1,400 people from 40 different states in the United States. The fastest time in the 2007 edition of the race was posted by Mark Zimbelman, a resident of Provo,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, who won the masters 45+ category. His time of 9:06:44 was also good for a course record with Mark Schaefer finishing less than a wheel length behind. Schaefer and Zimbelman led the race alone for the last . The winner of the Men's Pro Category 1 and 2 race was Cameron Hoffman of Clearfield,

with a time of 9:24:18.

2009 – new course record

Zimbelman's course record held during 2008 but was beaten in the 2009 race by Cameron Hoffman of Clearfield,

with a time of 9:02:52. This was Hoffman's third year in a row winning the Men's Pro Category 1,2,3 race. Hoffman, David Francis of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and Robert Lofgran of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

had to chase racer Dave Botchek (Colorado Springs CO) who had been out in front 190 miles before being caught due to a puncture 13 miles from the finish. Dave Botchek had previously won the event in the 90's. They finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively with less than a second between Hoffman and Francis and Lofgran finishing about five seconds later.

2010 – Another new course record

Cameron Hoffman's 2009 course record time o
9:02:52
was broken in 2010 by Alfred Thresher with a time o
9:01:44

2012 – Disaster Strikes

Rob Verhaaren crashed and died during the final stages of the race in Wyoming. A new LOTOJA course record was set by Leon Bergant from Slovenia, with the time of 8:57:19.

References

{{reflist

External links

LOTOJA WebsiteSunrise Cyclery's LoToJa HistoryVideo of 2007 finish line sprint2007 Milliseconds Sports LOTOJA ResultsHerald Journal article on the 2007 raceBYU Newsnet article on the 2007 race
Cycle races in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1983 1983 establishments in Utah 1983 establishments in Wyoming Road bicycle races Sports competitions in Utah Sports competitions in Wyoming