Anna Catino chats along the finish line as she awaits the arrival of her husband, Erme Catino. The Jackson couple finished first in their race category. It was a little past 2 p.m. — the hottest part of a sweltering September afternoon — when the first riders of the day approached the finish line after about nine hours in the saddle.<\/p>\n

An announcer, stationed in front of a microphone to the side of a large archway marking the finish line, stoked the fanfare through blaring speakers.<\/p>\n

“Alrighty, we got some riders coming in,” he exclaimed. “Welcome to Jackson guys, nice to have you here.”<\/p>\n

Cheering onlookers lined the metal barriers on Moose-Wilson Road in front of Teton Village. Some held signs, including one that read “Ride Fast, Don’t Die.”<\/p>\n

Riders competed in 28 different categories, from individuals, to team relays, to tandem bikes. They continued to arrive into the evening. Most finished after 10 to 12 hours.<\/p>\n

Now in its fourth decade, Lotoja includes over 10,000 feet in elevation gain — think eight Empire State Buildings stacked on top of one another. Of the roughly 2,000 riders who compete, about a quarter on average don’t finish.<\/p>\n

Jackson mechanic Gabe McNees was one of those riders who did not finish in his first time competing in 2020. But this year, he crossed the finish line and gathered among his fellow competitors at the aid station. Gabe McNees (center) is embraced by friends Will Pryor and Danielle Price upon completing the race. McNees said he trains by […]<\/p>\n

Continue reading the original article at: www.ksut.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anna Catino chats along the finish line as she awaits the arrival of her husband, Erme Catino. The Jackson couple finished first in their race category. It was a little past 2 p.m. — the hottest part of a sweltering September afternoon — when the first riders of the day approached the finish line after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":281920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n