POCATELLO — The LoToJa is a 200-mile bicycle race from Logan, Utah, to Jackson, Wyoming, and when Jessica Winston decided to give it a shot, she had no idea just how much it would change her passion for cycling.
What she discovered when competing in the race was the growing sport of ultracycling, the term used to describe rides of 100 miles or more. She eventually decided she wanted to do her part to bring attention to the sport, especially for women.
That attention, of course, came in the form of a long ride.
”I began early in the morning, just before dawn on May 24 and I finished on May 25 just before dawn,” Winston said. “I did it in 24 hours and six minutes.”
Jessica Winston raises her arms in celebration at the Nevada-Utah border before beginning her 333-mile solo ride across Utah on May 24. Winston, a Pocatello resident and Idaho State University English professor, completed the record-setting ultracycling trek in 24 hours and six minutes.
What she did was ride her bicycle across the state of Utah, starting from the Nevada-Utah border and finishing at the Utah-Colorado border. The ride was 333 miles and she set a women’s record for the time it took her to complete it.
She did the ride straight through, stopping every 25 miles to recharge, resupply and take care of anything else that needed taking care of.
”Most stops were four or five minutes,” Winston said. “My support team would help me fill my water bottles, get me some food, reapply sunscreen, I would take off layers or add layers.”
Winston’s support vehicle, marked with flashing lights and “Caution Cyclist Ahead” signs, sits ready at the Nevada-Utah border at the start of her 333-mile ride across Utah on May 24. The crew trailed her across the state, stopping every 25 miles to resupply and assist her.
The longest stop they made was in Salina, Utah, where she said the van trailing her needed to fill up on gas. That lasted about 12 to 15 minutes. In all, Winston said she spent about 22 of those 24 hours riding and about two hours accumulated in break times.
An avid cyclist most of her life, Winston wasn’t one who cycled great distances. But then she heard so much about the LoToJa — which is short for Logan to Jackson — among other cyclists that in 2023 she got excited about the challenge it posed and decided to go for it.
”It has a bit of a lore among local cyclists,” she said. “It’s something that gets talked about when you are riding recreationally in this area. One day it just occurred to me that maybe I can do that.”
Winston says she will typically ride about six to eight hours a week indoors during the winter and about eight or nine hours a week starting in the spring. But she says that first LoToJa shifted her passion for the occasional ultracycling experience.
The LoToJa was founded in 1983 and held annually every September. Since 2023, Winston has ridden in the event each year. She plans to ride this September as well with the goal of beating her personal best of 11 hours and 37 minutes set in 2024.
Jessica Winston pedals through canyon terrain along Interstate 70 in Utah on the afternoon of May 24 during her record-setting 333-mile solo ride across the state. Winston spent roughly 22 of her 24 hours on the road riding.
She gained such a passion for ultracycling that she decided to enter a second, even longer event last September — the Salt to Saint Relay. That race is from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah, and is usually run in teams or with partners, hence the word “relay” in the event name.
”Most people do it as a relay, but I did it solo,” she said. “It took about 33 and a half hours. There were regular stops and I did sleep for about 30 minutes in the early morning.”
Originally from New Hampshire, Winston left the East Coast for the West Coast and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her master’s and Ph.D. From there she landed in Pocatello in 2002 and has been an English professor at Idaho State University since. Her specialization is in Renaissance literature and Shakespeare.
”I love Pocatello. I met my husband here and had my kids here,” she said. “One just graduated from Century High School. Pocatello is a beautiful place to live and work and it’s a great place to ride a bike.”
As her love of ultracycling grew during the past few years, Winston said she found the World Ultracycling Association, a nonprofit that sets and tracks the standards for the ultracycling world. She started doing some research and something in the area of the current riding records inspired her trek across Utah.
”I was struck that there are very few women’s records across the Western United States,” she said. “Ultracycling is a niche sport but it’s a growing sport and there are definitely women participating in it. It seemed like there could be more records for women.”
She decided one way she could inspire women in the sport to take on those challenges was by doing one herself. As she pondered where she would make her mark, she considered Idaho as a possibility, and even Montana.
Jessica Winston poses with her bicycle at the Utah-Colorado state line marker in the early morning hours of May 25, having just completed her 333-mile solo ride across Utah. Winston finished the trek in 24 hours and six minutes, setting a women’s record recognized by the World Ultracycling Association.
”I decided on Utah because of its proximity to Pocatello and a more manageable length,” Winston said.
Her hope is to fill some of that gap among women record holders in the sport. She calls the record she set — 333 miles across Utah in 24 hours and six minutes — “respectable,” but not dramatically fast in the world of ultracycling.
”There is definitely room for someone to come along if they like a challenge,” Winston said.
(1) comment
Congratulations Jessica. That's some ride.
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