Jo Ann BUrtard

[Scobb]

It’s time to bring a bit of personality to one of those pink spots towards the back of the pack, Jo Ann Burtard.  I have been following her day and night as she tackles the rigors of the Divide.  And she drives me nuts without her spot tracker regularly on; I mean how are we going to make sure that she’s ok out there in the big world?  I mean, even the Big Guys fear the bears and they are more accounted for with their trackers blinking reliably! But Jo’s independent and fierce in her own way.  By profession Jo Ann is a yoga teacher and Shiatsu body worker living in Santa Fe.  She never uses age as an excuse, but she’s 56 years young and 5’ tall.  She chose to ride her cross bike for this ride, despite other’s discouraging her.  Some would still be recovering from their collar bone fracture, the 4th one….But Jo was determined to do this adventure and nothing was going to stop her.  She called her husband from Pinedale last night, having had her bike worked on that made it worse than when she got to the shop.  She described numb fingertips that make it necessary to push her tracker with a stick.  She described an encounter with a moose that she no doubt, thoroughly appreciated.  Still she’s pressing on this morning, again without her tracker on, and has miles to go.  Jo is my most loyal, grateful and appreciative friend, (to say nothing of ambitious and strong) and she’s my hero in this event.

[SlowDave]

I have known Jo for 5 plus years now.  I can honestly say I would not be walking today but for Jo Ann's help.  I have a neuro condition similar to MS and before I started working with Jo Ann I was constantly in and out of hospitals.  I was being encouraged to use a walker and was being told a wheel chair was in my near future. 

I was referred to Jo Ann by a chiropractor who told me about a yoga class she has for people with disabilities.  Her work goes much beyond that.  My balance was so bad I often had to hold the wall to walk down the hall.  She got me back on my mt bike, something I had loved for decades but thought was behind me.  I also learned to XC Ski and snow shoe, even racing snow shoeing.  Because of my work with Jo Ann most people don't have the slightest hint that I am disabled.  These days I hike, walk, run, bike, ski, show shoe, kayak.  Every day I have an exercise and yoga assignment designed by Jo Ann to fit my current state of health.

A couple of moments that have stuck in my mind is once we were marching up a ski slope in the summer and I thought I was dying.  When we are almost to the top she says "Now run".  I was like, "Excuse me?"  Another time I was getting an ear full for giving up on an exercise effort before she thought I should have and she finished by saying "Aren't you glad you aren't married to me".

Not many of us have such a positive effect on the quality of others lives.  For Jo Ann it is all in a day's work.

Many have questioned the choice of a CX bike but I thought it was brilliant and bold.  And her CX bike isn't your average CX bike either.  I can't wait to hear the pluses and minuses from Jo Ann after the race.