When I signed up for the STP ride, I genuinely thought it wouldn't really be that bad. 100 miles on Saturday and 100 more in Sunday - how hard can that be? Then I started to put it into terms that made more sense - Seattle to Portland is close in distance to Norfolk, VA to Washington, DC. While I've driven that more times than I can remember, I would never, under any circumstances think about doing it by bicycle. Then I remembered what I thought the last time someone told me they were going to do a 'century' (100 mile ride for bicyclists) - I thought they had lost their mind. And this was only a couple of weeks ago. Still none of this really started to make an impact until about the 50 mile point on day 1 - at that point, it really started to hit home just how far I had to ride.
Let me back up and start from the beginning on Friday. I left for Seattle after work on Friday at about 6. I sat in traffic for about an hour in Portland on I-5. Hoping to arrive in Seattle by 9, I didn't get there until 10:30. I had to get up really early the next morning to catch a bus to the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, where the event was launching from. Unfortunately, after I arrived and had the nice lady at the front desk check bus schedules for me, I found out the only possible way to get to Husky Stadium by bus on a Saturday was to leave my hotel at 4 a.m., arriving at the stadium some 2 hours later. Needless to say that was out. We then determined that the stadium was only about 5-6 miles away. I'll just bike it, I thought. Unfortunately, that meant carrying not one, but two backpacks all the way there, not to mention reading a map and my map-reading skills are severely lacking.
I was in bed at midnight and up at 5 for a quick shower and then off to the stadium. It wasn't a bad ride over, it was however really chilly and the 2 backpacks were uncomfortable, but I got to the stadium by about 6. I dropped my bag off with the event staff who were shuttling it to the midway point and by 6:30, I was off and riding.
I felt really good for the first 40 miles. I actually thought I had some kind of natural ability - an extreme athlete who could ride for hundreds of miles and not feel any different than if he'd ridden 4 miles to Whole Foods for groceries. But something happened between the 40 and 50 mile mark, I really started hurting. My neck mostly from leaning over and holding my head up, then my left knee, then my right Achilles tendon, then my ass. My body parts were turning on me and I still had 150 miles to go.
When I rolled into the midway point that evening at 4, I was a wreck. My left knee was my biggest concern. I couldn't put any weight on it Saturday night. At the advice of one of the riders I was staying with, I iced it a couple of times and he gave me some ibuprofen. On Sunday morning, I felt better and again the ride seem doable. Unfortunately, that only lasted for about the first 1000 feet, then my knee started to hurt like hell again.
Sunday was really hilly, which put even more stress on my knees. It wasn't unbearable, but it sure as hell hurt. At the midpoint Saturday night, I asked what accommodations were made by the race organizers to get people to Portland if they were unable to make it on their own - I was told there were none. You start the race, you finish it, either by bike or some other means that you yourself come up with. Knowing full well the horrible shame I would feel if I had to call Matt or Connie, I pretty much decided that I would get to Portland if it took me 20 hours on Sunday.
It didn't take me 20 hours. Actually I arrived Sunday at the finish line in about the same time it took me to ride Saturday, approximately 9 1/2 hours. I was really glad to be done with it and I certainly feel a sense of accomplishment for having finished it. Truth is, anyone can do it, barring a major medical problem that prevents you from continuing. There were folks of all sizes and ages participating. I got passed more times than I care to recount by people a lot heavier and older than me.
I didn't take a ton of pictures, but there are a few here.
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