The Seattle to Portland bike ride always reminds me of a tub of warm beer.
STP was my first big bike ride after moving to the Pacific Northwest 8 years ago. I had done plenty of centuries, but never 200 miles in a single day.
I had trained hard, but stayed at the half-way point too long and finished the ride around dusk. When I arrived at my motel room in Portland, I discovered that my TransAmerica bike ride buddy had room service set up a six-pack of Corona on ice in the room for me.
Unfortunately, he must have thought I would arrive much earlier in the day because the six room-temperature beers were sitting in a bowl of room-temperature water that I can only assume had been ice at one time. I drank a couple anyway.
More STPs
I rode the STP again a couple of years later, and instead of riding the bus home, I rode my bicycle home. It was a neat trick, as I got to load up at all the 2nd day rest stops on the way north. The third day, however, I was on my own.
So it has been a few years since my last STP, but a neighbor said he wanted to do it again, so we're set up for the two-day ride.
Now my son wants to do it also, so he's signed up too.
RAW vet
It's all about bragging rights. As a middle-schooler he became a veteran of several Ride Around Washington bike tours with the Cascade Bicycle Club. I remember him on his mountain bike pedaling past adults who were suffering on the climbs of the North Cascade Highway.
But none of his friends were familiar with those rides. They know about STP. So I owe it to my soon-to-be high school senior to experience the STP so he can put that in his hip pocket. The big question is: Can he be ready in 39 days?
Tumor
What the hell, can I be ready in 39 days?
I had that radical prostatectomy to remove a tumor in September. I waited about five weeks until I got back on the bike, and I still haven't knocked out more than 50 miles in one ride.
But I don't want to make too much out of that; the cancer was removed, I've recovered and I feel strong.
May stats
I'm thinking I can knock out these back-to-back centuries without too much trouble.
I've tallied 1,608 miles in 2008, almost on pace for a 4,000-mile year, which is my goal. I rode 380 miles in May, which is my best month since the operation. If I can sustain that for five more weeks, I should be ready for STP.
My only concern: How much training does a 17-year-old need?
Recent Comments