STP

Okay, so it's taken way too long to get back here and update this. Here's how this year's STP went for me:

For the week leading up to STP I was hobbling around on a very sore foot. Two days before STP I really couldn't walk on my left foot, and on STP eve I was still just barely able to hobble around a bit even with some pretty strong pain meds.

The pain was in my toe joints so I brought along flat pedals and tennis shoes and figured if things got too bad I'd just change shoes, swap pedals, and push pedals with my heels. It was, after all, only 204 miles. ;-O

I was riding Race Across Oregon the next week and did not want to take any chances of damaging me or the bike ahead of such an important event. I rode my Marin since it would be my spare bike for RAO. It's heavy steel frame wouldn't be much of a detriment on the flat STP.
As far as keeping me safe I opted to start 5 minutes ahead of the official 4:45 AM mass start. I wanted to get through the twisties along Lake Washington before the crowd caught up. I love the excitement of the mass start, there is just something about being in curb to curb bikes moving southward. But every year there are some bad crashes in the early twilight and I couldn't afford to be caught up in them.

Dave and I started of 5 minutes early and did indeed get through those sharp curves dropping along Lake Washington before getting caught by the crowd.


Dave probably was well ahead by then! As we shoved off, within the first half mile or so I could see Dave looking over his shoulder back at me. I could tell that he was just itching to put the hammer down. I was pedaling with 1 good leg and about 25% of the other.....and two Vicodan. I was doing all the hammering I was going to do today and was just hoping to be able to keep moving. I told him not to worry about me, I knew the route and had my cell phone if need be.

I didn't have to say that twice. Dave nodded, and was gone!

The crowd caught up with me and before long there was a sea of riders whizzing past me.


I pedaled along at what for me was a relaxed pace. After completing STP with a 1mph faster average each year for 5 previous years I knew that this year just finishing a 1 day STP would be goal enough.

I arrived at the REI rest stop, 25 miles in and grabbed a snack.


I continued to pedal towards Portland. A few folks asked about the tennis shoes tied to the back of my bike. They all just shook their heads when I explained that I had a very sore foot and my have to swap pedals part way through the ride.

I made brief stops at every major food stop, about every 50 miles.

I did eventually make it to Portland, 2 1/2 hours later than last year, but earning my 6th One Day Rider medallion none the less.



For the last several years I've gone back on day two and ridden 100 miles with the two day riders crossing the finish line for the second time. This year I was still very busy preparing for RAO the next week so I just didn't have the time to spare.

All in all, I should be satisfied just to finish in one day this year.



............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......205................0...............0..........205
Jan........618...............0................0..........618
Feb........692...............0................0..........692
March......940...............0................5..........940
April......934...............0................0..........934
May........905...............0................0..........905
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July.......596...............0................0..........596
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....5852...............0..............5.........5857