STP

Today was STP (Cascade Bicycle Club's Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic) As usual, my brother-in-law Dave and I rode one of the Portland Wheelmen's chartered buses up to Seattle and stayed in a UW dorm room the night before. Unlike past years, we didn't ride together. I was a ride ref and knew I would have my ride interrupted frequently. Dave was riding with a half dozen or so friends who planned to start out at 4AM, ride in a paceline, and get some ground covered.

I got down to the start line, loaded my bag on the Portland truck, and pedaled out with the second wave at 4:55 AM.

The first issue came just across the University Bridge, about a mile into the ride. A cyclist hit a center curb and went down hard. His moment of inattention cost him some blood and his one day STP, he'd be leaving the course in an ambulance.

On "the twisties" going down to Lake Washington a woman was on the side of the road with her bike. She had a rear wheel so badly out of true that even with brakes open it rubbed. I adjusted the brake cables to  open the brakes even more and told her to ride carefully to the REI stop at mile 25 and have a mechanic see if he could true the wheel up good enough to ride. I've got to wonder if people even look at their bikes before taking off on a 200 mile ride.

I rolled then along Lake Washington, always pretty at dawn.

At mile 7 I came across a rider who had clipped the rear wheel of the bike in front of him. His STP was done now too, also ending up with an ambulance ride. I heard several other sirens during the early hours of the ride, and heard from other ride refs of other crashes. It seems that the first few miles of STP were even crazier than normal this year.

At mile 38 I came across another rider on the side of the road. It ended up being a friend from Vancouver, John H. A rider had gone down in front of him, he plowed into him, and broke the carbon fork on his bike. His one day STP dream was now gone for this year too.

Near Yelm I spotted a 2010 Furnace Creek 508 finisher's jersey. I forgot his totem, but seem to remember that it started with "G", but he's an old guy like me. We pedaled along together for a short while and chatted.

With all the stopping for crashes, flat tires, and bike adjustments, I didn't arrive in Centralia until 12:30PM, a full 2-2.5 hours later than I normally arrive. I took an offered orange sherbet/vanilla ice cream bar, then a Darigold chocolate milk. I made my way back toward the one day rider kibble, but saw a line several hundred feet long. A one day STP is not about speed, but time management. Being over two hours later into Centralia I was concerned that I might not make it to Portland before the finish line closed at 9, if things continued the way they had. I turned around and went back around for another ice cream and chocolate milk then got back on the course and headed south.

Centralia is the half way point and the two day riders, and the issues, thinned out considerably. As predicted, we had a gentle head wind in the early morning hours. That had now come around and was a gathering speed tail wind.
I was making good time now. I only had to stop twice to help with mechanical issues or supply a spare tube.

I was bypassing all mini-stops today, only stopping at the main food stops. I arrived in Lexington and ran into friend Joe T, he and his sister were riding a one day STP this year. It wasn't too long ago that this endeavor would have been out of the question for Beth. I was pleased to see her to the point where this was a challenge she was ready for.

I rolled across the Longview Bridge. It seemed easier this time.

I was now in Oregon, and pressed along to St Helens. I saw Eric W there, I was surprised, as he was one of the Motley Crew that was riding with Dave. It was just before 5PM, and with their early start, and pace line assistance, had expected them to be nearly in Portland by now. Before long I had seen the entire crew milling around the crowd. I also spotted my second 2010 Furnace Creek 508 finisher's jersey. This time it was being worn by the daughter of a finisher, Tim "Muskox" Hewitt, from Pennsylvania. She had crewed for her dad when he competed there. There aren't that many people who ride FC 508, let alone in any one particular year. To see three, well, 2.5, Thrasher last week, the Yelm guy, and Muskox's daughter today was a bit mind boggling.
I grabbed some watermelon, grapes, turkey wrap, rice krispie squares, a banana, and some tortilla chips, refilled my water bottles and took off on the last 28 miles of STP.

I was riding well. The helpful wind kept the bikes moving in the low 20's, but when we came to a little incline the group would slow down.....well, except for me. I got good use from my bell and an "on your left", as I picked them off one by one.

Hwy 30 has two lanes in each direction, a painted center divider, and dedicated right turn lanes. I was surprised that at nearly every intersection people played "gutter bunny" and rode to the right of the right turn lane. When I pointed out the dangers of doing so (part of my ride ref duty) I was met with "they don't have turn signals on", "it's not safe to be out in traffic" and worse. My unvocalized comment would be "It is safer to ride with traffic than to be run over by it".

I came into Portland right near 7PM, not bad considering the delays of morning.

I picked up my 9th "1 Day Rider" cloth medallion.

...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today...............207...........0..............0..........0............207 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............484...............0..............0..........0...........484
July...............616................0...............0..........0..............616 Total...........3609.............0...............0..........0.............3609