Seattle To Portland

So it finally happened. The Seattle to Portland ride took place last Saturday the 11th. Sorry it has taken me this long to get a post up about it. So first off if you do not know much about the Seattle to Portland ride or STP for short, it is a gigantic organized ride by Group Health. It is 202 miles with stops every 15 miles or so for food/water. There are larger stops about every 50 miles as well.

Shigeo and I headed out from his house in Wallingford to the U Village Liquor store to meet up with Adam, John, and Jeff. We met up and headed to the start line around 4:30 along with a few thousand other people who chose to start at 4:30. That is correct I said thousands. The STP sells out at 10,000 people. 8,000 of which choose to do the ride in two days, and about 2,000 do it in one day.

I got a flat 4 miles in and lost Adam, John and Jeff who were going to be my pace setters so that I stayed around 20mph for the distance. Unfortunately, I was never able to catch back up with them, and to be honest, I didn't really want to waste my energy trying to. This was going to be the longest, hardest, most exhausting day I'd done and I didn't want to make it any more difficult.

So Shigeo and I set out, probably rolling around 18mph until we reached the 1st main stop about 35 miles in. We got some breakfast (bananas, clif bars, peanutbuttertortilla thing, and refueled our waters). With my flat we got here about 2 hours into our day, and left at about 7 a.m. From this point on I ended up riding by myself, for Shigeo wanted to keep a slower pace.

I would have liked to roll at a far slower pace, however I decided less time in the saddle is a good thing.... Mainly because I wasn't even riding my track bike. I had bent my steerer the night before at Future Tense being an idiot, and so I was boring Shigeo's Fuji Track pro. Unfortunately for me, I did not realize the seat was broken until we were out riding. So I ultimately rode 202 miles on a broken saddle. TALK ABOUT A PAIN IN THE ASS!!! LITERALLY.

I went a decent pace to the 100 mile mark in Centralia. Took a nice 30 min rest there and fueled up on chocolate milk and spaghetti. Then I was off again. So far riding a track bike hadn't hindered me at all, the largest uphill of the ride had been completed and I passed every road rider on it. I think it is easier to climb on track bikes sometimes if you just make yourself do it because you tend to ride at a faster pace making the climb time shorter.

From miles 100-140 I felt AMAZING. I was riding with a group of two road riders. I believe their names were Ian and _____. I am blanking on the second name. (They are brothers from Portland and CA. Two of the nicest guys that I have ever met. They had their 3rd brother driving to meet them every 40 miles with food and goodies.

One of the brothers has his own natural Chamois cream company called Betwixt [www.whereitcounts.com] He gave me a sample to try at about the mile 145 stop. Which would be the last place I saw these two.)

Anyway back to the story....
We had a wondeful pace line going at just over 22mph, until we reached the worst section of road for me on a track bike. It was hills up and down for 6 miles straight! This would have been fine however, my right knee began to inflame from using my legs to stay at a steady pace down the hill.

It got so bad that I almost gave up riding to begin walking to the next stop. I rode for about 1 mile with just one leg at like 8 mph. IT SUCKED.

I reached the mile 145 stop point and met back up with Ian and his brothers. They gave me food, and helped me out big time. I owe them a huge THANKS!

I gave Taylor a call because at this point I was about 85% sure that I would not be able to make it another mile. I spoke with him, and decided that I might as well try and go on. If I have to quit, I have to quit, but I'd be pissed if I didn't give it everything I had.

I powerered through the pain for the new 5 miles, going very slow and just making sure to ride with good position. After, miles 150 my knee began to feel a tad better, so I picked up the pace to about 15mph.

The last 50 miles of the STP are tough. Rough roads, exhaustion, and cars passing at high speeds were each a battle I had to face. I stopped at about every stop from there on in, making sure to not damage my knee seriously.

As I got to 192 miles (10 miles to go) I picked up a huge third wind, and passed well over 150 people in the last 10 miles. I wanted to finish strong and as I got into the city of Portland, I began to feel as if I was just riding around Seattle again. Flying down hills and around turns. It was great, however those last 10 miles seemed to last an eternity.

As I approached the final stretched I popped up into a wheelie, and the crowd at the finish line went into a frenzy. They loved it. Some may say this was a dick move, but whatever I just rode 202 miles on a brakeless track bike. I earned that wheelie and those cheers.

I left at 4:30 a.m. and arrived in Portland at 8:45 p.m. Not the fastest time by any means, but I am very proud of myself still. Shigeo ended up arriving at 11:45 p.m. Just in time to make it in "one day". We both could hardly walk afterward, but the sense of achievement that I felt made it soooo worth it.

I will post some pictures tomorrow or Sunday.