July brings more Biking Firsts!

Our big highlight of the month was the Seattle to Portland Bike ride, aka STP in which 10,000 riders sign up for every year. Lenore and Carole, from Florida, had never heard of the event, so I told them they just "had to do it", not really beleiving they would actually come to Seattle. They sure surprised me! Lenore e-mailed me next day to say that she and Carole had made plane reservations and were coming to ride with me! STP is a 200 mile supported bike ride in which riders can choose to do in one or two days. Of course,Mike has done it (hasn't he done just about everything?) in one day 3 times when he and Pattie were together, years ago. He had no desire to go it again, so I asked nicely if he would support us 3 ladies over the two days. His invaluable support included driving us to the start very early Saturday morning (yeah, like it was still dark, left the house 4:30 am). Then he set up our tents 1/2 way at Chehalis which we appreciated dearly after being on the road riding for 7-8 hours! The first day was a beautiful, sunny, not typical Seattle day with temperatures in the 80's. We hummed along for about 50 miles when Lenore got a flat...how many ladies does it take to change a flat? Answer: precisely 3, in about 40 minutes and two attempts! That afternoon,having arrived at the midway point around 3:00 pm, we celebrated at the beer garden and ate a big juicy cheeseburger and fries. We were starving even though we had eaten constantly throughout the day. Then it was off to bed in our cozy tents. Next morning we were anxious to take off, and got going around 6 am. This day was your more typical Seattle weather with rain predicted. We were praying the rain would hold off, but our luck didn't hold out. Not more than 10 miles into the ride it started to rain along with thunder and lighting. It was quite scary and I kept wondering if we should stop and take cover. All the riders kept pedaling so I kept going as well, hoping for the best. Eventually the thunder and lightening stopped, but it was raining on and off so that we were all wet and cold throughout the day. With only 37 miles to go, my legs suddenly felt like jello and I slowed down from 16-18 mph to 12mph. I was bonking! Lenore and Carole were out of sight at this point, and I almost panicked thinking I was going to have to call Mike to come get me. It would have been so disappointing not to finish. I soon spotted a mini-mart, quickly gobbled down a big Snickers bar and drank a good strong cup of coffee. That did the trick..I hit the road and was pedaling strong again. It was a good lesson learned for Ironman. I connected with the ladies at the next rest stop, and although everone was tired, we remained in good spirits because no matter what, this was FUN! After yet another 7-8 hours we cruised on in to Portland, Mike waiting for us at the finish line. Then there was more beer, and dinner at Red Robin. We checked into a motel for a good night's sleep..it felt so good to get a hot shower and sleep in a bed! I still have to pinch myself to realize that I really did it! As these milestones mount up, I am feeling more and more confident that I can indeed do that Ironman.