Vacation

Let me describe my typical day while I have been on vacation - wake up early, watch the TdF, eat some breakfast, ride for a few hours, and then go sight seeing or other family activities. Perfect! What made it even better was having the Hogg here to hang with and to do all these things with - nice!

We put in 100 miles before we even hit the road on Saturday for the STP's 204. Some of the week's highlights include getting up Bald Peak in record time, just over 37 minutes, riding new local routes, and having a King Dog.

The STP started early for us as we rolled out of bed at 4 AM and onto the road by 4:30 AM to get to the start line to meet with the rest of the Newberg riders. At about 4:50 AM we rolled across the start line at the University of Washington. It was a beautiful start to the ride, clear skies, 60 degree weather, around Lake Washington with the sun hitting the peaks of Mt. Rainier. It was breath-taking. While enjoying the ride, we were doing some work with the group from Newberg, At one point, while talking about Scouts, two of us mislead about 200 riders. Luckily, a few noticed and quickly got us back on track. We pounded out the first 100 in six hours total time. The second 100 took a bit longer but we got into Portland a little after 6 PM. This was the fastest in total time that I had ever ridden the STP. I had bettered my ride time by only 20 minutes but the impact of all the training rides is that I did not suffer like I had previously. So many times I was thankful for all of the riding I had been able to do prior to the STP. I didn't get the hollow leg feeling or the total body ache of previous rides. This was very encouraging. We had a plan and we worked the plan to perfection.

In retrospect, we could have been a bit faster on total time. We spent some extra time at a few of the rest stops that we could have cut down. I figure we could have been at least an hour sooner if not more. Now we have the recipe, next year means we can only make it faster than this year.

I appreciate all the help and support of my family and friends that they gave before/during/after the ride. I could not have done it without you. Thanks!! A special thanks to the Hogg and his family for hanging with us - it was great!

All told for the week - 304+ miles, over 400 ridden with the Hogg.