STP 2009 Recap

I am struggling on where to start. This year's edition of the STP was so satifying on many levels. Several things were different that made the ride sweeter than usual - the day before with Christine, the extreme knee pain the few days before the ride, the many miles before the ride in preparation, almost hitting my total time goal, and reaching a goal that I had set long ago and never achieved - only a pull by JD could have made it better. Let me explain.

On Monday, I woke up barely able to walk. My left knee was extremely tender and tight. I had trouble walking down stairs and putting any weight on my knee. Being a typical male, I convinced myself it was better not to go see a doctor so I spit on my hands, grabbed a handful of dirt, and rubbed it on my knee and decided it was good enough first aid. All I needed was time. Tuesday was only marginally better but at least I started to ice the knee and take some motrin. Wednesday was better and I even got in a short ride that seemed to help. Thursday was almost back to normal and I felt good on the bike Thursday night. I was able to get both my body and my mind back and all it took was a bit of spit, dirt, and time.

Friday was a nice slow day. I got up early (4:30 AM) to take Cassie to the pool for a swim meet trip to Moses Lake, WA. I got home by 5 AM to see the start of stage 7, up the Arcalis. It was so exciting I feel asleep until the decisive climb as was able to see all of the excitement and attacks. We left around 10 AM, just the C and I heading towards Seattle. About Vancouver, I realized that I had left my registration packet with numbers at home. Luckily the C thinks fast and reminded me that friends were coming up and to give them a call. Bingo, Craig was able to walk the packet down the street and we saved two hours of driving and a potentially day changing event. We stopped for lunch just South of Tacoma, got to the hotel in Seattle, and unloaded. We hung out in the room for a little bit, deciding what the rest of the day was going to look like. We got our bearings and a list of places to go within walking distance of the hotel. We spent the next few hours just wandering around the U district. We found this great little Italian restaurant and said a nice dinner. We got back to the hotel and relaxed. I got in bed around 8 PM - a record for the night before the STP for me. To spend a day just hanging out with the one you love the most - priceless.

The morning of the ride started about 3:45 AM with the usual bagel, yogurt, and banana. At a little bit before the ride start, I met up with Mark and Ben and we headed out with the first group. The first ten miles was the usual - tense, avoiding crashes, rough roads, but the beautiful view of Lake Washington as the sun comes up. The first 100 miles was fast. We got on a few pacelines, led out a few pacelines, and rolled into Centralia in less than 5 hours (4 hrs 51 minutes was the actual time). In looking at the GPS data, all the ten mile splits after the first 10 miles were above 20 MPH. I have talked about doing a century in less than 5 hours and I finally did it with the help of quite a few other people.

The second century was little more difficult. We picked up a head wind the last 85 miles or so that made the going touch. I probably overexerted myself the first 100 and paid for it on the second. We had a SAG that was a big help. We'd call and say what we needed, a few miles up the road there they were waiting for us. No big rest stop to go into and wade through the other riders. We'd eat, refill, and go - wasting little time getting back onto the road. The Brady's were a big help on the road and I appreciated it greatly. The coke at mile 152 was huge. The last 30 miles into Portland was tough. Ben had rode on. He has a will like few people I know. Mark and I slugged it out together the final 30, taking turns at the front, pulling each other home. As we went over the 200 mile mark, I thanked him for the help. I could not have done it alone. We hit the line 12 hours and 5 minutes after we started, missing the mark by 5 minutes. It's all good. It was 75 minutes better than last year and my best STP finishing time yet - awesome and incredible. We had a plan and worked the plan - the prep, the SAG, the ride. Granted, there are always ways to improve and we will but this was the best for me yet.

Thanks to all who helped with this year's STP - it was memorable. Put it on your calendar's for next year's edition - July 10, 2010 (I believe).