Wow~ this weekend was awesome STP weekend!! The 206 miles to portland where really fun and amazing. Maris actually finished it in style almost doubling her bicycling lifetime career miles!! The first leg until seward park was a little sketchy as Maris constantly complained about her arms and i was a little worried if we can make it! But the fast stretch from Seward park to kent convinced me about athletic abilities of Ms. first time biker on a brand new unridden K2 whirlwind! We took all the designated stops and tried to sample the un-impressive STP food. I almost wished i packed some stuff but unfortunately the food on the ride was so good in previous years that i didnt feel like carrying weight. This year was a disappointment not only in terms of quality but also the limited food!
After meeting our whole group of Wheels of Change riders at the REI stop we continued and kept meeting our fellow fund-raisers until Centralia - the official midpoint. It was amazing to see such a hugh group ride great and keep a good pace!
The 7 miles from Centralia to our camp site in Chehalis were quick. After arriving there at 7 we found that we had less than an hour to get food and take a shower so without ado we got on it! Too bad that we didnt have enough time to enjoy the swimming pool of this amazing town. At about 9pm we set up out tents and then pulled our mats out to enjoy the dawn lying on the grass it felt amazing!!
Next morning we started our ride to Portland at about 7:00am (even though the original plan was 6am ;),...). We kept a very decent pace and my about 10:30am we were at the lunch stop and met up with other riders from our group. Unfortunately one of the riders Arvind had to stop due to knee pain but man! he was a tough guy to make it all the way to 145th mile, even though he was not feeling that great!
After almost an hour+ lunch stop and a little treatment to Maris' hurting knee we scurried to get to the Lewis Clark bridge so that we can enter Oregan! and if nothing else just make a ride from Seattle to Oregan!! The passage over the bridge was a little spoky as my metal water bottle came off and almost hit a rider on a recliner. The dude was really mad at me, i feel sorry especially since we met up with this guy on and off on the ride and he kept cheering us up as well as our fundraising cause! Well i did talk to him at finish line and apologize - stupid me i bought a useless metal water bottle...
After the food stop at St. Helens Maris' biking confidence and almost exponentially increased and we entered the finish line almost keeping up a constant 20mph pace in around 2 hours! It was really awesome to see almost all of the team to enter the finishe line with strength and compassion for the cause.
Now its time for doing more of Change!, please contribute your little towards Asha's cause and support our ride.
Monday, July 16, 2007
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