Seattle to Portland 2015, 204 miles, one day at 20 mph!

My riding friends in Snohomish were training up for riding STP in one day and they had already bought bibs and made shuttle arrangements. We had a group of 6 or 7 very strong riders to paceline together and a Ford Excursion with a 3rd party driving available to shuttle 6 bikes and 6 riders back home. The whole ride was planned out with a red carpet laid out for me so I figured it was time to make it happen! I bought my a number second hand off someone on Criegslist 3 days before the big ride and I was set to go.

One of the biggest challenges of the ride was getting to the 4:45 am start. I slept over at my friend Chads house who was also riding to make the morning faster and less stressfull. 

Anticipation building, 4:40 am!

The start was really crazy. Lots of inexperienced riders bunched up and riding close together with low lighting and lots of city road features to avoid including mini roundabouts and curbed medians. The one close call I had was for an old guy trying to point out an obstruction and in doing so cutting a corner to tight and squeezing out the rider in front of me. Mind your front wheel, first and foremost!

We quickly settled into a paceline of our group plus some stray riders totaling about 20 or so in all. We were cooking along around 24 mph after the first little hill climb. We didn't make any of the stops durring the first 50 miles to get ahead of the masses. 10,000 riders on one rout is a lot! One of our crew got a flat and I was too concerned about safety and time to pull off so I just kept goining with one other guy from our crew I had never met. We rode through to the 50 mile mark which was the Air Force base and it was obvious we were the first to arrive. I waited for 15 minutes for my crew but they did not arrive so I continued on with some other strong riders.

I didn't make this photo op, but this was the crew. 

At about 75 miles I picked up a tack on a rural stretch of road which someone went to the trouble of scattering thumb tacks over several miles in hopes of spoiling our fun. As a result I lost the paceline I was on to repair my flat. Now I was solo. 

I was pushing hard to keep my average over 20 mph and then I missed a turn. I got 3 miles off course before I ralized I had missed a turn. I backtracked to find a course marshal at an intersection but no markings at all. He wasn't there 30 minuted prior..

I continued on solo to the rest stop at 87 miles in and took in serious calories. I was starting to feel a bit under the weather.. Which is funny because after that, it started raining for the first time in about a month! 

This picture was taken at about 90 miles in. I was feeling a bit cold, saturated, and alone at that point. Boo. 

I took another solid feed at the 100 mile mark and hung out for about 30 minutes. I had completed the first 100 in just over 5 hours but at this point the ride hadn't been all that much fun.  I was wet, cold, and getting a tired.  I was hopping it would take a turn.. And it did! As I was rolling out, Chad and the crew were rolling in (got a text on my phone) so I turned back and waited for they guys to re-fuel before we continued on. 

From that point on we road in a solid well matched group rotating though the paceline like clockwork. Solid riding at a fast pace, and the weather improved to be quite pleasant. We rode fast and stopped often. 

The last part of the ride in Oregon along the Columbia River was scenic but heavily traveled. 

The bridge, and Portland! What a sight! We all felt quite strong and snappy, despite the previous 190 hard miles. No ride is complete without a sprint finish! 

Ride done in about 13.5 hours including stops. Not bad considering my previous distance record was 150 miles in 12 hours. What a great ride and a great accomplishment for us all.

Thanks Chad and company for making this ride possible!