Ride Like the Wind Bullseye

Today I finished phase 1 of the Seattle to Portland (STP) Classic bike ride. It was a really nice ride. We started at the University of Washington in Seattle and rode to Centralia College (also in Washington), a little over 100 miles. To everyone who told me this was a flat ride – you lied. The rolling hills were very beautiful and nothing like the mountains I am used to in UT. The ride was basically a pure incline, sometimes it was steep and sometimes it was very slight but I recognized that it was a constant uphill. Sometimes... yes sometimes... at the top of the hills we got to go down but not all the time. ;)

The ride had only a few big climbs. There was one hill around the 45 mile mark which was a mile long and was a 7% grade. That was the only MAJOR hill on the first day. I was pedaling and pedaling up that hill just hoping that I was near the top and then I look over to see a poster saying, “1/4 of the way!” with a stick figure biking up a hill and being at the very bottom. Lots of people started walking their bikes up the hill but I didn’t want that to be an option for me so I just kept pedaling and I made it! After that there was a slight incline and other hills but nothing quite as major. I figured if I could do that, I could do any of them. (Good attitude right? It worked.)

The area was so lush with tons of trees and lots of green. The streets were beautiful, the horizons were beautiful, it all was just so much to take in. I wished I could have a camera on the top of my helmet and just snap pictures with a hand held button to capture all the fantastic views. Although I couldn't I did tried to take pictures while I biked but wasn’t able to muster very many; however, I did capture these few shots:

(At the starting line; they cap this ride at 10,000 riders!)

(View of Seattle from the road.)

(Another view from the road)

(While biking, it typically always looked like this - lots of thick green.)

(Barbara and I waiting for the rest of the team at the 11 mile mark. Yep, just getting started.)

These next shots are photo's by Barbara's husband Mickey of us riding into the rest stops:






(Me pulling into the finish (behing the man/lady) in Centralia, WA)


10,000 bikers on the road made the course somewhat chaotic at times but if we ever got caught in a group of bikers we passed them so that we could avoid the wrecks and stress that come with them. It worked really well and the ride was calm and enjoyable. I really tried to take in as much of the landscape as possible.

Day 2 will resume tomorrow wish me luck!