Hi again Sue,
Great ride...all went well...terrific weather to start...cloud cover, good temps...great pace for 1st century to Centralia...made great time till headwinds beyond Centralia and Chehalis...even during rollers around Napavine, Winlock area. Got to the rest stop near the Longview bridge, about 50 miles out from Portland and heard that the winds had changed on bridge to headwinds too. They don't hold traffic for 1-day riders and there's contruction, steel plates on the bridge, so we had to pick our way along the right as traffic inched up the bridge grade too, buffeted by winds. Oh well, it all adds to the overall experience, right?! At about 40 miles out, the skies blackened then opened up and it just dumped on us - hail too - for about 10 miles, so that there were lots of riders cleaning off in St Helen's for the final 30 into the finish. I felt good the whole ride; must've trained and eaten right as I had no mishaps, aches, pains during or since. Got in by 7, had a shower and massage, then enjoyed dinner and a great sleep before heading over to the finish line yesterday.
My son came down to get me and we headed back towards Seattle by about 2, so I didn't get to see any of the 3 sets of 2-day folks that I was watching for but heard that they all were doing ok.
Overall, I'm mucho satisfied with meeting my ride goals despite the winds/weather thrown in. I may've gotten STP out of my system - HA! we'll see! I think 5 times is a nice neat number and anyway, my older son called me after to congratulate me; he also said he has friends who ride it and he mentioned sheepishly to them that he never has, but added proudly that his Mom does it in 1 day. He said that quieted the 20-something guys very quickly!
That ride you mentioned from Carnation north to Snohomish and Lake Stevens is a good one! Did you enjoy it? You can add on a loop north of Lake Stevens too, to go up to Arlington and back down on the east side of Lake Roessiger...very pretty and fun and it drops into Monroe so you can head back down the valley to Carnation again. Good pie place in Snohomish too!
Heading out for an easy spin this afternoon with a guy who didn't train enough to do STP...an out and back 25 miles on the trail to the brewery; big change from Saturday's ride!
Also, I got a shirt at the finish line festival from an Oregon winery that's perfect; it says "will bike for wine" on back!
Mary