I did it... kinda

[gfish]

For years, doing STP has been a goal of mine. (For those not from the area, STP is an annual bike ride of about 8,000 people from Seattle to Portland. 200 miles over one or two days, depending on your sanity level.)

So I finally did it. Half of it. 102 miles to Centralia, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning. I failed to manage my blood sugar properly over the final 14 miles and ended up shaky and rubber-legged. Slap a black triage tag on me and stick me in the fridge. I'm dead.

I'm not a great cyclist. I don't really have the build for it, and I have trouble finding time for training. I'm more of a hardcore urban cyclist than a long distance recreationalist. Commutes of a couple miles, in mostly normal clothing, not obsessing at all over weight, actively fighting motorists the entire way. Raar, bike pirate!

STP is the opposite of all this. Lots of families. Everyone going out of their way to follow traffic laws. People using hand signals despite being surrounded by hundreds of people following the exact same route. (Note: I do signal, if there is traffic around that needs warning. But I don't make a solid rule of it because your left hand is where all your braking power is. There are plenty of situations where signaling puts you in more danger than not.) I actually saw multiple people using the brake/slow down signal. I'm pretty sure I've never seen that used in real life before. Weirdness.

So, there, a very partial success. But I've been meaning do this for at least 5 years, so getting any done at all is great. I've never done a century before -- hell, the farthest I've ever biked before was maybe 35 miles. Having stamina is pretty cool. I'm not sure I'd actually call myself in shape yet, but I'm closer than I've ever been before.

The real lesson: I need a recumbent. Of all the aches and pains, only tired legs/sore knees would remain using a recumbent. I'm not sure I could stand commuting so low to the ground, but for a ride like this they Just Make Sense.

Comments

[tylik.livejournal.com]

I have a recumbent -- got it because the neck injury wouldn't let me commute anymore on my beloved stumpy, and it's still my primary bike, though I suspect I can ride an upright as long as I don't push things too much.

Mine's a Vision, and it has the two great advantages of being fairly high, and hence as visable in traffice as an upright, and fitting on a standard metro bike rack (a big advantage, as I've traditionally supplemented my biking with bussing -- you know where we live). It's a short wheel base, so it has pretty squirrelly steering, but one learns to love it... if you ever want to stop by and play with it, just drop me a line.

(I say this in part because I had a heck of a time finding recumbents to play with when I was on the market.)

[mrlogic.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the accomplishment!

[9thmoon.livejournal.com]

That's fantastic. Congratulations!