Corrie,

I didn't know this was supposed to be a "no-extra-mile" weekend. I was over on the west side doing the Seattle to Portland ride. The weather was perfect...mild temperatures and cooperative winds. What a nice change! I left Seattle early Saturday morning and arrived in Portland that evening, 14 hours 49 minutes (and 206 miles) later.

I managed 16.2 mph for the first century, but dropped off somewhat in the second half to finish with an overall 15.5 mph. This was in part due to fatigue, which didn't really hit until about mile about 185, but also in part because of delays beyond my control...such as when I arrived in the little town of Napavine just in time for the start of their community parade, and the police forced me to dismount and walk my bike 2 miles through town as part of the parade (waving at the crowd was optional).

I suppose I can always use this incident as evidence supporting my decision to ride with street shoes and platform pedals.

John's having a good time on this ride to Kendrick a couple years ago.

One thing for sure, the relatively level route, the accommodating wind, and the mild weather all made this ride a piece of cake compared to "similar" rides around the Palouse. Earlier this summer I did a 132 mile solo training ride around the Palouse on the hottest day of the summer (98 degrees!), over a hilly course, with an ever-shifting headwind, and on brand new tar and gravel to boot, and that certainly seemed more difficult than this ride.

However, I also ended up doing the STP ride pretty much solo as well, since most of the riders at my pace were tight groups of much faster club riders who apparently needed longer and more frequent breaks than I did.

One group of riders, wearing matching jerseys and helmets and who had already raced passed me six times previously, gave me a thumbs up as they sped past for the 7th and final time 18 miles from the finish line, which I had to take as a compliment.

So, I guess the take home lesson is...all you hard-core Palouse riders can take heart in knowing that even a barely average rider from the Palouse can get noticed on the STP, and certainly not all centuries are created equal.

John

Congratulations, John.