Seattle to Portland

{July 9-10}

The STP was such an amazing experience. Definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done! The ride was split over 2 days. 100 miles each. Except for the hardcore people that do it all in one day. (Did I say hardcore? I meant crazy!) The ride started at the University of Washington. The first 10 or so miles were right along Lake Washington. The weather was a perfect 70 degrees and the views of Mount Rainier were a-ma-zing! I was loving every second of it. We stopped in Kent at the 25 mile mark to get some food, refill our water, and reapply our sunscreen. After that it was pretty flat road for the next 15 miles, that is until we got to the Puyallup hill. That thing was a beast! I made it up though, and from there it was smooth sailing to the lunch stop at mile 50. We got our food and laid out on the lawn enjoying the sunshine, and the much needed break from moving our legs. Only 50 more miles and we were done for the day. The last half wasn't that bad. I had a little less energy but was still feeling pretty good.

We made it into Centralia at around 4:00pm. Erich met us there with all our camping gear and we set up camp out on the grass at the college. It was kind of cool to see hundreds of tents set up all along the streets. They were selling showers for $5 dollars inside the school so we headed over there. It might seem like a lot for a shower, but it was worth every penny. It felt sooo good after that long and sweaty day! After that we just kind of hung out. They had live music and tons of food. It was definitely an early night though, we had another long day ahead of us.

We woke up early that next morning and headed over to Denny's for breakfast. Then we started on our way. The second day was a HUGE difference from the first. It was literally hill, after hill, after hill. It was insane! By mile 50 I was like okay, this is just getting ridiculous! There was one hill that was at least, and I'm not exaggerating, at LEAST 15 miles long. Me and Bethany would just crack up after every turn because it was still going upward. We thought it was never going to end! It was a pretty hard day but it was so awesome crossing that finish line. It was such a cool feeling knowing that I did it! I biked 200 miles!

I love crossing things off my bucket list!

Getting the biked looked at before starting.

Me at the starting line. Like the nervous smile? :)

Riding along Lake Washington.

You can't see it that well in this picture but the view of Mount Rainier was AMAZING.

REI rest stop at mile 25. Disco party!

Lunch stop at mile 50. Right after the gigantic hill we'd been dreading all day.

This guy pulled his dog with him the whole ride. I'm pretty sure the dog got the better end of that deal. :)

We had to bike over this bridge as the traffic was flying past us. It was kinda scary! Here we were about 30 miles outside of Portland.

The bridge over to Portland. Only a few more miles to go!

As Charlie Sheen would say...WINNING!

Finally made it. Oh sweet joy!

Scott and Bethany made it too.

205.61 miles. Happy I did it, glad it's over. :)