Originally Posted by
lonesomesteve
A year ago this time I wasn't really a cyclist. I rode a little bit now and then, but anything over 20 miles was a "long ride" for me. Then in mid February '08 I decided to start training for the STP (Seattle to Portland) Double Century. On May 17th I rode my first century. It was just a solo training ride, from my house in Seattle up to Arlington, WA and back again. I remember getting home totally exhausted, barely able to make it up the front porch steps. At that point I wasn't thinking about having completed a century as much as I was thinking that I'd have to be able to ride twice that distance in another two months. The idea seemed completely impossible. But, two months later I completed the STP (about 12 hours, a little over 10 hours on the bike) and by the end of the year I had completed five more centuries.
Not even a year into my riding career now, I'm completely hooked. I'm shooting for a century a month this year (one down, eleven to go), 1000km per month (one down, eleven to go), and a Super Randonneur series. Who knows? Maybe even PBP in 2011.
Thats what I'm hoping to do this year. I just started training for the STP, 26 mi last Saturday and it felt like 50. I'm 48 and haven't ridden any road since the early 80's. 35 mi round trip commutes was the norm. I raced BMX for 10 years with a lot of injuries, the last put me out of the sport. But I reached all the goals I set out to do, no regrets. So 2 years later and a sedate lifestyle, and I've been dying to get back on a bike. Bought a Cervelo Soloist team last Oct and heard about the STP. It's now my goal to complete it in two days. Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated...Thanks!