RSVP of course. :D Although I am going to need to skip that too this year. :(

The thread-lock on the screw holding the computer mount to my bike wore off, and there was a few roads that were so rough, the darn computer almost fell off my bike. I tightened it once with Gonesh9's multi-tool, but soon came loose again, so off it came. Anyway, it still recorded, even though it was in my jersey pocket. I honestly can't recall the total miles it said (something over 200), but the avg was like 19.7mph.

The weather was great for the one day ride. It's more than twice as long as I've ever done before, which was a good thing.

Not sleeping much the two night beforehand (work, wrenching a friend's bike) were not such good things. Nearing Lexington, I was ready to call it quits. I was exhausted, getting strange shakes, and affecting a wicked 1000yd stare. Food, water, and power nap got me going again. My friend Z pulling the last 60mi (19-20) got me there.

This was my first STP, and while I liked the people and experience, the course left something to be desired. There are all sorts of gorgeous routes/rides in WA. Why was so much of the course so blech? (probably because it's about as flat and safe as they can come up with).

BTW,

How does RSVP compare to STP?

Yeah. That's pretty much it. They also want to be able to route it through towns that will help support the ride.

WHICH JERSEY PATRIOT/
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION SO I CAN SLEEP TONIGHT MAN....

Yeah and someone somewhere must have taken pictures! Let's see 'em!

You must have missed it because yo were so anxious. You just can't wait to see what the OCP is doing! :D

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that I've actually ridden it although I've been on many parts of the route on my own. I keep missing it either because of prior engagements or I forget to sign up and when I do go to signup they're already at the cutoff (1,000 rider limit). At anyrate, the route is hillier. There's less support but the scenery is prettier.

I wanted to thank WERE ON A ROAD TO NO WHERE/Beth for keeping me updated on the tour while we were out there. RSVP ride when and where is that khuon?
Velocity

RSVP = Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party

It's next month. I'm not sure if they've hit the cutoff yet or not.

http://www.cascade.org/EandR/rsvp/im...ation_day1.jpghttp://www.cascade.org/EandR/rsvp/im...ation_day2.jpg

The route through the north Skagit Valley and up Chuckanut Dr. is really pretty.

My wife got a great picture of 55/Rad and Patriot at the finish.

That's a great OCP moment. Looks like someone's asking for an autograph even. :D

(Yes, I know they're just handing out finisher tags)

HIP, calm down there fella. I answered right after your post on the first page. I think you had too much joe this morning. :D

BTW, I am the scruffy guy right behind Rad in the photo. I am wearing my blue cycling jacket over my jersey. I had removed it for a good portion of the first half, but after 120mi, I started getting a few chills when the calorie count took a foothold on my body, so I put it back on.

Believe me, Patriot defended his OCP honor royally. The perfect mix of light blue/grey/black throughout. He even scored high OCP points when he stopped to fill up with some sports drink and even it happened to be a perfectly matching blue.

Dude, that was pure chance, since I couldn't tell what was in the Gatorade bucket. The OCP Gods were with me on that one. :D

Ok, here’s my report….

Friday was a frantic, frustrating day with the all-day rain and the forecast for more on Saturday butting heads directly with the logistics of transporting 5 people and their bikes to Seattle. Rental car issues, trailer issues, drop-off times, packet pickups, a late start and seriously terrible traffic made for a far-less-than-relaxing journey.

But we eventually made it, only to find out one of the hotel rooms wasn’t confirmed and that all 5 of us had to crash in one room. Once we got everything settled and all the rental units returned, we finally set out for our evening meal. It was 10pm at this time and to our luck, a fairly nice pasta joint was still open around the corner from the hotel. We feasted and relaxed – MrBallistic, Gonesh9, myself and my 2 friends from California – Keith and Sara. We returned to the hotel, got organized for the next morning and crashed around midnight.

At 3am, headed to IHOP for breakfast, then met up with FormulaBen and BarleyRocket at 4:30. The journey to the start line was nothing less than interesting as we encountered the line of cars heading into the event on the downhill slope of 45th in the U-district. Here, we got a bit splintered and actually lost MrBallistic for a short while. We circled over to Edmundsen Pavilion at just before 5am and searched quickly for other forum members. If you were there and we missed you, I am sorry.

At the start line, we met up with Patriot and set off right around 5:15.

From there, the day turned fantastic. The weather was cool, overcast and dry. We got about 6 or 8 miles out and a fast group passed us. We hopped on and started to hammer the pedals. The group at different times reached 50-60 riders and easily moved along at 23-25 mph. We took a break at the 25-mile mark, regrouped and headed out again. At the 50-mile break, our average was 19.3 and everybody was psyched at how fast they could go in a big pack.

When we left the 50-mile rest stop, our group got splintered at a traffic light. Keith and I made the light and were ready to wait for the rest of the gang when a tandem we’d been pacing earlier went streaking by. We hopped on, figuring we’d catch the rest of the group down the road.

At the 100 mile rest, everybody regrouped for a long break and compared notes. Completion times ranged from 4:48 to 4:55 with everybody closely matched. Needless to say, everybody was excited at the pace they’d set.

The second 100 miles were more of a team effort as there were no faster groups to latch onto. We took a more steady approach to the pace and worked really well together. Our breaks got longer but our effort when actually riding never really waned.

In the end, the net time was right at 10 hours and the average was 20+ for the five of us, but we did take over 14 hours to complete the ride with the long breaks. The finish was fun and everybody was jazzed at our accomplishments.

Special notes worth mentioning:

Gonesh9 – What can I say? He did the entire ride on his fixie and was definitely one of the strongest riders I saw on the day. The image of him unclipping both his pedals while motoring down a grade at 30 mph – just so he could give his legs a short rest was amazing. Getting back into the pedals while the cranks were still spinning was equally amazing. Strong to the end, this guy embodies the cycling spirit to it’s fullest.

MrBallistic – for the most part, he did the ride on his own – which he prefers. While his time may not have been as fast, he kept meeting up at the rest sops and ended up finishing with all of us. Kudos to him for pounding it out and breaking the wind all by himself, keeping to a great time and finishing. I couldn’t have done this ride the way he did it.

FormulaBen – A week before the ride, he sends me a PM telling me he’s doing it in 2 days – that there is no way he can do it in one, let alone at the pace we wanted to set. I coaxed him into at least trying and in the end, the man just pounded the miles. He not only kept up but he did his fair share of pulling as well and was strong to the end. Congratulations to him.

Patriot – The “Prez” contacted me many months ago and targeted this ride as a goal to be achieved. We had exchanged many PM’s discussing training and preparation and while he doesn’t get the opportunity to do group rides as much as he’d like, he too hammered it out with a combination of strength and heart. I have a fantastic picture of him “posing” that I’ll post when I get a chance. Props to the head OCP for making it happen for himself.

Barleyrocket – Gotta hand to this big guy – he hung on and pounded for the first 100 like there was no tomorrow. Although he broke the ride up into 2 days, I’m sure that he set personal bests for a century and hopefully enjoyed the journey. I was a bit surprised he rode the steel Bianchi as opposed to the carbon Cervelo, but nonetheless, he was a motoring fool.

Keith – This guy is very old friend of mine from So. Cal. who called me out of the blue 6 months ago and said he was getting into cycling and wanted to target the STP in one day as a goal. I didn’t know what to expect from him as a rider but after 200+ miles, I can say this: Keith is one of the strongest, most technically adept riders I’ve ever ridden with. Amazingly fast and powerful – all the more so given he’s only been riding road bikes for a few months. I’m gonna have to think long and hard about riding with him again because I can imagine he will be dropping me very quickly. Hopefully, we will see him as a forum member here soon but I don’t really know - he is focused more on rides and riding than spending time with us freaks.

Sara – Keith’s wife – she too, just got into cycling a few months ago and while she didn’t do the whole ride in one day, she did do the first 100 in 5.5 hours and completed 135 miles on day 1. She hung with the big group for long stretches and really showed a lot of promise and heart. I can see her getting into racing in the future.

General – I didn’t see as many club teams, tandems, MTB’s or kids on this years ride. I did pass one kid 8 times - he was the tortoise while we were the hare – and by the 6th time, I had to pull alongside and introduce myself. The food surprisingly sucked but the halfway stop in Centralia was setup nice.

All in all, another great STP experience. – thanks to everyone for making it so.

55/Rad

OK, here is a picture of some of the group. L-R:

Patriot (with his beautiful Trinity)
Keith, a friend of Rad's riding a De Rosa
Me and my Felt F2c
Gonesh9 with his Surly fixed gear
55/Rad with his Trek.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/7...nish7me.th.jpg

Whoa, RAD, sporting your Bruin pride! Wish I could have joined you guys. Sounds like it was a great day and a good time.

even better - i found him in someone else's gallery:
http://tera.kuren.org/gallery/view_p...050709063500_G

he's in the blue on the right.

similarly, here's another shot from the same group:
http://tera.kuren.org/gallery/view_p...050709063534_G

we're all in the bottom right side of the photo (rad's bending over, to hide his face i'd guess)

t

So what was the most common Posecycle? I only ask because (I swear) Treks are not that common out here. I see more Bianchis and LeMonds.

we had to check our bikes at the hotel. at 4, when i got mine outta hock, i was asked what kind of bike it was. 'a green badgeless one,' i replied. 'thank god it's not another blue trek,' she mumbled as she looked over the sea of bikes.

so, i guess that the out of towners liked them some blue treks.

Wow, Rad looks like a gorilla in that photo. And though I am tall and skinny, I am only a couple inches taller, and outweigh him by about 15#. Weird. I look like a total dork in that photo. BAN IT FROM ANY OCP RECORDS PLEASE!!!

AAAUUUGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;)

Thats the gang I know nice mugs dudes! Don't they just give you a warm and fuzzy feeling people? Any of you doing the summit to surf at the end of the month?
Velocity

As only the OCP President Patriot could say....
He looks stunning, yet he's not satisfied.

That's why he's the prez.

You guys rock.
I'm glad I wasn't there to hold you back...(not that you would have waited for me)
That many miles averaging over 20 mph while on STP-slicked roads....amazing.