So proud of my niece's ...
Courtney, Brooke and I did 1/2 of the STP 2011.
We did the CTP.
We rode our bike 104 miles from Chehalis to Portland in 2 days.
We had a great time.
Started out Thursday night with us getting our bikes ready with
our #'s on them and what snacks we wanted to eat on the ride.
I picked the girls up after work on Friday to spend the weekend.
We had fun getting the driveway ready for our fake Start line.
Denny made us a stand for our sign and we got the sidewalk chalk out.
We asked Chris if he was going to get up and be at
the start line in the morning, he said
"sure if I can get a ride"
OMG... we had a heyday with that.
Denny said he would give him a piggy-back ride to the driveway.
Getting everyone up and ready to get on the road.
Denny cooking us breakfast and the girls getting their bikes upstairs.
I had shirts made for each of us.
Denny, Chris, Jason, Jake and my Mom were all there to see us off.
And off we go...
That way is Portland.. Lol
Yup after the Napavine hill the coats came off.
Right outside of Winlock a old guy driving a convertible went by us with his
top down on the car and flipping us off.
I guess he doesn't like the STP weekend.
We got done at the Vader stop and started down the road and the girls saw another big hill.
They asked "do we have to go up that hill"
I played dumb and said I don't remember from last year.
Of course we did.
When we got to the top we stopped to take a break. As we looked back we
saw the one day riders coming up the road
(one dayer's are ppl that do the whole STP -Seattle to Portland 207 miles in 1 day) .
Which my cousin Craig and his buddy Jerry did this year.
They kicked butt....
They rode with me last year, but in 2 days.
I told the girls watch how fast these guys come up the hill.
As they were going by I said "great job guys"
One of the guys said Thanks, and told us
"Great job Angel's"
The girls got a kick out of that.
We got to Longview and decided to stop for the day,
because we would have had to cross the
Longview bridge without a motorcycle escort to stop traffic while we went across it.
Denny came and got us.
Got home to an awesome dinner that Denny made for us.
Oh yea and total bike brain.
The STP route goes right past our house.
Day 2
Starting out with the Longview bridge. The escort started at 8am so
Denny had us down there by 7:45am.
We desided to go across without the escort because bikers were
already going over it and traffic was really light. Again it scared the crap out of me.
I tried to not let the girls know I was scared before but they knew
I was on my way down the other side of it,
because they got across way faster then I did as you can see.
Look close the girls are in the grass waiting for me.
I hate going down hill.
We are now in Oregon
Me calling Denny to let him know we were in St. Helen's.
That would give everyone enough time to get to the finish line before us.
When ever you pass someone you say to them "on your left",
so for 2 days now all we had been hearing was "on you left".
Brooke had said it to people a couple of time;s but Courtney hadn't.
Well she got her chance.........
"on your left"
Right on Courtney, you rock!
It is always cool when people are on the route cheering you on.
We got a lot of compliments on our matching shirts.
St. Johns bridge here we come.
The route last year didn't go this way so I thought this was way cool.
The road up to it was really steep.
Courtney did a great job going up it.
Of course Brooke did beat us to the top and had to wait for us.
Yes, we are in Portland.
We had to stop and wait for our support team to get to the finish line.
We rode faster then they thought we would.
So we stood on a sidewalk and watched other riders go by.
Now it was our turn to finish.
Our support team was
Denny, Chris, Sami, grandma Linda,
uncle Gail, Jason, Kim. Jake,
grandma Helen & grandpa Phil.
We had to stop again right outside the finish line.
Yes, I cried again going across.
Courtney thought I was sad earlier when she was going up a hill and
I was cheering her on from behind her and I started crying because I was so proud of her.
Sami made everyone shirt's like she did last year.
They are so cute.
Of course I had to hit the beer garden.
The girls were a little hungry.
Portland is the City of Roses.
Ready to head home.
You can still see bikers riding over the freeway.
What a beautiful day it was.
Jake rode with us on the way home.
He rode with Sami and Chris on the way down that morning.
Sami said Jake was really quiet in the back seat and asked him what he was doing and he told her
"I'm trying to find peace"
Well I guess he found it with us.
Again another great STP ride.
So glad I got to do it with my neice's, I'm so proud of them and this is something
they can brag about.
Not many people can say they rode a bicycle from Washington to Oregon.
I want to thank Denny for all the hard work he did to help us girls have a wonderful weekend.
Love you!!!
All the food he cooked and driving he did and trying to teach me how to change a flat tire.
Ya I'm still not sure I could do it on my own.
Not sure if I'm going to ride the STP next year.
I guess only time will tell.
