Thursday, July 30, 2009

Two down, two to go

Meghan and husband Dennis
It has been a hectic month. At the end of June, daughter Andrea made me a grandpa. Mid July, Kelsey and I rode STP. At the end of July, daughter Meghan got married. The wedding was in Bellingham, so planning took on a new dimension. Meghan's husband is from a very large family, so the size of the wedding and reception was much bigger than initially anticipated. We had over 320 affirmative responses to the invitations sent out. The wedding went very well and the bride was lovely. Everyone had a very good time at the reception. Both Dalia and I had family in town from Kansas for the wedding. It was very hectic at our house, but fun. Although I am certainly glad to not be cooking for 25 any more. During the time family was in town, we managed to also fit in a hike up Pilchuck to the lookout, a hike to the Big 4 Ice Caves, a driving tour to Diablo Dam and Ross Lake, a ferry ride to Friday Harbor, and trips to downtown Seattle. Not everyone went to all these destinations, but you get the idea.

Larisa, Kelsey, and cousin Alex from Spain

Sunday, July 12, 2009

We Made It!



I have a tough daughter. In spite of her minimal training and lack of seat time going in, Kelsey hung tough and rode the full distance from Seattle to Portland in one day. She also ended up doing less mileage drafting behind me than she needed to. For whatever reason, she rarely rode close enough behind me to really benefit from the draft. She also demonstrated that she can climb hills like a maniac.
We left Seattle a little after 5:00 AM and arrived at the finish line at 7:38 PM. According to my bike computer, we averaged 16.6 mph while we were riding. At mile 84, I questioned whether she would be able to make the distance, but she kept things together, regrouped and finished strong. Kelsey commented during the ride that it was the hardest thing she had ever done, but this is a girl who had been training for 5k and 10k distances, not going for hours on end. If she decides to try trail ultras in the future, she may find her niche. In any case, I got to spend some inciteful time with one of my daughters.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

STP or bust

Well, in spite of a serious lack of training, I will be attempting to ride STP in one day again. This year I am joined in the foolishness by my 19 year-old daughter Kelsey. The only consolation I have is that she is more undertrained than I am for riding 204 miles. Unfortunately, she is 19 and will recover much more quickly than I. Since she made it home from CWU in late June, we have done a couple of 25 to 30 mile rides, one spin class, a 44 mile ride, and a 73 mile ride together. Wish us luck for Saturday.