Photo: ndanger

Miles ridden on the course: 202.25

Miles ridden to the starting line from home: 3.5

Number of registered riders: 10,000

Hours of sleep the night before the ride: 3.5

Miles ridden on day one: 136.7

Miles ridden on day one before I reached the outer limits of my sanity: 110

Miles of uphill distance: 30.87

Feet of altitude gained on hills: 1,951

Feature photo and photo above by ebis50.

Months spent training for ride: 6

Mileage of my longest ride before STP: 70

Knees injured during training: 1

Ibuprofen pills taken for knee pain over two days: 10

Ibuprofen pills taken for knee pain that actually helped: 0

Oldest rider on the course: 87

Youngest rider: 2 years, 4 months

Approximate number of people twice my age who passed me: 1,500

Number of states represented by registered riders: 46

Number of countries and territories represented: 7

Riders who have participated in 20 or more STP rides: 51

Number of STP rides I’ve participated in: 1

Number of riders seen on a unicycle: 1

Number or riders seen on a Razor Scooter: 1

Number of riders seen on a skateboard: 1

Number of men riding New Belgium cruiser bikes in flip flops: 4

Number of men riding New Belgium cruiser bikes in flip flops with 12-packs of Fat Tire strapped to their bike racks: 2

Photo by firepile.

Number of men seen wearing animal tails attached to their bike shorts: 2

Number of women seen wearing bunny ears on their helmets: 1

Number of volcanoes passed on the route: 3

Number of volcanoes visible on the route: 1.5

Rain showers ridden through: 2

Dead, smashed birds seen on roadway: 7

Dead, smashed birds seen on roadway that I accidentally ran over: 1

Number of unidentifiable road kill: 4

Course maps seen dropped on road: 5

Melted Clif Bars seen on course: 12

High temperature on first day: 90

High temperature on second day: 67

Hours spent on the course over two days: 22

Hours spent driving home after the ride: 3

Dreams had on the drive home in which I’d ridden only half of STP: 1

Weeks until next 200-mile event: 5

Community Connection

Interested in getting into long distance group rides? Check out Megan’s guide on How to Train and Prepare for Your First Multi-day Ride.