
14-year-old Eryn Hall spent the weekend of July 14 and 15 living up to her older sister's challenge by tackling the 202-mile Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, known as the STP.
Emyly Hall completed the ride two years ago, just after she turned 14, accompanied by her mother Ellen. Eryn, who will attend Marysville-Pilchuck High School in the fall, also rode alongside her mother.
"It was really hard," Eryn confessed. "I didn't think I would finish, but I did."
Eryn and her mother trained for the recreational bicycle ride with excursions on the Centennial Trail, the Interurban and Burke Gilman trails. Their longest training ride covered 54 miles.
"We weren't as well prepared because of the weather," said Ellen Hall. "This has been such a wet spring!"
On the first day of the STP, Eryn and her mother covered 99 miles. They slept in a tent on the campus of Centralia University that night, starting out the next morning before 4 a.m.
"The first 15 or 20 miles that second day were torture," said Eryn. "All my muscles were so sore and tired, but I got over it pretty quickly."
As the mother-daughter team neared the finish line, Eryn caught a glimpse of her dad filming the moment. She got a little too distracted and crashed into the biker in front of her, creating a chain reaction of chaos.
"It was so embarrassing - causing this pileup right at the finish line," she laughed.
Asked if she planned to do the 2-day ride again, Eryn shook her head. "I'm a recreational bike rider," she said. "I enjoy leisurely rides, not that muscle-burning torture, up and down hills on the side of the highway with big trucks whooshing by you."
But that doesn't mean the Halls are through with the race as a family. This year was Ellen Hall's fifth STP entry, and son Lee, who is only eight, will likely take his turn when he's 14 too.
"It's a family tradition, after all," said Ellen Hall.