Exhausted and aching in unfamiliar places, Martin “Mitch” Mitchell uttered three words Monday evening that have come to define his character.
“I did it,” Mitchell said.
Indeed Mitchell did. On Saturday and Sunday (July 17-18), Mitchell began and finished what proved to be one of the greatest challenges of his lifetime – The Seattle to Portland Bicycle (STP) Classic. The 200-mile bicycling extravaganza draws roughly 10,000 riders a year.
None of them, however, are quite like Mitchell.
Mitchell, 57, recently quit smoking after a 40-years addiction. Bicycling? That only came into the picture in the last year as a means of getting in shape. But Mitchell’s trek was about a heck of a lot more than getting in shape. It was about fulfilling a goal. It was about raising jars of peanut butter.
The Kent man was pedaling to Portland for jars of peanut butter, which he then would turn around and donate to Northwest Harvest, a statewide hunger relief agency. Northwest Harvest then will dispense the peanut butter to individuals and families in need.
Mitchell set a goal of raising 2,500 jars of peanut butter donations through his grueling ride to Portland.
On Saturday morning, shortly before pushing off from the University of Washington campus parking lot, Mitchell had raised 389 jars. Many jars, however, still had not been collected. Mitchell, who was on his way back to Kent on Tuesday, noted that he still had three more “peanut butter” stops to make before returning home, and that he would not have the official tally until sometime this Sunday (July 25).
“I am not done yet,” Mitchell assured. “I did reach my goal. My part of it is done. I will be counting (the jars) up Sunday night, and going to Northwest Harvest the following day. I have a smile on my face for my appreciation to the people of my community, many who I will never even meet. I wish that everybody in their lifetime could experience this.
“Without the support of the community, my idea was fruitless. It was everybody else that made it grow.”
As for Mitchell’s goal in regards to the ride itself?
To not come in last place.
That mission also was accomplished. Mitchell pushed off early Saturday morning, stayed the night in Centralia, and arrived in Portland shortly after 2 p.m. on Sunday, slightly more than 200 miles later.
“I am burning in places that God put on my body that I didn’t know would hurt,” Mitchell joked. “This is probably in the top 10 things I’ve ever done in my life, and that’s including the birth of my children.”
Until taking part in the STP, Mitchell’s longest ride was the 60-mile trek in the Orting-based Daffodil Classic.
“In one day, I went almost as far as I’ve ever ridden in one shot. That was quite an experience,” Mitchell said. “I learned a lot. There are things I would change about my training. I expected my legs to be more sore, but I didn’t expect my neck or upper body to be as sore as they are.
“But I wouldn’t change what I did this year for anything in the world.”
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