SEATTLE - Thousands of riders set off from Husky Stadium early Saturday morning for the 204-mile ride to Portland. But in the huge crowd of cyclists it was hard to miss Eleni Teshome and her friends.
"It's my own personal achievement. I've been wanting to do this for the last 5 years," she said.
Eleni had to prepare more than the thousands of other riders. Eleni mysteriously became blind overnight as a teenager in Ethopia. Her family moved here in the hopes she could be cured. She wasn't, but that didn't dampen Eleni's spirits.
"I have 2010 things I want to do before I die," she said.
Outdoors for All volunteer Chris Ensor is helping her knock this off her list
"I wanted to do the ride and I wanted to give the opportunity to someone like Eleni to come with me. So someone who couldn't do it on their own could do it with a tandem captain," he said.
Like most riders the two will do 100 miles today stay in Centralia and finish in Portland tomorrow. Eleni says she's ready.
"I pray, I sing, I keep seeing the finish line, that's the only way I can stop," she said.
She says accomplishing something like STP is doable for anyone.
"All things are possible. We are the ones who are putting the impossible back on us," she said.
Eleni isn't just riding for a personal goal, she's also doing it to help raise money for the Ethiopian Community Mutual Association and their programs. She's raised about $10,000 so far and hopes to raise $15,000 more.
Of the 10,000 STP riders, nearly 2,500 make the entire 200-mile trip on Saturday in one push, arriving into Portland on Saturday evening. The remaining participants spend the night near Centralia, host of the midpoint festival.
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