Pacific Northwest - Great One Day STP

My son and I rode the one day STP and we had a great time. Although we had issues with our tandem's front and rear wheels [broke two spokes the last 30 miles at the rear] we had no problems. The support staff was great at every stop and they made the ride fun. We made the first 100 miles with a average speed of 18.6 mph. Not bad considering that our fastest average speed on any ride [and distance] is 16.8 mph. The riders were all polite even though we had our South Park Jerseys that said 'you guys suck' on the back. We passed many riders at +45 mph going down hills but they just passed us up while going 6 mph going up the hills. My son has autism and he does not do well with schedule changes. He did great with our wheel issues and even though he was fussing about the hills and the pain he had, he never ever wanted to stop. He was certain he did not want to do this ride in two days. My wife was present at all the rest areas and we certainly could not have done the ride without her. She carried the extra wheels and supplies that we could not have carried. I was sleeping in our trailer at our campsite near Mossyrock when I heard the rain fall at about 6:30AM on Sunday. I am glad we did do it in one day. This is our first STP and now my daughter wants to try it next year. Right now I am not looking forward to doing the ride again but with an 80lb less rider that is more fit that might be something to look forward to.
Thanks for everyone that supported the ride and made it a day to remember!

First time I have ridden STP, and the weather was perfect. I heard the waits at the rest stops got pretty long, but maybe I stayed ahead of the crowds. No flats or mechanical issues, so I can not say anything about the support staff, except I saw the goldwings constantly on the entire route, nice to know they are there if anything happens.

One of my co workers is a member of that group and he says they have a really good time every year doing the support for the ride.

Weather was superbe except for headwinds for about 50 olf the last 80 miles.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hSZo5vjiPmQ/Slq3m-jvXSI/AAAAAAAAHjg/GtbXTY8D_kc/s800/P7110081.JPG


Would someone please post the websites for the official event photographers? I saw something about it somewhere but can't find it on the Cascade pages.

I also rode saturday. My first STP and my first one day STP. Overall it was a great experience. Hats off to Cascade for organizing a fun event.

I rode with three friends, we left UW at 5:00 am, and arrived at the finish line right around 7:00 pm.

Saw a nasty crash maybe a mile after the start. Not sure what street it was, but we were going down a hill and you had to slow at the bottom for a cross street - a guy came flying up from behind me on my right going way too fast, jammed on his brakes, clipped the bike in front of him which forced his front wheel full left and just pancaked him to the pavement. I hope he was OK.

We took it easy at the start and had no problems. We had no mechanical issues on the trip down except for four flat tires amoung us. Kudos to REI and Greggs who were giving out free tubes so that we could replenish our stock.

I thought all the foodstops were great and the volunteers were awesome. I saw motorcycle and car support volunteers up and down the course. We had to wait in line for food only at Centralia and Lexington, but the wait was not that bad. The dreamsicles they were handing out when you rolled into Centralia were a real treat! And whoever decided to put out the bin of ice cubes at St. Helens should get an award - nothing like filling your bottles with ice on a hot day!

The last ten miles in Portland seemed to take forever and I think we hit red on every traffic light in the last three miles. But it was sure sweet to cross the finish line, high five my friends, and then grab a hot shower and some food.

I saw all shapes, sizes and colors of riders and bikes yesterday. It just shows that biking is one of those sports that everyone can enjoy. Hope everyone else had a good ride!

Would someone please post the websites for the official event photographers? I saw something about it somewhere but can't find it on the Cascade pages.

D'oh! Should have checked my e-mail: (sign in with your bib number and they'll find the photos for you!

Greetings from your friends at MarathonFoto!

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By now you are ready to ride in the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. We want you to know that you and your family will not have to worry about trying to capture your special race moments. As the official race photographer, MarathonFoto will be there to capture it for you and all of your supporting "curb crew".

Forward this email to your curb crew – parents, friends and family so they can relax as well.
72 hours after your event, follow the link below to see your photos online.
http://www.marathonfoto.com/home.cfm?Language=en&BFI=5t5azj95pm&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=8&Height=1050&Width=1680&Index2Home=true

Good luck and remember to do two things to make this work well:

Smile when you see the photographers!
Make sure your bike number is clearly centered and visible so we will be able to identify you after the ride.

I had a pretty good ride. The first 100 were easy and fun. From about 120 -185 the wind and heat seemed to be wearing on most of the riders. Everyone was pretty strung out and most pacelines were running at about 16 mph instead of 20-22. After the stop at St. Helens I was starting to recover and at about 185 picked the pace back up to 20 to finish the ride off.

For anyone that saw these people:
The guy with the MTB, sandles, backpack, tanktop and "normal" shorts finished at about 8.
The single speed cruiser came in a few minutes after him.
202 miles on either of those on 1 day is impressive.

I did it in one day too. Great day, excellent ride, fantastic support. Had 2 flats, and had to have help from the Gold Wing team along the way. I'd have been screwed without them.

I was on a yellow Bacchetta, a recumbent. And my butt and my shoulders and my wrists thanked me after the ride. They all felt normal after I finished. I was just delerious and disoriented when I finished...

I remember passing you guys and getting a good chuckle from the jerseys. I just assumed it was a play on words with your tandem since everyone wants to suck your rear wheel in a paceline. I would think most people would interpret it that way. :thumb: Great job!

Hi Redspoke:
Glad we connected. With so many people, it was pretty unlikely, but I'm glad you called out. You were incredibly fast and steady. Saw one of your brothers at Castle Rock. He introduced himself and he looked pretty tired. I asked where you were and he said "about 30 minutes in front of me". Great job.
We had a absolute blast. What a great ride. Hope you got over the RR tracks without incident. There were some pretty nasty crashes there. Did you see the guy on the high wheel unicycle? Incredible.
Will post the ride report later.

Both me and the high-wheel unicyclist got stung by yellowjackets on that bike trail. I think it was a good thing because I could focus on the pain in my arm rather than my ass and moving parts for the rest of the day.
I talked to him for a bit. He started at midnight and got to Temino by 10am. Impressive. He holds such a smooth line on that thing.

My account http://www.yunt.net/blog/?p=388

D'oh! Should have checked my e-mail: (sign in with your bib number and they'll find the photos for you!

Greetings from your friends at MarathonFoto!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By now you are ready to ride in the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. We want you to know that you and your family will not have to worry about trying to capture your special race moments. As the official race photographer, MarathonFoto will be there to capture it for you and all of your supporting "curb crew".

Forward this email to your curb crew – parents, friends and family so they can relax as well.
72 hours after your event, follow the link below to see your photos online.
http://www.marathonfoto.com/home.cfm?Language=en&BFI=5t5azj95pm&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=8&Height=1050&Width=1680&Index2Home=true

Good luck and remember to do two things to make this work well:

Smile when you see the photographers!
Make sure your bike number is clearly centered and visible so we will be able to identify you after the ride.

Make sure to go to the lost and found section and look for more pictures of you where they couldn't get your whole bib number. I found at least 3 more.