Pacific Northwest - Seattle to Portland (STP)

Sadly, I will not be able to go this year. But, I have been thinking about it a ton. If you are going, please post pics and videos so those of us who can't make the trek this year can live vicariously through you. Here is my video from last year. I hope it gets you excited.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYkKo4mSBCc

Chris
Boise, ID

I see no reason why you can't just piggy back the riders and go yourself. Leave a half an hour later from the pack w/o any registration. You wouldn't of course be privy to the concession stands and any services they provide, etc. But who's going to stop you?

sure, be a pirate. but don't expect, if you can maintain any sort of speed over the road at all, that you won't start overtaking other riders in the first hour.

The roads are public, after all.

sure, be a pirate. but don't expect, if you can maintain any sort of speed over the road at all, that you won't start overtaking other riders in the first hour.


:eek:

In English, please?

Neat ... looks like you did it in one day? :thumb:

Did my first STP this year with a couple friends. Had a blast!

:eek:

In English, please?

"Pirate" is a label given to those who ride the same route at the same time as an organized ride, without registering for the ride.

The roads are public, of course, and anyone can ride on them; not trying to sneak food at the foodstops, or use the porta-potties, does make one less of a pirate. For the 10,000 STP riders, if everyone who wasn't able to buy a registration was also out there at the same time, but still wanted to ride, there could be, well, thousands of semi-freeloaders. There are enough accidents among the registered riders, enough hassles with only 10,000 (a limit set by the Washington State Patrol and Oregon State Police, ostensibly due to traffic control issues), that adding more seems to be asking for trouble.


The other part of the comment -- the "stream" of riders is several hours long at any point, so unless you're riding at about 6 mph, starting late won't keep you from being on the road with and next to others who are registered.

...There are enough accidents among the registered riders, enough hassles with only 10,000 (a limit set by the Washington State Patrol and Oregon State Police, ostensibly due to traffic control issues), that adding more seems to be asking for trouble...

Considering that the route seems to mostly run parallel to major roadways, setting a rider limit does not seem reasonable to me. Do they also restrict how many recreational motorists can drive along the roads? (Only 20% of all driving is of a business nature, according to the U.S. Census.) When motorists cause others to slow down they call it traffic and deal with it; when cyclists do the same, it is an unacceptable situation. It's not like there aren't alternate routes that would usually be faster and safer for the motoring public.

I guess I should be celebrating the fact that Cascade has been able to get a 10,000 rider limit instead of the 500-2000 rider limit placed on some other rides, and I do appreciate that it probably took an enormous amount of effort to pull that off and will continue to take work and cooperation to keep it. Good for them and all of us. Maybe the limit has to do with the hotel capacity as well, since it seemed like every hotel in Seattle was sold out for 7/13. I wonder how much money STP brings into Seattle?

Considering that the route seems to mostly run parallel to major roadways, setting a rider limit does not seem reasonable to me. Do they also restrict how many recreational motorists can drive along the roads?SNIP

No they do not set a quota for motorists however they do not stop traffic to accommodate them either.

OP you might wish to read my lengthy ride report in the Clyde forum.

I wonder how much money STP brings into Seattle?

I wonder at how many dollars worth of bicycles make the ride !

Granted, the "It was in my garage and I like it" Peugeot UO-8's don't bump the average up, but there is an awful lot of carbon (ok, redundant) on the ride. 10,000 x even $1,000 = a lot of money.

and, +1 for a limit to the number of RVs on any given piece of roadway.