No, not this one.


I'm talking about the Seattle to Portland Double Century.

My nephew was getting into cycling and had expressed interest, so I couldn't resist. On top of that, it would integrate well with a visit to family up in the Northwest.

It's HUGE. I've done over 50 DCs all over California. Most DCs have perhaps 100 or so riders taking the plunge, but the STP had well over 1000. On top of that, add another 5000+ riders competing the 200 mile ride with a midway stop, and you have a LOT of cyclists.

And think of this. Logistically, you need to get that many people transported from Portland to Seattle to the start or at the end. You have to move their luggage. And you have to feed all those people and take care of them! Big kudos to the Cascade Bicycle club for getting all that done, and they did a great job.

Conditions were ideal. Yes it was hot (my Garmin showed an on-road temp of 95), but there was plenty of water and even popcicles. We had a pretty significant tail wind on almost the entire route, and with only 5000 feet of climbing, and all those riders, that made for a lot of pacelining. Oh, what fun rolling along northwest roads at 20+ MPH.

And the route. The condition of the roads was good to excellent, and in most cases, the traffic was minimal. There is a 30 mile section leading into Portland that is referred to as the "dirty 30" because it is said to be unpleasant, but It was just fine. Big shoulder and not really that much traffic.

There were the usual things to be careful of ... people crossing wheels early in the ride. A good number of flats (although we had none). But it went smoothly and we had great views of Mt. Rainer.



I had one snafu. As the day dawned, I was trying to put on my sunglasses without stopping, and swiped my rear view mirror off of my helmet and onto the pavement.. I went back to get it, and while it was found, the mirror itself had fallen out of the housing.

How to get it back in?

Well, this is a DC, folks, so you have to improvise. The next stop had a coffee shack, so I borrowed a drop of honey, dropped it in the housing and pushed the mirror in. It stayed there for the rest of the ride (and I expect it will stay for longer than that).

The heat finally started to get to me about 30 miles from the finish, and I started cramping if I pedaled too hard. So I soft pedaled to the end. The end, BTW, is 207 miles from the start, and the last part of the ride in the hills surrounding Portland were beautiful.

At the end, there were lots of cheering well-wishers, including my family. Lots of activities and food (I had lost my appetite and gave away my food ticket). Like a carnival.




What's the conclusion? Do it! It is a fairly easy DC as DCs go, and it is very, very well organized.