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.

It's been 15 years since I did it, but yeah - easy DC and well organized.
It was pretty dark when I finished though... wasn't my fault, there were a couple folks in my group who exaggerated how much they'd been training and they really bonked after the first 100 miles and eventually quit, leaving four of us to paceline the last 50 or so.

Definitely a bucket list item checked off.

Did you get a massage at the finish? It was pure heaven when I did the DC but felt bad for the masseuses with all the dirty smelly cyclists.

Initially I did the two day, which was a mistake because there was so much left in the tank and just hanging around for hours waiting to sleep, but not getting much because of the parties and then people getting up at the crack of dawn did not make for a restful night - Not to mention only cold showers after 100 miles.

you are right that it has a first class organization supporting the ride. Everything is so well thought out, but then they have been doing it for decades.

Glad you had a wonderful time and that all went well for you and your nephew. Oh, one year I rode the whole thing in the rain. That really sucked.

2 guys I know (besides Biker395) did it this year. One friend, who has been off the bike a lot for many reasons, trained hard and finished the double pretty strong, for him, in 16 hours total time. I rode with him this past Saturday and was surprised at how much better he is riding than he has in a long time. He did mention the crashes on the STP including one in the first mile which ended one guy's ride, then another something like 30 miles in where a guy made a bonehead move and 2 went down with my friend lucky to not be involved. He found a competent cyclist to work with and the 2 of them traded pulls for many miles.

The other guy decided on the 2 day option. He had a group of friends and said they had a good time. They had tents at the half way mark.

This is why I avoid STP after riding in twice (1981, 2010).
The ride is known for the many crashes especially at the beginning when everyone is bunched together like the migration of the Wildebeests.
I swore after the 1st one, I'd never ride it again but I did years later as a one day fixed gear training ride for RAMROD (also fixed) later in July 2010.
A friend and I avoided the crazy and dangerous start by beginning in Auburn 30 miles down the road.
It was like an entirely different ride and actually quite pleasant.
We stayed ahead of the pack most of the day, only the faster riders starting to pass us near 1/2 way point in Centralia.
No waiting in line at any of the rest stops!
Not a double century this way (170 miles) but it was great training for the 156 mile RAMROD.

I rode STP many times, every year for a while. I always got there early and positioned myself as near the start as I could. Then I rode hard until after the lake, passed as many folks as I could. I also stayed back from the big collections as much as possible, got around a lot of that by only stopping about every 50 miles and never eating the STP food - I carried my own food and used a water bladder - in and out quickly. Never had a problem with crashes. I did see a few over the years, but from a distance. Start with strategy and then apply tactics. Trick is to get as near the front as one's fitness allows. Faster riders are more predictable and better tacticians. First time I rode it, I was pretty hyped up coming into Centralia. I grabbed a muffin and ate it paper and all.

Yes, it's great training for RAMROD. My last training ride for that was to start from Ohanapecosh and ride over Cayuse and White passes. If you can ride that no problem, RR will also be no problem. Good luck to all who will be riding tomorrow. Next year will revert to the new normal clockwise ride.