Lisa and I have decided
to do the STP this year. She has done it 4 times previous, but since I
have never ridden it, I want to add it to my list.
We register on line, early in the year, to ensure we can get a spot,
and since it is cheaper to register on line than in the mail. The ride
is limited to "just" 8000, and the ride does sell out this year. Much
planning and debates go in to the logistics of making this work for us,
and we finally setlle on a plan. We till drive to the start, and park
the car for the weekend, load our bikes on a truck rented by the
Wheelmen, and take the bus provided, up to Seattle. It drops us off at
the dorms of the University of Washington, and we walk our bikes one
one huge bag, down the hill 3/4 of a mile to the Silver Cloud hotel to
spend the night. We get in about 200 on friday afternoon and have
plenty of time, so we walk across the street to a mexican restaurant
for a bite, then walk around the shops and find an itallian place for
dinner. Then its back to the hotel, and to our surprise, we have OLN
which is providing coverage of the tour de france. Its hot out, so the
a/c of the room and tour provide us a great way to rest up. I havent
been feeling real strong last couple of days so look forward to the
rest day. After dinner and a little more tour, we get to sleep,
tommorows an early day. Up at 445, dressed in our gear and downstairs
for a nice continental breakfast with many other riders. When we got
up, our bill was slipped under the door, and we could check out quickly
by using the menus on the tv so never had to stop at the counter
(pretty cool), then we hike down the street 1/2 mile or so to the
start. Drop our bag off in the truck bound for Chehalis and get
started. The start us off in bunches, and our bunch has maybe 400
riders in it. The day is cool, with light clouds, that are bound to
burn off soon. Its expected to be a warm one, and we dress light. Bikes
move in mass, a very large peleton, with riders constantly manuevering
for position, and passing on both sides. For most of the ride I found
it difficult to find an open spot where we could ride at our pace,
without being slowed by other riders and without getting run in to by
other riders with varying degree of group riding skill, courtesy, or
sense. When prepping the bike for this ride, I had taken out a large
glass chip that had embedded itself deep in to the tire, I had some
concerns about the tube, but opted to just go with it. But at mile 17,
it went flat. So I immediately turned off in to the first driveway I
came to, and as luck would have it, there was a bike mechanic tent
right there! I simply stopped, and the mechanic grabbed the bike put it
on a stand and actually replaced my tube for me. I dont think I ever
had someone change my tube while I just stood there, we were back on
the road within minutes. We ride through the suburbs as the sun rises
over Lake Washington. Heading out through Kent, Puyallup, where we
encounter "the hill" which is one of the bigger climbs of the ride, at
mile 43, which really isnt that big of a deal, its enough to get your
attention, but not a real problem. Then on to Spanaway for lunch at
mile 55. Pretty good food for lunch, and a good site. Then off
through Roy, Yelm, Tenino, Centralia and finally Chehalis. There was a
particularly dangerous stretch of road, I believe highway 507, near
Yelm, where the car traffic was quite heavy, the shoulder not really
wide, and the bicyclists riding and passing 4 abreast, choosing to
forgoe any decisions regarding their safety, under the beliefs that the
sheer number of riders, (or perhaps the fact its an organized
ride?) would protect them. We passed two separate accidents, with
riders laying on the ground, and heard of another car/rider accident.
We proceeded with particular caution on this stretch. Stopped at the
last rest stop of the day for us, in Centralia, which was the end of
the days ride for many, where we were able to have an ice cream bar to
celebrate the 100 mile mark. Then back on the bikes to get to Chehalis.
For the last 20 miles of the day, the stream of riders has thinned a
bit, and with Lisa spending the majority of the ride behind me, is now
anxious to "stretch her legs" So we pick up the pace she leads us on a
very fast pace for the reminder of the day. We get to the park and out
bag appears to have been picked up since it isnt the pile left in the
grass. So we get directions to the St. Johns Lutheran church and head
off through town the mile or so to the church. Our bag is there, in our
room, which otherwise serves as the 2nd grade classroom. They have a
nice community center, with new shower facilities. We clean up, rest,
stretch and wait for dinner. Fairly good sphagetti dinner. Then since
its 600 and there isnt much to do at the church, and not much around it
in this part of town, we hike back the mile or so to the nearest
Safeway, and spend time in the air conditioning of the store reading
the sunday paper. It is still a very warm day. Take some sorbet back to
the room, sit in the shade and argue politics until its time for bed.
Once again, we rise before 500, get downstairs for a breakfast of eggs,
potatoes, cinnnamon rolls, and fruit. The church will take our bags
back down to the start to be loaded in the truck, so we just have to
get on the bikes and begin. We start out about 600. It is outside of
Chehalis that we see I-5 as we cross over. This is the only time we see
it, and never ride on it, was not really sure, you could go from
Seattle to Portland, without hitting I-5 anymore.
The route from here takes us through Winlock, home of the worlds
biggest egg, Castle Rock,and Longview where we are to cross
over in to Oregon. Apparently there was another bike accident on
the bridge where a woman broke her ankle, so traffic was stopped while
she could be removed. This backed up lots of car traffic and bike
traffic. While this is cleared and the cars were allowed to pass, we
have amassed a group of perhaps 1,000 riders, whom they let all pass
over the bridge, in one lane, all at the same time, while not stopping
the traffic coming in the other direction. It was a somewhat slow
trudge across, with little room, nor reason to do much passing, but we
get across without incident. Its another warm day, perhaps mid 80s
opposed to previous day of low 90s, but much better than the showers
that were forecast from earlier in the week. After Longview, its
highway 30, through Ranier, St. Helens and in to Portland, returning to
the Loyd Center park and Double Tree hotel where our bag and car await.
We get in little after 200 which seems to us as a pretty good time. At
the park , we ride in to a great finish line, lined with people all
cheering for everyone who is coming in, its a nice feeling. Mike, our
spinning instructor is there and gives us congratulations, telling us
that he is proud of us. We sit browse the displays, have ice cream
again and much water, and then head for home.
STATISTICS: Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic
* 8,051 riders - including volunteers and safety riders
* 1,845 one day riders (23%!!)
* Oldest rider: 82
* Youngest rider: 3
* 27.8% female and 72.2% male
* Riders from 42 states, plus British Columbia
* 75% from Washington; 15% from Oregon; 4% from California; 1.5% from
British Columbia and 1.5% from Idaho
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