As someone that has ridden group rides in a grand total of 2 different states, I feel uniquely positioned to have an opinion on the best group rides of the entire planet. It is from this perspective of decades of experience and miles of riding that I can say with absolute authority: The Seattle to Portland ride from Cascade Bicycle Club is the absolute best group ride, anywhere, ever.

OK. So all hyperbole aside, this really is an incredibly well run and enjoyable ride. Every year they offer up tickets for 10,000 participants – and every year they sell out. Participants can opt to do the approximately 210 mile course in either one or two days – both of which are fully supported.

This year saw a change in route from previous years, diverting riders through military property of the Lewis-McChord joint base. Here, two day riders enjoyed the sandwiches and wraps of the first day’s lunch stop under the shade of Military aircraft wings and other assorted military vehicles. The closed roads of the base provided a nice break with almost no car traffic present – although riding past signs warning of shells being fired over the roadway was a little unnerving.

The first day was overcast but comfortable, with a max recorded temperature of 73 degrees. Day 1 features what is famously known as “the big hill” just outside of Puyallup. Beginning at about mile 43 there is a gain of about 400 feet over 3 miles. While the Pacific Northwest is generally quite hilly and rugged, the organizers have found a route that is actually surprisingly flat – and this is indeed the single biggest climb. Personally I actually found the small climb into Napavine on the second day more challenging. While not nearly as long or high, it comes at a time early on the second day when many are still shaking off the stiffness of the first day’s ride. All that effort is definitely rewarded, however. If you ever do this ride, you absolutely must stop for the banana bread at the top of the hill in Napavine.

The midpoint for two day riders is at the college in the town of Centralia. The grounds of the college are open to tent camping, and the prerequisite food vendors and beer garden are in full effect.

I happen to have friends and family that live very close to Centralia so myself and my riding buddy didn’t camp at the college. However, after overhearing some of the great stories the next day we both talked about doing the camping bit next time we do this ride. Part of your ride fees include transportation of your bags, via truck, to the midway and finish lines both days. In other words, you get to enjoy your ride while someone else handles the logistics of getting your camping gear transported.

At various times along the route – especially at the beginning where folks are really bunched up – there were police helping to control intersections and minimize conflict between the cyclists and motorists. While some of the route is on dedicated bike paths and/or closed roads (like in the military base) the vase majority of the route is on normal roads with normal traffic.

One noticeable exception to this is crossing the Lewis And Clark bridge into Oregon. The bridge is two lanes in both directions, with almost no shoulder. In addition to that, this is logging country and the shoulders are littered with tree bark and pieces of wood that could make the trip disastrous. To help alleviate this, local police hold the cyclists up at one side of the bridge waiting for a group of significant numbers to form. Then, the bridge is closed to traffic in one direction and the cyclists are allowed to cross with full use of the two south bound lanes. There are some sketchy expansion joints on the bridge to be aware of, but overall it creates a great experience with minimal issues.

From there, a full half of the second day is in the state of Oregon along Highway 30. While not especially hilly, the rollers at that point in the route can be a little taxing – especially if you start to try and rush getting to the end. However, the shoulders along 30 are wide enough that great pace lines can form.

And then there is the finish line. There is actually a fair amount of time spent in down-town Portland proper, but you can feel the excitement and anticipation (or suffering for some) as everyone realizes the end is close, but not yet there. Suddenly you find the sidewalks becoming fuller and fuller. Then kids start holding their hands out for high-fives. Then you start to feel like a finisher of the Tour de France as the barricades start, holding back folks cheering for their friends, family… and everyone else. Hand slapping spectators while riding along… I can’t imagine a better note to end on.

Ahhhh Washington. The state where white cops spray pepper spray at white protesters. Birthplace of Starbucks, popularizer of flannel shirts, and home to some wicked volcanos (And this post is going out just days before May 18th coincidentally.) And despite the persistent yet very inaccurate impression that it rains there non-stop, it has spent 7 consecutive years on top of the list of bike friendliest states published by the League of American Bicyclists.

Which is interesting. I was born and raised in Washington state, but moved many years ago to California – which comes in at #8 on the list. But I’m in luck! I’m actually about to head back up there for one of my favorite rides ever– the Seattle to Portland ride. So I’ll get to enjoy some of that #1 state bicycling action – hopefully minus the tear gas.

Wondering where (and why) your state falls on the list? Check out their easy-to-digest ranking page, where each state links to a report card.

While no state has really shown stead improvement – and many have moved all over the board – one thing is clear. Alabama has apparently always sucked for cycling – never placing above #47 out of our 50 nifty states.

Based on the number of folks that are reading my previous STP 2011 story, a lot of folks are already interested in the 2011 ride.  And with the amount of interest, it looks like we’ll all need to stay on top of this to ensure we can register.

Cascade Bicycle Club has changed the dates slightly from their original announcement:

Online only event registration opens at noon on Monday, Jan. 10 exclusively for Cascade Bicycle Club members. Event registration opens at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1 to the general public.

It is interesting to note, however, that their website still doesn’t seem to list the STP ride on applicable calendars.  Last time was a blast – can’t wait for this year.

Cascade Bicycle Club has set the dates for the 2011 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic at July 9th and 10th.  Registration for the event – which does sell out – will start on January 4th for club members, and sometime in February for non-members.  While not required to ride in the event, club membership can be purchased at various levels starting at $35 per person.

After the amazing time that I had riding the 2010 event, I will definitely plan on being in Seattle for the 2011 start.

Note: Also see the updated date information here.

We woke up a little more relaxed on the second day – but noticeably more sluggish and a little bit sore from the first day’s effort.  (If you didn’t catch the first day’s details, check them out here.)  We got a 7:45am start out of Centralia – downright sleeping in compared to the 5:30 start of the first day.  We were both quite slow and heavy in the legs though.  It was a relatively flat start through farm lands and into Chehalis under overcast skies and downright chilly conditions.  We slowly – almost grudgingly – made our way onto a rode in Chehalis lined with beautiful older houses with great big lawns.  That is when I saw it – “Free Starbucks Coffee.”  Really?  Sure enough a guy had quite literally ran an extension cord out his front door to the sidewalk to where he had a coffee pot brewing coffee on the sidewalk.  We stopped and chatted for a couple of minutes – the guy actually refused any sort of payment or donations.  Yet another example of the amazing support of folks along the route.  That little stop for coffee completely energized us in a huge way.

We continued on through farm lands heading towards Napavine.  I knew there was another climb of some significance, but wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.  Well…  Napavine delivered a climb that was early enough in day two that we were both still shaking off the stiffness of the first days ride.  It felt like about the same gradient of “The Big Hill” from day 1, but was somewhat shorter.  Melissa and I both made it up to find a great stand with some tasty homemade banana bread up on the top.  This apparently is something of a tradition for this guy, as I heard reference to the “famous Napavine banana bread” and overheard another rider making a comment about the bread being “just as good as last year.”  Again – kudos to the amazing supporters along the way.

Day two actually had slightly more climbing that I might have expected, but it was over a long series of rolling hills.  The entire first half was pretty much on rural two lane roads.  Beautiful riding despite the still-overcast skies.  There were a couple of great descents adding a little spice to the rides.  Another of the numerous non-official road side stands was in Winlock right at the base of one of those descents – great place to stop and munch on a delicious breakfast sandwich the had for sale there.  It was also the first time I noticed a couple of guys doing the ride on fixies.  Wow!  Bravo to them.

Eventually we made our way over to Longview and one of the big milestones in the ride – crossing the Columbia river.  Here the riders were queued up on the Washington side of the Lewis and Clark bridge waiting for traffic to be stopped so that we could make our way across the Oregon boarder.  The bridge is built high enough to allow shipping traffic to pass under it – thus it provided a noticeable climb with a descent on the other side.  There were a couple of expansion joints – one each on both sides of the bridge – that created a bit of a challenge.  You can see them in the video, and see the camera take a noticeable bump when I go over them too.  That put us onto Highway 30 in Oregon.  Next stop – Portland.

The stretch along Highway 30 is, to be honest, a little anti-climactic and somewhat boring.  It is a busy four lane rode that, while having huge shoulders and plenty of room for cyclists to ride safely, doesn’t offer much in the way of aesthetic beauty.  However, coming into Portland and catching the first glimpse of bridges lets you know that the end is in sight.

Unfortunately there was a slight detour on the end of the route this year due to construction on the normal route.  This resulted in a significantly longer stint in the industrial area of Portland.  From there there were several blocks of gorgeous downtown.  That’s when it hit – one hell of a climb.  Sure it wasn’t much more than two or three blocks, but it was probably at least a 10% grade in some spots and it hits right at the end of the 200 mile ride.  Legs burning from the effort that had me out of the saddle for the entire pitch, Melissa and I joined up with a group that had collected at the top of the hill.  Folks were starting to get excited – you could feel the finish line approaching.  The detour route took us across the river on a beautiful pedestrian/bike path separate from the traffic.  Some more blocks of downtown and suddenly the voice of an announcer on a loud speaker could be heard.

The final finish line was into a park in Downtown Portland.  The finish line narrowed into a path with cheering spectators lining both sides.  It really was an exciting experience.  Brian met us right at the finish line after we were handed our official “Finisher” patches.  Bikes were everywhere.  Folks were smiling, laughing, hugging.  Any fatigue was immediately forgotten (well, at least until a couple of hours or so on the ride home!)  The whole thing from beginning to end was a really amazing experience.  Melissa and I both are very much looking forward to doing it again next year.

I’d also like to thank a couple of folks that made this ride so much easier and greatly contributed to our success:

• To my Mom and Dad – thanks for helping us with a great start and a calm place to prepare before starting!
• To Chad and Jamie – thanks for the ride from Centralia, and accomodations at the end of day 1.  So great of you to open up your home to us!  Lov eyou guys!
• To Brian and Jamie (yes – that’s the same Jamie again!) – Your hours behind the wheel took a lot of stress out of getting back to Seattle from Portland safely.
• Finally, to all of our friends and family for words of congratulations and encouragement.  I can’t tell you how much it all means.

Next stop for Melissa and I – ride around Lake Tahoe in September.

As hinted at in my uber-short, from the freeway blog post yesterday, Melissa and I successfully completed the 2010 Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic event.

It is said that over 10,000 folks started the event this year, where the 202 miles (plus or minus, due to some construction detours) is covered in either one or two days.  Given that neither Melissa nor I had ever completed a full century prior to this event, we opted for the two day option.

We started from the beautiful University of Washington campus at about 5:45am.  It was a little chilly for my Sacramento acclimated blood, but it was a great start.  We queued up at a start line where small groups were periodically let through – met by accommodating Seattle PD folks that blocked intersections and directed traffic as packs of cyclists moved through the U district toward Lake Washington.  It was great as we cruised down Rainier Ave into Renton as these were roads that I knew as a kid growing up in this area.  In fact, I passed with an eighth of a mile of my uncle’s house, and within a half a mile of one of the houses I grew up in as a kid.

We moved through the valley towards our first official rest stop at the REI in Kent, WA.  This is where I got my first introduction to the absolutely amazing amount of planning, logistical organization and support that Cascade Bicycle Club has managed for this event. It was also the first time in my life that I’ve seen that many cyclists congregated in one area at one time.  It was an amazing sight to see – and given the staggered start of the event it was only a small fraction of all of the people actually taking part in the event.

From the Kent REI we continued along the valley through Algona-Pacific and skirting along Auburn, touching the back side of Sumner and onto Puyallup.  Puyallup has the distinct honor of hosting the infamous “big hill” – by most accounts a climb of about 350 feet in just under a mile.  By this point in the ride – about 45 miles in – there is still a large mass of folks.  So, climbing cyclists occupied the full shoulder and right lane, with some spilling over into the left lane while passing slower climbers.  This did seem to provoke visible (i.e. gunning engines and screeching tires) responses of aggravation by a few drivers – but overall those driving on the road either already knew about the event or were generally supportive nonetheless.  While there were a few that had to push up the hill on foot, the vast majority made it to the top where an impromptu group of Boy Scouts, school cheerleaders and other random organizations had set up offering bottles of water, sports drinks and snacks after the effort.

This was another of the amazing parts of this event that I’d come to really appreciate as the ride progressed.  While the offical STP ride has 4 scheduled food stops – two the first day and two the second day – there were countless roadside stands set up by various organizations offering their wares.  Some were there for free, asking for only a small donation to some local club or another, and some sold goodies for very reasonably low prices.  There were even groups set up in front yards and open spots along the route offering nothing but free cheers of encouragement to any that rode past.  It was really a great feeling to see all the folks out supporting the event.

After completing The Big Hill it was a mostly flat ride through Fort Lewis and Spanaway on to Yelm.  In Yelm we diverted off of the main road onto a beautiful 15 miles of paved trail.  It made for a great break from the noise of automobiles that had occupied my left ear for so much of the ride.  The trail was absolutely beautiful with wooden bridges over rivers and ravines – one of which passed very close to our friend Chad and Jamie’s house – which would be our resting place for the night.  After the trail we were back onto Highway 507 onto the end of day one for us two day riders – Centralia, WA.  It was rather amazing rolling into the Community College in Centralia – the official half way point – to again realize how many fellow cyclists were out for this event.

Chad picked us up in Centralia and drove us back to his place where we relaxed off the days 98 miles or so of riding with a fire, good food, a couple of beers and the opportunity to see friends that I grew up with but don’t see as often as I used to since moving to Sacramento.  A huge HUGE thanks to Chad and Jamie for hot showers, lodging and company on that first night.  It was a major mood booster for sure.

Thus wrapped up the first day.  No flats, not mechanical issues, and everything went great!  Now, on to day two.

Well, the ride is in the bag.  I haven’t got my laptop, so it will be tomorrow at the earliest for a full post with photos and all (posting from my Droid phone is kinda painful…)

A couple of quick notes, though.  The support and orginization of this ride is nothing short of amazing.  I’ll be back for sure.

So, more details after I figure out why north bound I-5 is a parking lot.

The Group Health Seattle to Portland classic is this coming weekend. What does that mean for me – it means I’m blogging from the highway (literally – while Melissa is doing the driving.) What does that mean for you? It means you can ride it vicariously through me, either here at JustAnotherCyclist.com, or by following my tweets on Twitter.

The road from Sacramento to Seattle wasn’t a straight, direct path has it has been in the past.  Started late on Tuesday night, stopping off in Medford for a few hours of sleep.  I was actually holding up on leaving Sacramento, hoping that my promised delivery of my Tour de Cure jersey would arrive so that I could take it along to Seattle.  By 7:30 pm – no jersey.  Oh well.  When I got to the hotel around midnight, I checked its shipping status:  delivered.  Figures…

However, when I woke up in the morning and stepped out of the hotel room in Medford, I found what may be one of the coolest license plates I’ve ever seen.  Not exactly sure what if anything DTWS means, but I definitely get the “Share the Road” part.  Very cool, Oregon.

We took a nice diversion off of the boring stretch of Interstate 5 known as central Oregon to head over to Highway 101 at Bandon.  Beautiful town with fantastic beaches.

Then up the coast, through the Oregon Sand Dunes, and back over to I5 just south of Eugene.

Tomorrow morning I’m looking forward to getting up and scraping the bugs that have collected on the exposed bike parts mounted on the roof.  Really didn’t expect to need to remove bugs from the hubs of my front wheels, but so be it.

Until then – don’t forget to check out the #15mpd challenge!  Join up!