2016 Seattle To Portland Ride Report

While I’ve talked a lot about the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride in the past, I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it this year. Luckily David Bussey did – and completed it in one day. David is a long time friend of JustAnotherCyclist.com, and was also one of the core members of the VeloReviews online cycling community. I’m excited that David agreed to share his experiences from the 2016 STP.

STP where virtual meets reality

By David Bussey

The decision

I ride with a group of guys with an interactive online cycling “game” called Zwift, where you ride your bike in the game, and as you pedal faster thru ant+ speed or power meter and cadence your in game rider rides faster.  This game launched beta in late 2014, I got an invite approval in April 2015, still early in the process. This group of riders races together, does 62 mile weekly endurance rides, and we use an audio app that lets us in essence have “race radio”.  We have gotten to know each other but not IRL (in real life).  Well, late in 2015 we began talking about getting this group to meet up for a ride, maybe STP [Seattle to Portland]. Some had done it in prior years some (myself) had not. We decided to give it a go, and to do the 205 mile ride in one day. What? Keep reading →

Seattle to Portland: The world’s best group ride

STPAs 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.

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Washington State Still #1 According to Report

600px-WTO_protests_in_Seattle_November_30_1999Ahhhh 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. Keep reading →

UPDATE: Seattle To Portland 2011 Registration

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 calendarsLast time was a blast – can’t wait for this year.

South Seattle Cyclists – Be Heard!

The Cascade Bicycle Club are not only responsible for the great Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, but also do amazing work throughout the greater Seattle area to improve life for cyclists.

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Seattle to Portland set for July 9, 2011

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.

2010 Seattle to Portland: To the finish.

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.

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2010 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic: Check!

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.

Photo by Brian (@poptopvw)

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.

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Seattle to Portland quick recap

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 long road to Seattle

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…
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