The STP bike classic began Saturday July 12 under a cloudless star studded Seattle sky. I lined up with several hundred other riders to be in the first wave out of Husky stadium parking lot. We wound our way down side streets, across lake union and then south along Lake Washington blvd. Temperatures were near perfect for biking, just under 70 degrees and low humidity.

It was somewhat dicey for about the first 15 miles or so as riders who pictured themselves in their own Tour de France were dodging in and out of the main bulk of riders. I did pass several altercations but none of them appeared serious.

Did I mention that at the start I lined up next to a young gentleman who was doing the ride on a large wheel unicycle!! He had a set of aero bars complete with a cycle computer attached to the seat post. At 10 mph his legs were a blur, can't imagine doing that for 200 miles..

As the ride continued south toward Kent and Algona we could see Mount Rainer in the east. Its snow capped peak back lit by the rising sun and a wisp of single cloud trailing from the peak in the breeze. The only significant hill came at about mile 44. Compared to the rolling hills around here it was not much to take on. All those training rides I had done with the club paid off. Riders were moving in loosely organized groups and pace lines for the first 100 miles. Food and water stops were well organized, staffed, and stocked with fruit, bagels, veggie wraps, muffins, H2O and power aid. The free food stops were spaced about 40 miles apart with community sponsored stops in between.

The first 100 miles were good. I made the half way point just after 10 AM and decided to reward myself with a longer break than I had taken so far. As I pulled into the food stop at Centralia the wind started to pick up to more than the slight breeze we had up to this point. The weather forecast had predicted a low pressure front would move in from the coast on Saturday. It seemed the last half of the ride was going to be more work.

From Centralia to the bridge across the Columbia river at Longview was way more work. The wind was gusting and at times my speed was down to 12 mph. I think it would be fair to say the wind was similar to that which the club had on the Tour of the Palouse ride, which I missed by the way. By now the riders were spaced quite a ways apart. The terain is not as flat as people say it is. They have their own version of rolling hills, not like the palouse but not flat either. At times I was riding alone with no one in front or behind as far as I could see.

Across the river and in to Oregon. We turn south east and the wind is now at more of an oblique angle so not directly in our faces. By this time the cloud cover has become solid and I can feel a few drops of rain. It never did really rain which I was thankful for. The road is relatively flat for the last 30 miles. It was along highway 30 which does get a lot of traffic. My only mechanical problem was a flat at mile 170. No sooner had I pulled over to the side of the road to fix the flat when one of the Honda Goldwing riders pulled up to lend assistance. They were patrolling the entire length of the route to lend assistance to those in need. He all but changed the flat for me, he even had a portable compressor. Flat fixed and I continued on. I did catch up to a larger group of riders 20 miles out of Portland and continued the rest of the ride with them.

We passed under the bridge that the STP used in previous years to get to the finish. The bridge was being worked on so we had to continue an additional 10 miles to the new finish line. The ride organizers said that this years STP was the first time the ride was over 200 miles in length, 206 to be exact. We passed some residential housing on our way in to Portland and then through a business district. While waiting at one of the stop lights we watched the police pat down some individual outside the front door of a bank. Perhaps he forgot to pay his over draft fee???

The finish line was at Holladay park. I was glad to see the banner and the lines of people cheering us on. I was met by my wife LeeAnn who was glad to see that I could still walk after 12 hours in the saddle.

I really enjoyed the ride. I saw bib number 7645 so I know at least that many people had registered. It was well organized. We were well fed and had plenty of support on the road. I would recommend it to anyone.