Sweltering Seattle to Portland bike ride draws to close

(Update: 2009 STP is on the road; pictures)

This Seattle-to-Portland cyclist is all smiles as she rides down the chute to the finish line festival on Sunday at Holladay Park in downtown Portland.

I don't know about the other 9,498 riders in the 2008 STP, but what my son and I will remember most about the 204-mile bicycle tour is the unrelenting heat.

Temperatures soared into the 90s on the final day, as cyclists dove for the cover of shade at all the rest stops and along final 50-mile stretch on US Route 30 into Portland. Many roadside households, especially in Washington state, turned out to cheer us on and spray us down with water as we passed.

Hydration (aka drinking)

As we were riding along, I was struck at how so many cyclists were stopping to replenish water bottles or take in sports drinks along the way. Most people playing it smart in this heat.

My son, a neighbor and I who rode together Saturday and Sunday were blessed by a slight tailwind as we rode south along the Columbia River in the early afternoon. I hoped that breeze held for the cyclists coming through later in the day; I remember battling headwinds on the stretch in earlier years.

At the finish line festival in Halladay Park in Portland, we remarked at our luck in not having any flats over the past two days. Ironically, the truck returning to Seattle with our bicycles wasn't so lucky. When we arrived by bus back to the University of Washington start line, we learned that the truck had broken down and the bikes wouldn't be delivered until late Sunday or early Monday.

Congestion

This is my third STP, but the first time I'd ridden in two days. Although the one-day double century is more difficult physically, I found that the congestion and long waits at the rest stops — especially the first day — can be just as energy sapping.

Our planned for 6 a.m. start on Saturday was delayed by a traffic jam entering the parking lot at University of Washington. A lot of cyclists, especially those staying in motels or homes at the half-way point, arrived by bike with light backpacks. As a camper, I didn't have that luxury.

Relaxation 

In previous trips I blew past some of the rest stops, but didn't do that this year. I lost a lot of time at Seward Park by twittering and posting live pictures. The REI stop in Kent was extremely well-provisioned, but thousands of cyclists had stopped there when we arrived. The lines for the porta-potties were 25 minutes (no joking; I timed it).

Another long stop at Puyallup before the “big hill,” but after that we got a little lucky. We stopped briefly at Roy, but passed up the line for 6 portable toilets there. In a couple of miles we came across another small rest stop at Yelm where no one waited for the toilets.

We had good luck with portable toilets the remainder of the tour. Although I was a little uncomfortable at times, it was easier to pedal than stand in line.

Route-ation

This route is better than what I remember from 2003, the last time I did STP. Although there was more congestion — with bicycles and vehicles, I attribute a lot of that with us riding along later in the day than as a one-day rider.

The best surprise came after we passed through Yelm and were directed onto the Yelm-Tennino bike trail in Thurston County. I don't remember this at all from earlier tours.

The route between Chehalis (our free camping site at the park at the edge of town) and Napavine seemed more picturesque that previous years, but we came through here early in the morning when everything looks different than the afternoon.

Fellowship

I stumbled across some remarkable cyclists among the 9,500 who registered for the bike tour, but I'm not talking about the amped up speed demons. For instance:

— The guy riding with an artificial leg;
— A unicyclist;
— The Viking-helmeted rider on the tall bike;
— The guy riding his first STP at age 71;
— The guy who hadn't ridden his bike in 30 years who agreed to accompany his wife after her friends dropped out.

I guess I should mention the pre-teens I saw stoking tandems, and the two little kids I saw on mountain bikes. And let's not forget the older guy (OK, like my age) riding the three-speed beach cruiser in Hawaiian shirt and khakis. We followed him up more than one hill.

Last but not least, I should say that I'm proud of my son. He trained a grand total of 260 miles in the past year, most of that in the past six weeks. His only complaint was the amount of time I wasted at rest stops trying to post photos to the blog. I knew he'd finish, but he did so with plenty of style.

Click a photo at left to go to more images at my flickr.com site, or visit the 2008 STP set.