The 35th Annual Seattle to Portland Classic bike ride leaves the Husky Stadium parking area Saturday morning as 10,000 people start a 202.4-mile journey to Stumptown.
The ride, which was once a time trial, has become something of a legend. People come from all over the world to participate. It’s by far Cascade’s biggest event of the year, and has been sold out for months.
Some people do the ride in one day, while others sleep in Centralia, Napavine or Castle Rock to break the ride into two days.
If you aren’t riding, you can still swing by the starting line or find a spot along the route to wave and cheer everyone on. Riders will start in waves every ten minutes or so starting around 4:45 a.m. and going until 7:30 a.m. Below is a map of the start in Seattle. You can find a more detailed map in this PDF or you can get GPS data here:
More details from Cascade:
10,000 cyclists will be coming through your community this weekend for the 35th Annual Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. The Group Health STP is the largest bicycle event in the region with 10,000 riders, a quarter of whom will tackle the 200+ mile course in a single day.
The route begins at the University of Washington and traces beautiful back-country and low-traffic roads down to Portland, where riders and their will families celebrate at the Holladay Park finish line festival.
Full route available at www.cascade.org/STProute
Not only is the STP a fun and challenging ride for cyclists, the event leaves an indelible positive impact on the communities through which it passes. Group Health STP riders strive to be courteous and give back to the communities hosting us.
Fundraisers along the route help support charitable organizations and clubs like Human Response Network and the Tenino High School basketball team.
STP facts (2013 data):
• STP riders come from 45 states and 6 countries; 8,100 riders from Washington and 1,200 from Oregon • 62 cyclists have ridden STP 20+ times; 309 have ridden 10+ times
• The first STP was a time trial race from Seattle City Hall to Portland City Hall. It was won by Jerry Baker, who has ridden every STP since.We thank drivers along the route for their extra care and patience this weekend as we visit your community. We look forward to sharing the road with you.
Comments
16 responses to “The 35th Annual Seattle to Portland bike ride leaves UW Saturday”
The first time I rode this I was just amazed at the number of bicyclists in the region. One wonders why we don’t have more support for bicycle infustructure given the numbers.
Well, this draws people from all over; it’s not like all these cyclists are from one city.
As is the case with many things in America a very loud and angry minority (in this case anti-bike but could be anti-gun control, anti-abortion, etc…) takes control of policy from a very passive and unmotivated majority.
If you go to a public meeting on any proposed bike infrastructure project you will get to meet these angry people firsthand who are fighting back in the “war against cars” as well as their threats of unemployment, uncontrollable debt, illegal immigration, and even terrorism due to more cyclists in the community. They will also quickly contradict themselves and say that nobody in Seattle cycles so the infrastructure will never be used so they shouldn’t be able to take away their road space and parking.
There’s far from unanimous support for infrastructure even among supporters of cycling. Seattle and other cities have in many cases poisoned the well with miles and miles of hazardous, substandard facilities that put people in danger and make people uncomfortable. Many people who might support infrastructure if they believed it would be done well are afraid we’ll end up with more Second Avenues, more Broadways, more 4-5 foot bike lanes next to 7 foot parking lanes.
because there are not that many all of the time. Only that many for STP.
Have a safe ride, everyone. Take it easy and ride defensively from the start. The times I’ve ridden I’ve passed several crashes before leaving the city limits. Drink lots — it’s going to be 90+ on Saturday.
Have fun, you crazy kids! And remember: you can’t reapply your sunscreen enough.
[…] Watching the bikers on Hwy 30 participating in the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride. It’s really fun to watch the thousands of riders passing […]
This is a really great event. You really do need to educate your riders to ride in the bike lanes only. I was traveling west bound on highway 30 between St. Helens and the Long View bridge when several times, oncoming cars, semi-trucks and motorhomes that were traveling eastbound with the bicycles, would have to come over into my lane and crowd me out. This makes for a very dangerous journey. At some point there were bikes riding 6 abreast. I can truly see why drivers are getting upset at bicycles. Please RIDE SAFE and Share the road !
It must be very frightening for bicyclist to ride along highways. You should look into a different route for every ones safety or close the roads during the large events. And remember when you have a stop sign or red light, You need to STOP.
Bike lanes are not always safe to ride in. In several places along the rout there was debris, loose metal grating, dangerously-sized potholes, or the bike lane suddenly disappeared or was grown over by vegetation. As part of our driver education in this country we need to instill a respect for cyclists. Trust me – cyclists want to ride safely but we’re often literally caught between a rock and a hard place.
Trust me I do understand about the bike lanes with debris. Single file is mush safer than several riders abreast. I ride a bike and live in the country with no bike lanes. I choose to be safe and ride only on roads or paths that do have lanes for bikes and never ride out in front of semi-trucks or vehicles larger that myself. Lets not be the fault of a terrible accident.
Horse Hockey! I just finished riding the STP, yesterday. I witnessed some extremely unsafe riding practices and at least half of the cyclists taking over the road as though they owned it and to heck with the motorists!!! I think when we cyclists begin respecting motorists, motorists will begin to respect us. I GET SICK AND TIRED OF FELLOW CYCLISTS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE MOTORISTS! We are supposed to share the road, not take over it. So Sean, riders riding 4 abreast is simply not acceptable. I see that happen both on the Centennial Trail that runs through Snohomish County and the Burke Gilman Trail too — and there is simply no excuse for that. If you are safe riding and being considerate to motorists, as a cyclist, believe me — you are a minority. I watch fellow cyclists run stop signs and stop lights all the time — like it’s the cool thing to do. Well, it’s not. It’s a great way to get killed accidently by a m0torist — because there is no way we cyclists can compete against a motor vehicle. We need to foster a deep respect for motorists. Besides — do you think we are being considerate putting a motorist in a position like that? They don’t want to hit us anymore than we want to be hit. The most rude and self centered people I have ever met have been these hot shot, “spandex” cyclists whose primary goal is speed. Speed does not make you a good cyclists. Common sense, and maturity, does.
My husband thinks that if we, the bicyclists pay an extra tax to improve the bike lanes, that we would all be safer. And I do agree.
Was there to see my son/daughter-in-law August 17-22. Clair says I would do very well in / compete very well in this ride. Was surprised as she has never seen me ride a bike before. Having looked at this site I can not find $ price, dates of next year…. Please help.
Thanks
Look for information on next year’s ride late this year or in January. Registration fills fast. Cascade members get priority, so if you are determined to ride you should join Cascade.