gweeg said:
Hey there!
I am planning on riding the Seattle-to-Portland ride this year in honor of my fallen brother.
Does anyone know if there is a course profile available?
Short of that, do any of you have experience on this ride and can you tell me what is the worst I can expect in terms of hills?
What is the average temperature in mid July...
Any and all input would be appreciated, I want a little heads-up knowledge before I get there...what to expect...what kind of roads and support...biggest baddest hils....and so on
Thanks, have a great ride!
Greg
The STP ride is mainly an 'ass factor' ride as it's two centuries back-to-back. The ride will be mainly flat to rolling, with only (IIRC) two hills of any note which are moderately steep but quite short.
From Cascade Bike Club's website:
Total distance (miles) 202.25
Uphill distance (miles) 30.87
Uphill altitude (feet) 1,951
Maximum altitude (feet) 463
As you can see there's not much altitude gain. The 31 'uphill' miles include mostly going up the rolling terrain.
The support is nothing short of fantastic, with SAG everywhere and plenty of food and rest stops. The riders are treated very well. The main concern is just the sheer number of riders, just you and 8,000 of your friends.
My advice to you prior to the ride (I've done it twice, first when I was 59 and again at 63) is get plenty of hours in the saddle and DO NOT change anything position-wise on your bike close to the ride. During the ride, be prepared for crowded riding conditions for the first two hours (it thins out a lot after then), carry en route nutrition with you along with any kind of liquids you may use, be prepared for weather ranging from rain to pretty warm sun (though not usually hot).
It's a really great experience, one that I will do again. You will see riders that will do the
entire ride in 8~10 hours, and you'll see very young kids riding with their parents. Riders pulling a trailer with their large dog in it, really old guys (older than I) , riders that have done the ride every year (26). The STP is very well organized with a lot of support from the communities along the route.
Have you seen the route map?
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_routemap.cfm Also the STP training plan from the Cascade Bike Club:
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_mileage.cfm