Seattle to Portland Bike Ride 2023 Vlog - 200 Miles in Scorching Tailwinds with First Timers

/ strava
Time Stamps:
Introduction - 0:00
Ride Start - 0:28
The Hill - 2:22
Spanaway - 3:32
Highway 507 - 4:13
Yelm - 5:20
Tenino to Chehalis - 6:55
Chehalis Stop - 8:06
The Heat Begins - 8:28
Lexington Stop - 9:45
Highway 30 (HOT) - 10:29
St Helen Stop - 12:29
St Johns Bridge - 13:44
Approach to Finish - 15:11
Andy's Recap - 16:05
Outro - 17:35

[@jamesl.rubart8116]

Nice job! I rode the STP 30 years ago when my son was six months old. Thought at the time, "I should do it with him someday!" Someday arrived this past weekend. :) We did it in two days, had a blast, the heat both afternoons was brutal, but so glad we created the memories. Thanks for the vid.

[@BestSideCycling]

Wow that's such a great story. I'll be riding the RSVP together with my dad and it'll be on my thirtieth birthday!

[@jamesl.rubart8116]

@@BestSideCycling How cool is that! :)

[@NHX610]

These guys are being pretty humble.. they absolutely crushed it with a very impressive pace.

[@spc6000]

I've been following your videos and rides closely, and I'm really impressed by how dedicated you are to promoting cycling and your genuine enthusiasm for it.

[@BestSideCycling]

I really appreciate this comment! :) Your kind words are what keep me going.

[@odvoskin]

Was great riding with you last year and missed you this year! Heat was intense, but we were rewarded with much nicer views of the mountains this year!

[@BestSideCycling]

What did you think of this year's STP? What stories do you have to share? Any words for Andy and crew? Huge props again to Cascade for putting up this event and was super glad to be part of it as a STP Ambassador this year

[@benbomcars]

Hey that was me in pink at minute 14 sprinting up to St. John’s bridge! Love this so much.

[@BestSideCycling]

Glad you enjoyed it, are you riding it this year?

[@benbomcars]

@@BestSideCyclingsadly have an obligation this year, but hopefully next! Would love a rematch up some little hills 😂

[@tammyross4919]

Good to see you at the stops!! It was so hot.

[@BestSideCycling]

So great to see y'all too! We've overlapped a ton of events, are you planning on doing any others south of the border?

[@sklegg]

Yikes! The heat scares me. I had to abandon a 50 mile ride on Sunday because I was overheating. When I do STP I plan to start well before sunrise so I can avoid the EVIL DAY STAR ☀ (is it October yet??)

[@janetheineck2609]

You have such a great attitude!

[@BestSideCycling]

Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! It's always about the best sides of cycling here :)

[@markrosier6889]

An important point I experienced wa that I started to severely cramp and became desperate to find a source of dietary acid, idealy Baggs apple cider vinegar but only found dill pickles. The pickle alternative worked but will prepare better during '24.

[@BestSideCycling]

Great tips! Cramps is definitely an oddly personal thing but the pickle juice after the hill past Centralia was a godsend.

[@carahernandez-nw5hs]

Great recap! Has been awesome following you + great to meet you Friday. Thanks for all the info! See you next year!

[@BestSideCycling]

Great meeting you and hope you both had a great ride!

[@vuongnguyen9012]

Great to meet you at the St. Helen's stop near the end.

[@BestSideCycling]

You too man! Great ride

[@BryenGraver]

Wooo the recap is here! 7:10 it was awesome to meet ya! Looks like I have to get my hands on a BSC kit myself!!

[@BestSideCycling]

Pleasure to meet you dude! Yeah, seems like it's time for another print run. I'll keep you posted :)

[@markrosier6889]

2023 was my first STP as well. My son also rode and we did it in 2 days and for first timers it was an excelent excperience. A couple weeks ago my son Joshua said "let's do it in one day this year" and I said okay. I learned a lot during first time and this is not a good place for that so I'd love to meet you some time. I'll look for you this year.

[@BestSideCycling]

Haha yes! Let me know how I can help and hope it goes even better this year

[@05davisnj]

First timer this year saw you guys and road with y’all for a bit. What an awesome event

[@BestSideCycling]

Glad you had fun! Haha when was that, were you in black kit? I didn't notice

[@05davisnj]

@@BestSideCycling just before the walk through the grass for the cut through

[@BestSideCycling]

@@05davisnj Ahhh yes I remember your group!

[@johnwpotter]

It was HOT 😂

[@BestSideCycling]

HOT indeed but.... after what I went through with ramrod last year it actually felt reasonable 😂

[@Adventuregirl96]

Glad to see you and you friends had a good time. I was signed up to ride but I broke my arm about a month ago so I didn't get the chance.

[@BestSideCycling]

So sorry to hear that! I'm still looking forward to when we finally run into each other on the road. Get better soon.

[@archeyo]

Where did he get that Chelan Rocket Apple jersey?!

[@allanohlsen7729]

Great ride and great time getting in. I ridden STP twenty times, mostly one day rides. Yeah, hwy 30 kinda sucks, bad surfaces, rude Oregon drivers, etc. I like the Eastside hwy the best, Vader potato stop and Lexington stop. Its nice to see CBC going back to the embroidery patch. I was really turned off by the crap patch and cheap tee shirt last year, so much i skipped the ride this year. However, I regret not riding this year, heat and all. Btw, anyone wanting to ride in one day, look at is as series of 25 mile rides back to back. Take it easy until Centralia, then the real ride begins. I'm looking forward to next year's stp.

[@BestSideCycling]

Dang, wish I could have caught you on the road! Indeed the patches are a great return.

[@JeffreyThistle]

Done this ride 3 times in one day, I'm from Bellingham WA. Love this ride, but there's so many great distance rides in our state. 🙂Consider trying "Tour de Whatcom". It's 100 miles.

[@BestSideCycling]

I've heard of it! I'll make it sometime

[@QiuyuanChenRyan916]

Can't beleive how close I was to you at St Helens stop, I was right behind you but you can spot my back at 12:39, I was the white suit guy to the right of you right shoulder.

[@EJS1970]

We want to ride Ragbrai in Iowa 467 miles in 8 days on roads that have been closed to cars and we are in Puyallup

[@brianmitchell5906]

Hey, congratulations on doing it in 1 day. I was a 2-day rider and the course seemed shorter than it's been in the past, at least to me. Maybe I was just in better shape this time, I don't know. I saw someone in Centralia making a video and initially thought it was you but it looks like you were there a couple of hours ahead of me (I got there a little after 12). Good ride but I had forgotten about all the rolling hills past Chehalis. My favorite stops are the lemonade stand right before Centralia and of course the banana bread in Napavine. Looking forward to next year.

[@BestSideCycling]

Haha the course was indeed shorter due to the JBLM detour! Think it cut about 3 miles. Glad you had a great ride

[@tonytigerking]

Seriously considering doing the 1-day next year just to check that box.

[@BestSideCycling]

You definitely have the legs and I think you'd enjoy it more!

[@jamesbancroft2418]

JBLM not JLBM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord). The detour was sketchy. We did this in 2017 as well. It's a little shorter but definitely sketchy.

[@BestSideCycling]

Thanks for the correction. Haha I realized it right after I uploaded, definitely what happens when I want a quick turn-around for these videos. Makes sense

[@jamesbancroft2418]

@@BestSideCycling The highway was a great pace line but really tight with traffic. I was glad to get off that stretch.

[@Sivah_Akash]

Didn't realize that streatch was the JBLM detour. It was actually much better than the US 30 part!

[@BestSideCycling]

Haha yeah it wasn't too bad in the morning but I heard all sort of responses

[@OvrLpdIO]

Awesome work! What's in the front of your bike? Is that a Garmin? Did you use any salt tabs or powders like LMNT?

[@BestSideCycling]

It is a Garmin edge 1040 and yes I use Maurten Drink Mix which is basically maltodextrin (carbs) + some light electrolytes.

[@CyclingCauvin]

The detour was really bad when I got stuck behind a large group that had a lot of yoyo/free wheelers. I just dropped them and a new train formed off me until the mini stop.

[@sameoldcircus]

That heat was a killer and highway 507 later in the day was awful

[@QiuyuanChenRyan916]

Yelm to Tenino is allowed to use the road before 10AM.

[@JustinDoesTriathlon]

11:20 Seems like you're one of a very few people in arm sleeves. I am a *massive fan* of arm and even leg sleeves in the extreme heat/sun. Suncream is great for 2 hours, but 4-5+++ hours? Physical barrier all the way.

[@BestSideCycling]

I am a huge fan of arm/leg sleeves for 3 reasons. The sun protection, bug bite protection (I get rekt without them) and I actually do find the white sleeves to have a cooling effect on super hot days!

[@JustinDoesTriathlon]

@@BestSideCycling Haha, sounds like it's you and I keeping the sleeve manufacturers in business! :D

[@austinwheeler4431]

I live in centralia

[@BestSideCycling]

That's great, what is it like having the STP once per year?

[@gl1tch4x60]

I'm about to ride STP for my first time, I'm 15 and I'm trying to find a group to ride with. Any suggestions?

[@BestSideCycling]

One day? Two day? What kind of tips are you looking for?

[@gl1tch4x60]

@@BestSideCycling One day, I wanna try to find a group and am worried about the time cutoff

[@GotDamBoi]

I went for a run in Puyallup around 11:00 this day and man....every cyclist I saw looked completely cooked. It was so hot lol

[@BestSideCycling]

Yeah it was definitely a tough day.... Good job for getting out there

[@mikebaltierra]

that detour around JBLM sucked especially after Roy at the train tracks - I had a crash cause someone cut in front of me as i yelled "passing on your left" - guess he thought it meant "moved to your left"

[@BestSideCycling]

Good point. Didn't get footage of some of those brutal tracks! Sorry to hear that.

[@mikebaltierra]

@@BestSideCycling the crappy part was we were hauling (_!_) and we caught up to the day one riders and this mishap set me back about 10 minutes and then again another 20-30 at the Tenino and Centralia stops to get bandaged up. Bright side is knocking off close to 2.5 hours from last year's total time

[@CyclingCauvin]

someone hit a pothole after the tracks and double flatted + cracked carbon rim

[@mikebaltierra]

@@CyclingCauvin there was plenty of carnage on day one - within a few minutes of me eating 💩three others wrecked someone near Vader got clipped by a car and went down (saw the aftermath - ambulance ride)

[@stevetakahashi279]

Too bad that the sponsors didn't pass out cooling towels. Those make such a difference on those really hot days especially on the back of your neck.

[@BestSideCycling]

Washington Potatoes did give some out! Probably wasn't ennough for everybody but I can be seen using it at Lexington

[@ambrosethomas5339]

Are you going 2024

[@BestSideCycling]

Yes

[@ambrosethomas5339]

@BestSideCycling I want to do this one instead of okanagan. I hoped maybe meet up with you guys first timer