I’m on the train back to Seattle from Portland, relaxing a bit from spending the whole weekend on my bike.

This was my third time doing the Cascade Bicycle Club Seattle to Portland ride. It is a 207 mile ride over two days (or one day if you’re crazy). This year had 6400 riders.

I really love doing this ride. My first time was two years ago and it’s been a highlight of my summer ever since (I did a zine from that first ride that you can read here:  https://www.aholton.com/let-s-ride-a-bike). It is always amazing to me that I can leave my house on my bike and then go visit another city in another state. This year will also be the first time that I’ll do the entire trip without getting inside a personal vehicle (usually we’ll take at least one Lyft in Portland).

This year the weather was amazing, and made for a really enjoyable ride. The last half day along Highway 30 wasn’t just going from rest stop to rest stop trying to keep my bottles full and drink enough water. I actually felt good at the end of the ride 🙂

The day after Seb from the Good Weather rides back in Seattle did a recovery ride around town and it was really nice to have a casual time riding around and talking with some of the others who stayed down in Portland. Got to explore a bit on my own and do some tax free shopping. Got some bike goodies and zines from Sim Works and a Mothership module from Dark Future

STP is a really special ride for me. I decided to do it the first time during a pretty rough time of my life, and because of that I’ve gotten connected with the very special cycling community we have in Seattle. It’s given me a lot of new friends and really opened my eyes to what bikes can be. And it’s always super fun going on a bike ride with 6400 other bike friends 🙂