STP July 14-15 2007

[colby]

There is Red-Spoke, Redmond to Spokane put on by the Redmond Rotary Club. It takes 5 days and from looking at the route it actually sounds pretty nice - they go over route 2 to then down through Grand Coulee to get to Spokane.

"Rotary Club of Redmond welcomes you to our Redmond to Spokane bicycle adventure. Started in 1988 as one of the club's fund raisers, this event is known throughout the bicycling community as the premier ride of its kind in the Northwest. With the sun in your face and the wind at your back, experience fun, excitement, fellowship and adventure on this 300-mile ride across beautiful Washington State. Enjoy the splendor of the Cascade Mountains, the majesty of river canyons and the beauty of rolling wheat fields. This premier, fully supported ride is limited to the first 100 riders." www.redspoke.org

Wow, only 100 riders. A Highway 2 ride would be WAY more scenic than I-90, and 5 days to cross might give you enough time to actually enjoy it.

They should do a Bicycle Washington tour like Bicycle Idaho and Bicycle Oregon. I suppose you could do your own if you linked STP, RSVP, and this all together

[Dianyla]

They should do a Bicycle Washington tour like Bicycle Idaho and Bicycle Oregon. I suppose you could do your own if you linked STP, RSVP, and this all together

This kind of exists already in the form of RAW.

[bikerHen]

I am adding STP to my goal list for 2007. But so many negative thoughts. Is it really that bad? I would be in the two day group, I don't think I could even hope to go that far in one day. A local riding club is getting a group together for next year. I've been getting excited about it, but now I'm not so sure.

Would this ride be to much for a humble dryside person? The biggest I ride I've been on to date would be LRRH. I think there were about 1000 riders . . . and it seemed fairly under control.

The other ride I want to try next year is the Chilly Hilly. Any coments on that? The chilly I can handle. It's the hilly that worries me! bikerHen

[salsabike]

See Jim Carson's web page for many ratings of STP ("would you do this ride again?") and you'll get a better idea of people's experiences with it. There are many people who love it and do it year after year.

http://www.northwestcycling.com/x/ri...cgi?ride_id=71

[Dianyla]

I am adding STP to my goal list for 2007. But so many negative thoughts. Is it really that bad?

I'd say that for a lot of us it's really not that bad, it's just "Been there, done that, got the tshirt!" And then there are those who totally love doing it every year and have a big ol' party.

You won't know until you do it at least once.

[Kano]

They should do a Bicycle Washington tour like Bicycle Idaho and Bicycle Oregon. I suppose you could do your own if you linked STP, RSVP, and this all together

So, I was reading this whole thread -- this must be the time of year for thinking about bike trips etc for the year, cuz just yesterday I was looking at the SPIN Idaho pages to see if the new calendar of rides is out yet (it's not) and when I got to this message, I thought:

Funny you should mention that

two of the links were for the Bike Idaho and Bicycle Oregon rides and look what I saw when I clicked the link:

http://www.oregonbicycleride.org/

You got your wish this year, Colby!

Karen in Boise

[colby]

So, I was reading this whole thread -- this must be the time of year for thinking about bike trips etc for the year, cuz just yesterday I was looking at the SPIN Idaho pages to see if the new calendar of rides is out yet (it's not) and when I got to this message, I thought:

Funny you should mention that

two of the links were for the Bike Idaho and Bicycle Oregon rides and look what I saw when I clicked the link:

http://www.oregonbicycleride.org/

You got your wish this year, Colby!

Karen in Boise

Hey!! Thanks for sending the link, Karen! I'm going to check the calendar and see if I can go. It sounds awesome.

[Aint Doody]

The Bicycle Idaho Ride this year is in Washington, but it's already full! They opened the regisitration right at the end of December. It's a great ride. Sandy Greene says that they are taking a wait list. I highly recommend this ride. I'm going again.

A great place to look for rides in the Pacific NWest is www.bicyclepaper.com

[Susan Otcenas]

two of the links were for the Bike Idaho and Bicycle Oregon rides and look what I saw when I clicked the link:

http://www.oregonbicycleride.org/

Jeff & I are signed up for the Oregon Bicycle Ride. The Idaho/Washington ride looked good too, but the timing of OBR worked out better for us. I got an email this morning saying that there are only 60 spots left open on OBR, so if anyone is on the fence, you might not want to wait too much longer!

Susan

[Susan126]

Thanks for the input MM_QFC, I will definitely put my ticket up on the board around June. I'm sure I will have no trouble finding someone. Hopefully next year will be my year for riding in the STP . . . AND . . . MAYBE . . . doing it in one day?! Dare I try?

And mimitabby . . . are you really going to ride in this year's Century Apple in Wenatchee? I will look for you!!!!!!! I believe you when you say, "When it's hot . . . it's HOT!" Joe and I went to Leavenworth one Memorial Day weekend and brought along our road and mountain bikes. We did a 60 mile road ride and it was in the 90s! We were beat at the end of the ride! We crashed in our hotel room after the ride and slept for about 4 hours straight. The heat really took it's toll on us. Then the next day we did a mountain bike ride with friends up Devil's Gulch and around Mission Ridge I thought I would pass out from heat exhaustion about 3/4 of the way up. Luckily for us a man in a huge truck took pity on us and gave us a lift the rest of the climb. We only had 2 miles to go of the 14 mile climb but I don't think I would have made it. We have done the ride many times before no trouble but the heat that May really was horrible and we were not used to it. Plus we started late. When we do the ride we normally start around 7 AM but that day we weren't on the trail until almost 10:30 so we hit the hardest part of the ride, the climb, during mid day heat!

Thank God for kind strangers!

Hey it's supposed to be sunny and upper 40s today! When I get home from work (I get off at 2:30) I am going to take my road bike out and go for a spin around my area. Get my sunglasses out! He he