Northwest Response is thrilled to be a part of STP

Seattle to Portland Bike Ride
July 16th-17, 2022.

The Kaiser Permanente Seattle to Portland (STP) presented by Alaska Airlines Bicycle Classic is a 200+ mile ride through western Washington. Heading south from Seattle and ending in Portland, Oregon, the STP is a thrilling back-to-back double century ride through urban and rural settings.

Northwest Response will be manning Medical Station 175 in Saint Helens OR, only 25+ miles from the finish line., (yea..we know, Yikes)

The Medical supply list is dizzying, but we have an amazing support system of 30 year veterans ranging from Doctors, Paramedics and EMT’s.

 

 

History of the STP:

The first STP took place in 1979 and was a race. From 1979 – 2019, the ride took place every year including 1980 when the route was changed because of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, also ending in Seattle. In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 1981, the Cascade Bicycle Club changed the event from a race to “recreational ride”. Jerry Baker from Seattle was the winner of the first STP race.  Baker, and Paul Wantzelius from Maple Valley, Washington, were the only riders who attended every consecutive STP, until their deaths, Wantzelius in 2010 and Baker in 2015.  Despite being a cycling event people have taken part on unicycles, inline skates and two skateboarders have done it using a technique known as long distance skateboard pumping.

Participation reached a peak in 1989, the tenth year (Paul Zakar, Director‘86 to‘89) when the limit of 10,000 riders took part. In recent years the Cascade Bicycle Club has imposed a limit on the number of participants. The limit was 9,000 in 2007.

The 2010 event sold out 10,000 slots on April 26, 2010. The 32nd annual Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic was held on July 9 and July 10, 2011 and sold out the 10,000 spots in advance

In 1980 an additional ride became the annual Ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC and Party (RSVP).