Cascade Bicycle Club’s STP ride was packed with rest stops of varying sizes and shapes — many of which were mini-stops run by community groups raising money for their organizations.

First stop: REI rest stop in Kent.

As much a party as a rest stop early on.

It was sort of like being at a cocktail party. Without the cocktails.

The mini-stops were run by local groups as fundraisers. Very cool!

Nice to get a spare Clif for the jersey pockets.

We didn’t need lemonade, but how could we not stop!

His family has been providing this service for two decades during the STP.

More long-time providers – serving banana bread at the top of a hill.

The Winlock rest stop was the sight of our favorite photo opps.

What a great old building.

The Hipsta version, Take 1

The Hipsta version, Take 2

The Hipsta version, Take 3

The scene from afar.

Photographing chickens: an integral part of any ride.

One of many rooster pics we took.

Rooster and the rest stop crowd.

A nice touch on a perfect day.

Another great cause!

This is the egg.

Love the egg.

A passing train added to the atmosphere,

We started out just taking pictures of the chicken …

…. But a guy driving past told us we were supposed to get on it. So we did.

Fun for the whole family!

A little bit of home, here in Washington,

We both love old signs like this.

One of the motorcycle support crew.

At the Castle Rock rest stop.

This woman at a mini-stop was a hero, with temps in the high 80s.

The folks at each of the stops were really special. Spending time with them made the ride really personal, and they did us a huge service in return. Also hugely important were the random people along the route who clapped or rang cow bells or held signs or, a couple of times, held a hose for us to ride through as the temps hit the mid-80s.

Piper likes to go on rides and he tries to herd other riders, according to his owner.

He also likes to play at rest stops.

And Timothy is happy to oblige.

Piper, on a ride.

Bliss.

This guy and his dog were a fixture along the STP route. We encountered them several times. One of many cool sights along the way. The unicycle guy was another; too bad we got no photos of him.

Paula’s rear derailleur cable breaks for the second time in four months, third time in a year. Mile 67.

Conveniently, this happened just a mile from a rest stop and mechanics from Montlake Bikes.

Ben discovers that the shifter is the culprit, on a mission to destroy RD cables.

Great News: He has an extra friction shifter on hand. Life is great!

This made it possible to finish the ride.

The STP ride was going really well — until Paula’s rear derailleur cable broke at Mile 67 — for the second time in just few months.

Fortunately, Ben from the Montlake Bike Shop in Seattle was working his magic at a rest stop just a mile down the road. And he came up with an ingenious solution that made it possible for Paula to keep riding not only the first day, but all of the second.

This story is to be continued … stay tuned.