I like to do STP (Seattle-To-Portland) every 3 or 4 years, just to see what the kids are up to and how the ride has changed. The part I dislike though is the logistics of getting home. Biking all that way and then climbing into a car and sitting in traffic for 4 hours is a big turn-off.

I had decided get a hotel room and ride back on Sunday, or at least get close to home before calling the wife for a pick-up. Then I decided I could do much better than the STP route, which is mostly flat and does a lot of navigating through South Sound communities that I am unfamiliar with so I mapped out this route which threads the volcanoes and skirts the majority of the Seattle megalopolis.

https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=Portland,+OR&daddr=45.8437362,-122.5297722+to:46.1354975,-122.0090321+to:47.3327464,-121.919311+to:Issaquah,+WA&hl=en&ll=47.197178,-121.522522&spn=1.554559,1.853943&sll=47.357432,-121.920776&sspn=1.549858,1.853943&geocode=FfyhtgIdERyw-CkndKl9CwuVVDGRhdH25rk2HA%3BFRiFuwIdFFiy-CnVRXRvx0qUVDHkuo6j50ktWQ%3BFcn4vwIdOEq6-Cm7KPnWcYWWVDF2GX_I1D-w9g%3BFYo90gIdsai7-Cnb7LH6vIuQVDEFkEEgFSTWLQ%3BFXVA1QIdFe65-CmjgofJf2WQVDE8I_CEcoZk5w&oq=iss&dirflg=b&mra=dpe&mrsp=3&sz=9&via=1,2,3&t=m&z=9&lci=bike
Saturday went well despite a fall onto my shoulder due to a sudden turn in a group. I got into a lot of fast groups and got to Portland at 3:30. The hardest part of the return trip was deciding whether to go or pull the plug. Forecast was for very hot. Saturday had hit 108F on my bike computer but I woke right at 4:15 and decided to give it a go. The other difficulty was navigating out of Portland. I spent a half hour or so trying to sniff out the access over the I5 bridge. It was very poorly marked and hidden inside a park, the antithesis of the rest of Portland's bike infrastructure which is ubiquitous and very well-signed.

The day was amazing. Miles and miles of quiet roads through all the fading logging towns of southwest Washington. The weather was unexpectedly overcast, perfect considering I was expecting to wither under the hot sun. I was nowhere near as fast however and ran out of daylight 15 miles from home. Sorry no pics, didn't think I'd have time so didn't take a camera.
It definitely gave me appreciation for the 24hr mtn bike racers and the rando guys who ride all day and all night. But I was pleasantly surprised that on the 2nd 200mile day in a row, the legs were still turning 20mph on the flats to the last mile, a special day.