Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic: July 13-14 Weekend
VOLUNTEERING
It’s fun!!! Grab a friend, a neighbor, a partner, or a spouse, and sign up for a shift together! The choices for volunteer positions are narrowing, but the best spots are in route safety, where you will get to see the riders come in during your shift. You can cheer for them, share their excitement, and simultaneously serve a vital role in keeping riders, spectators, and fellow volunteers safe at the finish line and along the finish-line chute. It’s exciting to cheer the riders in, and you’ll be doing the very important work of making sure pedestrians don’t walk in front of cyclists, and that cyclists stop when the light is red. Even though the riders are so close to the finish line, they still must follow the traffic signals. Or you may be staggered along the finish-line chute to encourage exhausted cyclists to clear the way. Even though they’ve already crossed the finish line, more cyclists continue to roll in behind them, and your friendly reminder will prevent pile-ups. ✎
There are four different shifts:
- Saturday 3:00-6:00 PM
- Saturday 6:00-9:00 PM
- Sunday 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
- Sunday 2:30-7:00 PM
There are only two vacancies left in route safety on the Sunday afternoon shift, so if you’re wanting a guaranteed spot with someone, be sure to secure your preferred time while there are still two together. There are also only two opportunities together on the Saturday shift from 3:00-6:00 PM. However, there are still five spots on the Saturday evening shift from 6:00-9:00 PM and seven spots on the Sunday morning shift.
A different position you may enjoy is volunteering in baggage in the exhibit hall of the DoubleTree Hotel. Riders coming from Seattle are not required to pack their gear on their bicycles with them. They are able to send their belongings not needed for the ride ahead on trucks. When the trucks arrive in Portland, the heavy lifting is done by our Westview High School athlete volunteers who sort everything that has been labeled by rider number into rows by thousands. For example, if a rider’s number was 2972, the rider’s bags would be in the 2000s row. As a volunteer, later when riders arrive, you will help riders locate the correct baggage and compare the number on each bag to the number on the rider to make sure the bag is indeed theirs and not a lookalike. Again, if you’re wanting to volunteer in baggage with a friend, there are only two vacancies left together on Saturday, from 6:00-9:00 PM, and only two vacancies left together on Sunday, from 2:30-7:00 PM. However, there are still three vacancies Sunday morning from 10:00 AM – 2:30 PM.
If you are feeling ambitious, team leader positions are still open for both route safety and return bus transportation for riders headed back to Seattle on Saturday and Sunday.
PERKS
There will be a traditional pizza party Monday, July 8, before the long weekend, for volunteers to meet their team leaders. You will receive a colorful T-shirt to identify you as a volunteer, which you have the option of picking up at the pizza party or at the park on the day of your volunteer shift. When you check in at the volunteer booth before your shift, you will receive a food voucher to redeem at one of the many food vendors in the park.
SIGNING UP
Join in the festivity! It’s fun, and your club needs you. This is the largest multi-day bicycling event in the Pacific Northwest and a major source of income for our club.
Sign up online at SignUpGenius. There’s no need to log in. The volunteer positions are organized by columns, starting on the left. Everything that occurs on Friday will be first. Next, it’s sorted by location, in alphabetical order. Once you find the day you want, then look for the time slot, in the third column, as you scroll down in search of the ideal position. There are still three vacant leadership positions (look for ALL CAPS). Let me know if you have questions about navigating SignUpGenius.
If you prefer to skip the online experience, I can also sign you up. Just let me know what you’d like to do.
Thank you in advance! You will be so appreciated – by the STP finishers and by your club!!
For more information, contact me at [email protected].
Lynn Blanchard, STP Volunteer Coordinator