The Dad Bods, Randonneurs, and Biking Ambassadors of STP 2025!
- STP Ambassador Makesi Duncan preaches body positivity and Dad Bod pride.
- Ambassador Lisa Charlebois is a long-distance randonneur who inspires others to bike “further and funner.”
- Meet the 36 biking influencers selected to serve as STP 2025 Ambassadors.
Paul Tolmé
Our 36 STP Ambassadors ride to inspire.
For the third straight year, Cascade has selected an all-star roster of bicycling influencers representing a diversity of backgrounds to serve as STP Ambassadors.
They come from across the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and from as far away as Brooklyn, united by a love of bicycling and a pledge to share their unique stories of training for and riding the 2025 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic presented by Alaska Airlines and Zenni Optical.
Cascade’s goal for the Ambassador program is to counter stereotypes and spread the message that STP is for everyone–regardless of race, gender identity, zip code, sexual orientation, body type, ethnicity, or bicycling experience.
Without further ado, meet our 2025 STP Ambassadors. If you are on social media, we encourage you to check their links and follow the Ambassadors whose stories most resonate with you.
Dad Bod Cycling
“My message is body positivity,” says Makesi Duncan, founder of Dad Bod Cycling, a nonprofit that dismantles stereotypes about bicycling and donates bikes to kids.
A 37-year-old occupational therapist from Brooklyn with three daughters, Duncan “went down the rabbit hole of cycling” during the pandemic.
With 32,000 followers on Instagram, Duncan’s journey to becoming a bicycling influencer took off when he started posting about the poor fit of cycling kits for people with big bodies.
“I got so many DMs from fellow cyclists who were six feet tall and 200-plus pounds who had the same experience.”
The company Heavy Pedal sent him a kit and it fit perfectly. “To this day I wear nothing but Heavy Pedal.”
Duncan now represents multiple brands including Specialized, Strava, Wahoo, and Zwift. He travels to a big bike event or race every month: from Cycle Jamaica, to SBT GRVL in Colorado, to the Mid South gravel race in Oklahoma.
STP 2025 will mark Duncan’s first visit to Seattle. He learned about STP from his friend Kevin Frias, aka KevDoes, a 2024 STP Ambassador. “Kevin gave a raving review of STP and how supportive and friendly and well organized it was.”
STP will be Duncan’s first double century. In addition to getting a professional bike fit, he is preparing for STP by doing big back-to-back training days.
Got a dad bod? Duncan has some secret weapons for protecting his dad booty. He applies Blackhouse Botanicals CBD chamois butter to his Heavy Pedal shorts and bibs, and he rides with a 3-D printed Specialized S-Works Power Saddle with Mirror.
“I may have a dad bod,” he says, “but I can do anything that anyone else can on a bike.”
The Randonneur: Biking Further and Funner
Lisa Charlebois specializes in randonneuring, where participants must complete courses of 125 miles (200 km) or more within a time limit while being self-sufficient and self-supported. That means carrying or obtaining food and water and fixing your own bike–a far cry from Cascade’s fully supported rides like STP.
The best-known randonneuring event is France’s 750-mile Paris-Brest-Paris, which participants must complete in 90 hours or less. In 2023, Charlebois rode through the night–stopping only briefly to rest, eat and nap–on her way to completing this grueling event.
“It’s a big celebration, like Burning Man on a bike,” she says. “All the townspeople in every little town along the route come out and cheer and give you food.”
Last summer, Charlebois rode the Midnight Sun Randonnée during the summer solstice, crossing the Arctic Circle in Norway and Sweden in 24 hours of daylight. “You ride through fjords, there are epic waterfalls and saunas everywhere,” she says.
When not biking, Charlebois is an entrepreneur who sells her own high-carb electrolyte drink mix, designed with her husband and biking partner, a food scientist. Hummingbirdfuels has just five ingredients: sugar, citric acid, sodium citrate, salt, and natural flavors.
Charlebois is excited to bike the entire 206 miles of STP in one day. About 10 percent of participants complete STP in one day, while the vast majority choose to do it in two.
“STP is one of those rides that everyone knows about. Now I get to do it in a way where I can use my Instagram channel to help people do their first one-day double century.”
In her STP “Century School” posts, Charlebois shares tips on mindset, nutrition, training, and bike setup, as well as her randonneuring exploits. “Hopefully, I can remove some of the mystery for people doing STP for the first time.”
Follow @hustleandahalf on Instagram to learn more about how to ride a double century like STP.
Volunteers, Board Members, Black Belts, and Canadians
Many of our STP Ambassadors come from Seattle and the Puget Sound region and are Cascade members or familiar faces to our bicycling community. Others come from Canada and beyond.
Jeremy Cole is our 2024 Cascade Volunteer of the Year. He’s a devoted transportation biker who has spent countless hours cleaning and removing trash and debris from Seattle bike lanes. @bikeseattle
Wenmei Hill went from an STP rookie in 2023 to a Ride Leader and Ambassador thanks to the Cascade Training Series. She’s now a bicycling social butterfly and Seattle to Portland finisher who flies uphill, pedals through the winter, and leads group rides so that others may learn from her experience. @pnw.spintrovert
Sebastien Morvan is an STP and RSVP Ambassador who hosts rides through Good Weather Bicycle & Cafe, a favorite gathering spot for our Pedaling Relief Project volunteers.
Cara Hernandez is a vegan Latina who is serving her second year as an Ambassador along with her husband, Ambassador David Billetdeaux. @caramhernandez @dbilletdeaux
Sal Ponce is an urban cargo biking dad and “Grown Library Kid Transit Fan.” @that1tech
Cascade Board Member Hanoch Yeung is the founder of Best Side Cycling and a prolific content creator who has completed STP multiple times. @bestsidecycling
Board Member Kai Shih is an STP Ambassador and family biking advocate. He and his wife have completed STP multiple times with their kids. Read our 2024 post about his son, Tai, 14, who completed STP in one day at age 13 and is an Ambassador along with his dad.
Andrew Weygandt is a big-bodied outdoor enthusiast from Portland. @uphill_andrew
Mike Baltierra says that bicycling saved his life following a family health crisis and a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. He got a bike during the pandemic and in less than a year lost more than 100 pounds, reversing his diabetes diagnosis. In 2022, he achieved his goal of riding 5,000 miles in a year. Baltierra exemplifies the mental and physical health benefits of bicycling for fitness. @bikingover50
Tammy Ross is a Canadian STP Ambassador who also rides for Liv Cycling and promotes women’s bicycling. @therealteeross
Kyle Charlson is a Cascade Ride Leader and Nuun Ambassador. @runner_kyle
Top Bananas on STP
STP Ambassadors build community during the ride by awarding Top Banana stickers to people who bring their best selves to STP. Top Bananas can be volunteers, people cheering on the sidelines, fellow riders, maybe even you!
The award is named in honor of Susan Gonzalez, who is known among STP participants as "The Banana Bread Lady." She's been baking banana bread and being an excellent part of the STP community since 1993, when her husband Gene first participated in the epic ride.
Ride STP 2025 with our Ambassadors
Join the conversation and share your STP stoke by posting STP training photos, videos, and stories on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok with the hashtags #STP2025 and #SeattleToPortland.
We look forward to seeing you on STP 2025, the People's Ride.
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