Movement is medicine.
Cody Kellems, 41, of Yelm, has used cycling as a remedy throughout his life. Long days at his job at Tacoma Glass Manufacturing inflicted back pain. He feared heart problems, which run in his family. He desired to keep up with his 10-year-old son and support him through his athletic endeavors.
No matter the diagnosis, the medicine was always the same.
Movement. Specifically, cycling.
Kellems grew up with a passion for cycling, first learning to ride a bike at around 6 years old and dreaming of one day taking part in the 207-mile Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic, an event his neighbors in Rainier used to participate in annually.
More than three decades later, Kellems hopped on his Cannondale CAAD10 bike and embarked on the STP ride for the second year in a row from July 11 to 12. He finished the largest multi-day bicycle event in the Pacific Northwest in just over 14 hours across the weekend, about two hours faster than his debut last summer.
A Google Maps directions entry from the University of Washington in Seattle to Holladay Park in Portland — the start and finish points for the STP — estimates about a 19-hour bike ride. Kellems upped his speed from around 13 mph last year to around 18 mph this year.
“It was an amazing experience. I’m gonna keep on doing it until my legs can’t do it anymore,” Kellems said. “It’s an adventure and a half. You see things from the road on a bike that you don’t see from a car.”
Cycling is not just an activity that Kellems takes up every summer for the STP. It’s a lifestyle. In fact, in the month of May, he biked 1,358 miles and finished in second place in the Bike Everywhere Challenge out of the nearly 1,100 participants who logged their miles throughout May. During that time, the bicycle was his everyday mode of transportation to work from Yelm to Tacoma, biking around 21 miles each direction for two hours per day. He leaves for work around 2:45 a.m. every morning to make it to work by 5 a.m. Then, after work, he hops on the bike for sometimes another two to four hours per day.
Kellems’ journey in his second STP began at the University of Washington at 4 a.m. Saturday, alone at the start line about 90 minutes before the sun rose. Nothing but him, his bike, and 207 miles of road.
“It’s nerve-wracking. The hardest thing about being a cyclist is walking out the front door because you’re all by yourself. It’s just you and your bike,” Kellems said. “If you’ve got a problem, you’ve gotta be the one to fix it. It’s all on you. When you’re taking off from Seattle knowing you’re two hours from home, you commit to it. It’s a nervous feeling, but it’s also exciting because you’re embarking on an adventure that not many people out there choose to do. If you do it and you complete it, it’s stories for days.”
The nerves subsided once Kellems caught up to some other riders near Lake Washington, and he found his own pace with them. He made stops at a variety of small towns on his trip south, including hitting the hills of Puyallup, watching children cheer for the riders in Rainier, supporting the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in Tenino, and drinking pickle juice in Napavine.
Kellems’ first day of the STP concluded around 4 p.m. in Kelso, where he retired for the night just a five-hour ride away from the finish line at Holladay Park. He left the hotel for the final stretch at 9:30 a.m. Sunday after a good breakfast and made his way down the Lewis and Clark Bridge over the Columbia River, one of his favorite memories from the second day. Kellems also traversed down the St. Johns Bridge over the Willamette River in Portland before crossing the finish line around 3 p.m.
As euphoric of a feeling as it was to complete the STP, Kellems felt a pit in his heart. Last year, he rode with longtime friend Will Montoya, who inspired Kellems to get a bike and participate in the STP, which reignited his passion for cycling. But Montoya was unable to take part in the event this year but plans to join Kellems next year.
“I didn’t have him to ride with me this year, so it was a big change to go solo. It was a big achievement to cross the finish line alone because you tackle something alone that you didn’t think you could do,” Kellems said. “Not having my buddy with me was really tough because there were some times that I didn’t have anybody there next to me to talk to. You’re just listening to music in your headset and you’re thinking and talking to yourself and pushing yourself. Onto the next 20 miles and the next 50 miles. Keep pushing. Crossing the finish line and being there alone, it was like a huge pat on the back.”
Montoya was also responsible for Kellems participating in the Bike Everywhere Challenge in May. Kellems said Montoya “pushed me more than I could push myself.” Next summer, the duo not only want to complete the STP together again, but they want to finish in one day.
“On the first day, I did 10.5 hours and I got all the way to Kelso, and I knew I was only a few hours away,” Kellems said. “I knew I could’ve pushed myself, but you take a gamble when you’re doing big rides like that. Next year, I now know what to prepare for. I know how to prepare myself.”
Kellems hopes to take his 10-year-old son on the STP ride next year in a tandem bike to inspire him to chase his dreams.
“He’s been eager both years to do it, and if I get a tandem bike, it’ll push him over the edge to want to ride with me,” he said.
Kellems is well on his way to becoming a member of the STP Hall of Fame, which a cyclist can accomplish if they finish five STP rides. But he admits he may need an upgraded bicycle for the next three rides, as his Cannondale CAAD10 has been pushed to the max. He purchased the bike off of Facebook Marketplace for $500 two years ago, and it has been the anchor behind his successful STP rides and the Bike Everywhere Challenge.
Kellems bought the bike locally, one of many reasons he thanks the local community for its support in his cycling journey. He credited Dylan Muhle, owner of Yelm’s Rides Bike & Board, as well as Rent-A-Center and the late owner of White Horse Tavern Kyle Phillips for their support of his STP ventures.
“The support and the help from this community has been above and beyond,” Kellems said.
The bike has also been how Kellems has lived up to his mantra of “Movement is medicine,” a phrase he picked up from following his friend and former Freedom Training Center owner Melanie Medlock, a Yelm resident, and her content on social media.
“I 100% stand behind that phrase. I lift glass every day. I work for Tacoma Glass Manufacturing. I’ve been there for 10 years,” Kellems said. “I’ve had back problems, and ever since I’ve been riding my bike back and forth to work for about a year, the back problems went away. After 207 miles, I’m already out there riding my bike as a recovery ride. That’s what cyclists do. If you’re really eager and passionate to be a cyclist, that’s what they do. That’s their job.”
Kellems’ next challenge is the Great Cycling Challenge in September, and he aims to honor his late friend Myles Minker by pledging to ride 400 miles and raising awareness for children’s cancer. He hopes to raise $2,500 to support Children’s Cancer Research Fund to allow the nonprofit to continue its work toward finding a cure for cancer.
“Cancer has hit hard in my family. It’s taken my best friend,” Kellems said. “Kids should be able to enjoy their life and not have to sit there and have chemo or cancer. If I can use my passion of cycling to create awareness and bring money in some way, shape or form to find a cure for cancer, I will do it.”
To learn more about Kellems’ participation in the Great Cycling Challenge and to donate, visit https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/CodyKellems.
