marqueemoon

I really do think you have plenty of time to prepare, especially for doing it in two days. My gf and I did together in 2005 in two days, and it was the first time doing the ride and day one was the longest ride to date for both of us.

She got some very good advice to stay in Vader after the first day. There is very little to do in a small town anyway, and riding more miles the first day insures that you will sleep better. I was pretty much out light a light the minute I hit that wrestling mat on the gym floor. Even if you feel crappy the next day (I didn't) you have put more miles behind you the first day so the second day will be shorter.

I did my second STP and first 1 day STP this year. I did quite a bit less training than I planned. My longest training ride was about 110 miles, and a lot of the rest of the training was doing a 4 mile loop near my house with one nasty hill and a stretch of flat with a wicked headwind. I'd do 5 or 10 repetitions a few times a week after work or on Sunday evenings, and go on one or two longer rides on the weekends.

I found the hill repeats to be very helpful. The terrain in the last third of the ride is more rolling, and while the much touted Puyallup hill is no picnic it's those smaller hills later in the ride that can really get you down because you're more tired. I'm not talking about any kind of hard core fast climbing, but just learning your body and the gears and being able to get into a rhythm with it is important.

The last aspect of it is the crowds. I definitely recommend doing a few organized group rides just to get used to the feeling of riding in a larger group.