Pacific Northwest - Seattle to Portland

Pack light, in a motel you won't need much, put it in a pack pack, don't forget a suit if they have a pool. In Seattle at the start you put your bag on the truck going to the town you'll be staying in. You pick it up at the truck and take it on your bike to the motel or camping spot, and take it back to the truck in the morning. Pick it up at the end.


but i think they are taking it only to a city or 2..so if you wanted to stay at the 120 mile marker you might not get your luggage???????

Do I want two front rings or 3? Do I really need all those gears?

i did it in 2005 on a 14x40 fixed gear (in two-days, mind you). it took some training to not die doing it on this bike, but if it can be done on a fixie, seems that just about any bike will do. i even saw some peeps on tricycles, a guy on a UNICYCLE, and i've heard talk of a skateboarder that supposedly finished the ride!

as for the 1-10 rating, i'd say it depends on how far you've ridden before. if you've only done 10 miles at one time, i'd say it's a 10. if you've done 60-80 miles before, then the two day option shouldn't be more than 5 or 6.

hope to see you 2007!

Has it stopped raining yet? We all know it rains in Seattle, but this seems absurd.

Maybe by July in time for the ride. I hope to make it this year.

It's my commuter, mtb, 26" wheels, flat bars w/ bar ends, brooks, fenders, rack. I'd leave the headlight at home, put a bottle in the bottle cage rather than the battery.
I'd remove the fenders if the weather looks at all promising, no need for excess wind drag on a 200 mile ride. I'm assuming you already have the 2.0 big apples for commuting.

While big apples would work very well, if your going to buy tires just for the STP, I would get some 1.5"-1.75" (about 38-45mm), high pressure(around 70psi), slicks with the correct width tire liner.
Though, I can't say for sure that you would feel a noticeable difference when the ride is over.

I'd remove the fenders if the weather looks at all promising, no need for excess wind drag on a 200 mile ride. I'm assuming you already have the 2.0 big apples for commuting.

While big apples would work very well, if your going to buy tires just for the STP, I would get some 1.5"-1.75" (about 38-45mm), high pressure(around 70psi), slicks with the correct width tire liner.
Though, I can't say for sure that you would feel a noticeable difference when the ride is over.


Cool, thanks.

I am actually running 1.5s right now, and planning to switch to the 2.0s in January. I don't think I've had the bike out for longer than 20 miles at a stretch (30 miles in a day maybe), so the prospect of 102 miles (give or take) in a day is pretty alien to me. People I know who do this kind of thing tend to do the strict road-y/race-y thing, which I am coming to find is... optimized to tolerances that I will probably not be approaching, so I find myself wondering just how far the other way I can push it.

Anyway, even if I like the 2.0s, I could still see switching back to 1.5s if that seems to make sense by the time July comes around. I'd have done some longer rides w/ the 2.0s by then, so I'd be able to make a more informed decision than I can right now.

Try different tire pressures too. Sometimes I find that the smoothness provided by a lower tire pressure on a rough surface can more than makeup for any extra resistance it would create on a smooth surface.

With both tires at the same pressure, and made of the same basic construction, the narrow tire will absorb more bumps and be more aerodynamic. The wider tire (same pressure and all) will roll slightly easier and have a higher max load capacity. The crossover between rolling resistance and wind drag making the bigger difference seems to happen around 9-14mph depending on the tires, road surface, and bike/load in question.

MTBs don't generally use skinny high pressure road bike style tires, because at the high pressure they would sink into the soft surfaces, and at low(30-45psi) pressures that grip well and won't sink, the skinny tires don't have the load capacity.(They would squish flat.)

The crossover between rolling resistance and wind drag making the bigger difference seems to happen around 9-14mph depending on the tires, road surface, and bike/load in question.

That's interesting to hear. I seem to average 13 mph on my commute, 17mph when I just go for a spin, no panniers and not as many road obstacles (right now my commute features a few ~120 degree turns and one tree to carry the bike over).

but i think they are taking it only to a city or 2..so if you wanted to stay at the 120 mile marker you might not get your luggage???????

then what luggage would you even need????????????

i have been trying to get 3 rooms, and no luck so far. a lot of them won't take reservations until feb 1st. that is when the cascade website will also list lodging. there are 6 of us and we will probably try for one of the smaller towns south of centralia/chehalis as some of you have suggested. got to get it done soon, tho. i have registered and asked to have my packet mailed to cut down on the hassle. i am also a senior citizen (proud senior citizen, may i add) and this is my first long ride. capsicum seems like the kind of guy to get to know, and has some very good points. i have been invited by my local lbs to ride in this thing, so here goes.....:) hope to see you there.

Rain heck what we have had is monsoon and the sunsets at 4:00 PM what a load. I know one thing I'm gonna be a snowbird when I retire cause if I didn't have a job I would slit my wrists ( I'm only half kidding) Now on top of all the crap we have had its supposed to snow. Riding in the warm weather seems like its only a dream although I know this too shall pass and worst of all Ohio State is losing right now and I'm bummed about that, think I'll go put in an hour in on the trainer maybe I can dream of the STP while I'm breaking in my new Brooks. sorry to be so maudlin but I need some sunshine I hear Palm Springs is nice this time of year :)

what you need is someone to make a video of the stp so you can watch yourself ride in the sun next winter. probably be some videos out there.

Rain heck what we have had is monsoon and the sunsets at 4:00 PM what a load. I know one thing I'm gonna be a snowbird when I retire cause if I didn't have a job I would slit my wrists ( I'm only half kidding) Now on top of all the crap we have had its supposed to snow. Riding in the warm weather seems like its only a dream although I know this too shall pass and worst of all Ohio State is losing right now and I'm bummed about that, think I'll go put in an hour in on the trainer maybe I can dream of the STP while I'm breaking in my new Brooks. sorry to be so maudlin but I need some sunshine I hear Palm Springs is nice this time of year :)

Come to NYC, it was 72 and sunny on Saturday. Who needs Florida????

I'm checking this board because I'm already registered for STP, my favorite ride from when I lived in Seattle.

I really want to do the STP in one day but I understand that it is important to use "a group" ride to be able to complete without too much pain.

Are there any clubs in Portland that are specifically training for this event? Thank you, I know about the link page in cascade website or google... Any actual group riders on this thread that would be able to recommend a place to go and start riding?

I commute everyday 10 miles, long rides in week ends solo (~50 miles), weekly average 70/100 miles

204 miles in a day is an exciting goal...

Hey, can I do the STP in one day? I was commuting daily (15 mi roundtrip) until November '06 when the rain began and haven't really been back on the bike since. But I'm starting again tomorrow. The longest that I have ridden is 50 miles... alone... not in a group. It took me about 3 hours. I just sold my race/road bike because the riding position is too agressive and not so comfortable for long rides. I'm getting a steel touring bike today that will be about 8 lbs heavier than the bike I had been riding (total weight about 27 lbs.)

As far as the bike goes... it has 28mm tires, should I switch them out for 23's or 25's for the STP? I plan on taking off the racks and fenders for the STP also. Training... I plan to keep commuting 4-5 times a week 15 miles round trip, a 20-30 mile ride one evening a week, and a 30-80 mile ride on the weekends. There is a 126 mile one-day ride in mid may that I plan to do also. I've never ridden in a group but a friend of mine tells me that I can probably pick up 3-4 mph by riding in a group. I guess I should go on a few of the local bicycle club rides to get some practice doing that (they have them once a week during the week.)

Is my plan reasonable? I my bike a good choice for the STP? Give me some help and advice to reach my goal.

I'm trying to figure how to adapt GH's recommended training mileage to my commute schedule:

http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_mileage.cfm

My commute is 13 miles/day, and I get in a bunch of lunchtime rides (13 mile out-and-back), as well as various errands. But that doesn't really do anything for butt conditioning, so it seems that while I have several 26 mile days/wk (though not 26 miles at once), I need to work something out for those days that are pretty far beyond any amount of riding I can do on a typical day.

I guess I wonder about the relative importance of the weekly mileage goals, most which are close to my normal about-town riding, vs the absolute in the saddle time of 50+ mile days (27 of 63 suggested training days).