Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Suggested changes to bike for Seattle-to-Portland (one day)

I plan on riding the Seattle-to-Portland (204 miles) in one day. Currently, I'm riding and commuting on a touring bike that has racks, fenders, and panniers. The ride is supported, so I plan to get rid of those. The bike is a Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30, steel frame, Mavic A319 wheelset, 700cX28mm Kenda Kwest tires with Mr Tuffy liners, and pretty typical touring bicycle gearing (52/42/30 crank and shimano hg-50-9 cassette 11-32.)

I'm not looking for speed. I just want to finish the ride in one day. I'm wondering if I should change out the wheel set. I have some Mavic Open Pro wheels with ultegra 6600 hubs (32 spoke) and continental grand prix 4 season 23mm tires. How much of a difference is changing out the wheel set going to make in rolling resistance, weight, and speed vs. the comfort of the existing wheel set? I'm a clydesdale (225 lbs) so I think I need a wheel with a spoke count of at least 32.

Would you make these types of changes to the bike if this was your goal?

Man, I dunno. I'd get rid of the tire liners. Why wouldn't you run the Open Pros? Or better yet, since the ride is in July, why not try both and see what you like for long rides? First time I did it, I ran 1-1/4 X 27" tires with liners. Took me frigging 16 hours. My butt felt like I had sandpaper in my shorts. I still can't stand to wear those shorts. Kinda like the time when I was 16 and got drunk on Sloe Gin. Still can't stand the smell of the stuff.

Pull off the racks and fenders will certainly help. The other changes really seem like a comfort thing - you will likely have less rolling resistance with the thinner tires, but it's probably not going to be a huge difference and it may be less comfortable. And on doubles, comfort reigns.

Weight probably isn't going to be a big factor. IIRC, STP only has about 2000 feet of climbing over the whole distance.

Pull off the racks and fenders will certainly help.

I don't know, the Pacific Northwest can be pretty rainy. May want to keep the fenders.

I keep fenders and lights on my long distance bike most of the year.
If its going to rain for most of the ride, fenders will make you more comfortable.

Narrow tires aren't necessarily faster.

Personally I'd ditch the rack, panniers, tires and liners.
I'd ride the Open Pros, with 28mm Conti GP 4 Seasons. (this is what I run on my LD bike)

Run the tires at a pressure that you are comfortable on - probably not near the max on the tire.
I run mine at 85-95, maybe 100 at max.

Get a seat bag or handlebar bag that will hold essentials for a long day on the bike.

I don't know, the Pacific Northwest can be pretty rainy. May want to keep the fenders.

I hate to encourage more people to move out here, but summers in Seattle are pretty dry. It's not uncommon to go through all of July without any rain.

It's the winter that has continual drizzle, along with a fair bit of the spring...

I talked with the owner of the LBS here and asked him about the proposed changes. He said, "get a nice rolling 28mm tire, get rid of the liners, racks, panniers, and the fenders can be a last minute decision based on the forecast." He was nice enough to trade me straight across - my 23mm continental grand prix 4 seasons for the same tire in 28mm. He advised me that comfort would be the most important thing on a long one-day ride like this vs. the extra 1-2 mph that I might gain in speed.

And the weather in the Northwest... AWESOME. No place better July and August! Last year we had 1/100th of an inch of rain over a period of about 45 days from the beginning of august to the middle of september. But, we do make for it in the late fall and winter. Riding through this rain this year has been brutal. But hey, with raingear.. at least you can still ride!

"And the weather in the Northwest... AWESOME. No place better July and August!"

Shhhhhh! Not so loud. ;)

Start training now to dial-in the comfort issue. STP in one day is a pretty good huff, even taking it easy. Things change.

With the weight of you and the steel frame bicycle combined, I wonder if any changes in speed/rolling resistance by swapping out the wheelset would be almost too small to measure. I concur with the suggestions to lose the touring equipment and go with a 28 mm tire. As I have said before, and based on my experience in doing STP on both the one and two day plan, I think the real key to success is to find a bikefit/shorts/saddle combination that allows you to sit on the bike for hours in relative comfort. All else is frosting on the cake.

Has anyone switched the position of their bars to a more upright position for a long distance ride vs. shorter training rides?

Has anyone switched the position of their bars to a more upright position for a long distance ride vs. shorter training rides?

Yes. Until recently, my bars of choice have been North Roads with the grips even with the saddle. I'm probably the only person you will ever see with these things on both a roadified MTB and a tour bike - and going long. For grins, I just bought a used set of Midge bars to try on the MTB, and the seller kicked in a set of Nitto 115's. So, I put the Nittos on the 520, raised the tops level with the saddle, and they work well. First drops I've ever liked. The Midge bars are still on the workbench because the NR's are so comfortable.

Has anyone switched the position of their bars to a more upright position for a long distance ride vs. shorter training rides?

One of the advantages of an adjustable stem is allowing for a quick and easy change to the rise of the bars. I know that as I have gotten less aerodynamic in middle age, I have adjusted the stem to allow for a more upright riding position these days. I rarely drop it back to a lower position any more.

I keep fenders and lights on my long distance bike most of the year.
If its going to rain for most of the ride, fenders will make you more comfortable.

Narrow tires aren't necessarily faster.

Personally I'd ditch the rack, panniers, tires and liners.
I'd ride the Open Pros, with 28mm Conti GP 4 Seasons. (this is what I run on my LD bike)

Run the tires at a pressure that you are comfortable on - probably not near the max on the tire.
I run mine at 85-95, maybe 100 at max.

Get a seat bag or handlebar bag that will hold essentials for a long day on the bike.

I'm with you on running that tire set-up. That's want I run on my bike for doing doubles and triples. It made a big differance in the comfort level.

I'm going to go out on a limb and opine that none of the changes you are considering will matter regarding whether you finish or not. While there are various things that may result in a slight increase in speed, you are not going to manage any real significant extra distance as a result. Obviously, there's no need to carry any extra weight around, but we're talking about a 250 lb total weight. Cutting a pound or two isn't going to make any significant difference.

Since you are just trying to finish, it's a safe bet that you aren't trying to set any speed records. therefore, you'll be riding a fairly slow speeds where small aerodynamic improvements don't buy you much. so no sense buying Aero wheels and such. Aero bars would be the biggest improvement IF you can get low enough in them and stay there for hours at a time. Big (wide, not tall) guys have difficulty getting low enough for aero bars to help a lot without their legs hitting their stomach. Don't ask how I know this.

If you are concerned about the ride, then concentrate your efforts on bike fit (comfort is king here) and riding lots of long miles in preparation. Are you regularly doing centuries yet? And learn to eat enough food so you don't bonk. Bonking is bad on a double century - I can tell you this with great certainty).

Oh, and if you can bribe someone at the national weather service, try to arrange a tailwind. That would be money well spent. ;)

Are you regularly doing centuries yet?)

If I was "regularly" doing centuries... I'd not be worried about being able to complete a double century by mid-july. I've never done a century... so I guess I'm not too "regular." I don't feel like I've really tested my limits yet on a distance ride. So far, I put in about 75 miles a week commuting, a 20 mile mid week ride, a Saturday ride of about 40-60 miles and sunday 20-40. I hope to increase the distances on the longer rides in the coming months.

I'm pretty comfortable doing rides of 45-60 miles at a 15 mph pace. That's on my own, with a little heavier set up than I plan to have for the STP. I'm hoping to get into a group (a slow one) that has the same goal as me and hopefully we can pull eachother along. In three weeks is when I plan to do my first century - self supported, so i'll be carrying my own food/water, tools, clothes, etc with racks and panniers. I fully expect that it will be raining. I'm still looking at that as a training ride so I'm not concerned about the extra weight on the bike. We'll see how that goes, and if it goes good, then I'll plan on doing at least one century a month (double metric planned for May) until the STP.

I'm pretty comfortable doing rides of 45-60 miles at a 15 mph pace. That's on my own, with a little heavier set up than I plan to have for the STP. I'm hoping to get into a group (a slow one) that has the same goal as me and hopefully we can pull eachother along. In three weeks is when I plan to do my first century - self supported, so i'll be carrying my own food/water, tools, clothes, etc with racks and panniers. I fully expect that it will be raining. I'm still looking at that as a training ride so I'm not concerned about the extra weight on the bike. We'll see how that goes, and if it goes good, then I'll plan on doing at least one century a month (double metric planned for May) until the STP.

Sounds like a reasonable plan. Good luck and let us know how your first century goes.