boog

I have recently made a commitment to biking more and riding less. This started out with me commuting to work (~12 mi round trip), and in just over 2 months has led to me selling my car to raise money for bike gear! Gotta have rain gear here in the NW.

This is turning in to a very powerful addiction, to the point that I am planning to enter this years Seattle to Portland ride. 206 miles in two days, or farther then I have ridden in two days ever. In my youth I was in a school bike club, and the longest ride was 60 miles.

I know that, with the right training regimen I will be able to make the trip with relative ease. My question is what would be a good training regimen? I know that the club that organizes the ride (Cascade Bike Club) also runs several training rides, but my work schedule keeps me from joining in on them, so I need to do alot of this on my own.

If any members have done this ride, or similar ones, and has any input, it would be greatly appreciated, to say the least! I don't expect to be the first one done, but I do want to finish!

Thanks in advance
boog

DXchulo

What's a normal riding mileage for you right now? You want to start there and slowly but surely build on that mileage. I'm sure you'll get some suggestions about what percentage to increase, but just use common sense and listen to your body. Don't try to do too much too fast. It's going to take time and patience.

ngateguy

Hey way to go the STP is a blast I did the last 3 this year I am doing the RSVP instead. The first year I did it I started the training rides about this time of the year. I tired to follow the recommended mileage they have on the Cascade site and I did very well the first time out. I only went on one training ride, bailed and trained with a freind on my own. This is a very achievable goal and is really easier than you may think. Just don't push yourself to hard and listen to your body Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

Here is a link to Cascades site. Good luck and have fun

boog

My normal mileage is 10-25 miles a day, and it wasn't that high when I started. The longer milage days are usually days off or days that I know I'm not going to be to busy at work. I work nights in a coffee shop/wine bar and have a pretty good idea of when I need to be sharp and when I can be a little bonked from a ride before work. Thanks for the link to the Cascades site, I'll be checking there for recommended mileages, and I will try to get in at least one of their training rides, with a little luck.

I think I have recruited a friend to do the ride with, or at least do some training with. I'm also planning a few "mini-tours" to add some new scenery to my normal around town riding. I think this weekend I'll ride along the path over the I-90 floating bridge into Seattle. I'm not sure what the exact mileage is for that route, but it sounds like fun! I try and plan trips that put me close to a friend or family member's house, so I have a place to stop and rest before getting on with my ride. I'm working up to visting a friend in Federal Way, about 20 mi. each way, as a short term goal.

I'm glad Metro has racks on the fronts of buses so I can bail, if I can bring myself to do so!

boog

coastie1975

You have no idea how much I miss the Pac Norwest........I'm stuck down here in mofo Southeast Texas. Ho-Hum. Anyways good luck on your ride all I can say is take your time and enjoy yourself. That is alot of mileage in 2 days if your not ready for it. What kind of bike do you have?

mfreyman

The plan on the Cascades site looks good.

Just work your way up the mileage ladder and stay consistent, especially making sure you do back-to-back days of long rides. If you start your training plan now or early January, you should be just fine by the time the event comes around, and you can work your way up more gradually if needed. Also, make sure you take recovery weeks every 4 weeks or so (reduce your mileage alot for that week and make the rides easy).

While you're increasing your mileage, you'll also need to experiment and get comfortable with your on-bike hydration and nutrition -- you'll need to find a sports drink or two that work for you, as well as some "snacks" or food that you can tolerate and provide enough energy on the longer rides. You might try some of Hammer Nutrition's products like HEED, Perpetuem, Hammer Gel, and Hammer Whey (here's the link: https://www.e-caps.com/ ). Even if you don't use their products, they have some good information on their site regarding hydration, nutrition, and recovery.

Good luck!!

ngateguy

The kick off ride for training is the Chilly Hilly in February on Bainbridge. You should try and do some organized rides so you can get used to riding in a pack.

mwbirren

I've done the STP a number of times myself (3 times in 2 days, 2 times in one day), an plan to do it again in 2005. The site recommended mileage building up to the big day is a good start, but I looked for other organized rides to help build up the mileage. Start early though, its easier to build up slowly than to make up for lost time.

The first time I did the one-day ride, I just about killed myself. I didn't do the recommended mileage, invited a gal I was beginning to date to join me at the hotel the night before the ride (big mistake, didn't get enough sleep (if you know what I mean)), then got on a paceline I had no business being on, and didn't drink enough water. I bonked at about 115 miles and it was slow going the rest of the way!

Second time (older and wiser), I came closer to the recommended training mileage, carb-loaded appropriately (had been doing lo-carb through out training), drank plenty of water, wasn't tempted by the pacelines speeding by, and stopped more often to drink/eat/stretch. Only side-effect I had was I lost some feeling in my left hand for a couple of weeks (improper riding position I presume).

If you've never done STP, stick with doing the 2-day ride. It's fun, and even though they'll give you a map to follow, you'll never pull it out as there are always bikes ahead/behind to keep you on the right path.
Good luck

boog

Well, so far I've been doing the recomended milage, more or less. Work and what not make the days vary a bit, and I do commute 5 days a week, so it adds a few extra miles I'm trying to figure out when I can make a few group rides in the area to get used to the pack thing. Lots of people have recomended the Chilly Hilly, so if every thing goes as planned..... Who knows, but I will make the STP and a few other group rides in the area before hand.

Thanks for all the great advice/info, the people on this forum seem very helpful! I've picked up alot just from reading as many of the previous posts as I can, and I'm loving it!

boog

derrickito

i just found this thread searching google on "training for stp".. good find.

im just looking at starting my training routine for STP also, going to be my first one. a friend of mine from Critical Mass and i are doing it together

we've just started planning some training routes. going to do our first this saturday along the north lake washington loop (UW burke to bothel to kirkland to i90 to seattle) 40 or 50 miles or so.

if we dont get snowed out this saturday, you're welcome to join us. we're planning times right now on this site https://www.livejournal.com/community...ikes/9784.html

boog

Thanks for the invite, I'll be bookmarking that site so I can try later to make one of these rides. My problem is my work schedule, tuesday thru saturday nights, keeps me from making alot of these group rides. Soon, I hope....

derrickito

we'll be doing those lake washington routes on sunday mornings from now on. check that site www.livejournal.com/community/seattlebikes for times, we'll be posting on there

we also do regular thursday night rides around town. meet at 7pm westlake center. nothing too rough or fast on thursdays, just regular neighborhood riding. come along on one of those too if you like