# Stp



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Who is doing it? I am doing the one day version so I guess I am staying in Seattle on Friday and Saturday nights. I am bummed about the bike delivery on Sunday morning and the fact that the first bus doesn't leave until 7 pm. I plan on leaving at 5 am so I have a number of riders in front and behind. 

I will look for a good group and try to get the first 100 with one stop. .I want to put the sketchy riders behind me. So far the weather forecast looks promising. I have had my share of bad weather STPs, I am due for a good one.


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## jcolley (Jul 11, 2007)

I'm in. Although I think I'll try to leave as early as possible so that for at least 15 minutes I can be ahead of you...


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## tyro (May 15, 2005)

I'm doing the one day it with a couple of friends. We are planning on leaving as early as possible. I've never done it before, but the other guys have done it. I'm really psyched to be doing it.


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

You definitely don't want to leave too late. There are a lot of morons that leave during the 7-8am time slot.... it seems that many of them have never ventured off the bike path, let alone on to an organized ride before.


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

bill dont worry, i wont be there. if you recall i almost killed you on flying wheels. good riding with you by the way. 

i did stp before, the one day version. it was fun. but its the same day as the death ride. your weather looks better than mine 

have a good, safe ride you all.


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## MarkZeus (Jun 12, 2008)

I will be there and planning to do a one day ride as well and early around 4:45 am. Hoping to see any of you there and looking forward to join in a good pace goup. I'm anxious and excited at the same time.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Wow, Good luck.
I really really can't understand the reason to ride that organized ride when all I ever hear is how dangerous it is with all the 'Freds' out there to avoid. Or the close-call stories or the advice to leave before dawn to avoid the crush, and on and on. There seem to be so many reasons to NOT ride Seattle to Portland on that particular day that it amazes me people will choose to do it and some even do it over and over.

Can anyone explain why it's fun to to ride that stretch of road on that one day when you have to dodge thousands and thousands of other cyclists? Why not the day after or the day before? Or any other day? Just very curious about what motivates people to pay extra for what sounds like a real cluster---.

Kudos, though, to those who ride the distance...it IS a real feat, especially in that herd...have fun and ride carefully

Don Hanson


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

kreger said:


> bill dont worry, i wont be there. if you recall i almost killed you on flying wheels. good riding with you by the way.
> 
> i did stp before, the one day version. it was fun. but its the same day as the death ride. your weather looks better than mine
> 
> have a good, safe ride you all.


You didn't almost kill me, you helped me sharpen my pack riding skills. There wasn't a car coming the other way, I just took the corner a little wider than I planned. Have fun on the death ride.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Wow, Good luck.
> I really really can't understand the reason to ride that organized ride when all I ever hear is how dangerous it is with all the 'Freds' out there to avoid. Or the close-call stories or the advice to leave before dawn to avoid the crush, and on and on. There seem to be so many reasons to NOT ride Seattle to Portland on that particular day that it amazes me people will choose to do it and some even do it over and over.
> 
> Can anyone explain why it's fun to to ride that stretch of road on that one day when you have to dodge thousands and thousands of other cyclists? Why not the day after or the day before? Or any other day? Just very curious about what motivates people to pay extra for what sounds like a real cluster---.
> ...



It's not that bad. I commute each morning at 5 am and I don't need a headlight this time of year. I am only leaving ten minutes before that. I did prefer the old days when the one day riders left on Sunday so all you had to deal with was other one day riders until around mile 140 when you caught the slow two day riders. I did the flying wheels century about a month ago and did some pack riding. The group I was in was averaging 22-23 on the flats with a few sketchy riders thrown in. A little peer pressure will force the bad riders to the back of the pack where they present a hazard to the other sketchy riders and those dumb enough to sit on the back. Staying in the front dozen riders with the occassional pull is so much easier. I am going to look for the same club that was pulling the pack along last month.


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## maximum7 (Apr 24, 2008)

What kind of pace do you need to keep if you plan to do it in one day. Say leaving at 5am?


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

did it in 06, my first serious year of road riding

start - 4:48
finish - 6:30
stopped time - 2:50 (this kills me now)
average speed 18.7

good luck!


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

maximum7 said:


> What kind of pace do you need to keep if you plan to do it in one day. Say leaving at 5am?


I plan on maintaining a 20-22 mph pace. The course is really flat past Puyallup plus the forecast is for north winds at 10 mph. At the flying wheels century I averaged 18.8 with 4K of climbing. On the flat sections, I was holding around 22-23 on my own and 23-26 in a pack. I plan on being in Portland by 4 pm. One of the secrets of double centuries is to minimize the time spent off the bike at rest stops. Get what you need, fill your bottles and hit the road.


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## TheBugMan (Nov 27, 2007)

Will be there with 3 other buddies. Say "Hi" if you see me on the Bianchi from "Lets see your Bianchi..." thread, page 9,10.


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## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

I'll be there - there'll be 12 in my group. We're expecting to get to Portland in 10 hours. half of this group did FW Century with me and averaged 19.1mph.

Say hi if you see someone on a white cannondale with a white/red jersey with white/grey shorts and a yellow camelback


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## glen campbell (Jan 31, 2008)

the day was HOT. drank lots of water and gels just to get through the day. I saw a few people on the side of the road after the bridge bonked, we tried to do it less than 10 but fell short due to the weather or maybe were to week this year, we did it in 10:19 so not so bad. maybe next year.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I finished with 10:15 ride time with a total time of 11:15. I will post over in Commuting and Touring.


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## tyro (May 15, 2005)

We left at 5:30 and finished at 7:30. It was really hot this year, topping out at about 95 degrees. I ended up with a wicked case of dehydration at the end. Nothing that a couple of bags of IV fluid couldn't help though.


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## MarvinK (Feb 12, 2002)

Did 2 day with some friends who never rode it before--didn't go particularly fast. Having said that, I think we spent less time riding than waiting in the lines for outhouses. :/

Most poorly supported STP I've been on in quite a while...


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## tyro (May 15, 2005)

MarvinK said:


> Did 2 day with some friends who never rode it before--didn't go particularly fast. Having said that, I think we spent less time riding than waiting in the lines for outhouses. :/
> 
> Most poorly supported STP I've been on in quite a while...


It did seem like I had to wait in the Honey Bucket line for a while. Outside of that, the support seemed ok, but then again this was my first STP. What has been better in years past?


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Bigbill where's your ride report and photos? Hmmmm? 

Did you post it in the Lounge and I somehow missed it?


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Bigbill where's your ride report and photos? Hmmmm?
> 
> Did you post it in the Lounge and I somehow missed it?


The Lounge???? 

No way, my pictures go in commuting and touring.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

bigbill said:


> The Lounge????
> 
> No way, my pictures go in commuting and touring.



Excellent. I will take a gander there. However, the Lounge is almost always good for some colorful and entertaining commentary.

Good job, btw. *&# miles, in one day, is wayyyy more than I could do. :thumbsup:


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## heliskyr (Feb 21, 2005)

bigbill said:


> .... One of the secrets of double centuries is to minimize the time spent off the bike at rest stops. Get what you need, fill your bottles and hit the road.


I second that. In 204 miles we took less than 35 minutes of breaks and I actually think it's easier. If you wait around too much you develop "roots" and its harder to get going again.


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