Upcoming Organized Northwest Rides.

[XMcShiftersonX]

Hey Everyone -

So, I'm making training plans for STP in July, and wanted to do more organized rides to prepare. I'm planning on doing the either 40 (2000+ feet of climbing) or 60 mile (3000+ feet of climbing) route for the Daffodil Classic on April 18th, then the 50 mile route for the May Day Metric on May 2nd, then the 45 mile ride for Flying Wheels on June 12th, and of course STP the weekend of July 17th. After that I also plan to do either the 45 or 65 mile ride for Cycle the Wave in September. Is anyone else planning on doing any of these rides? Any other rides not mentioned that others are doing? Anyone done any of these rides and have advice or words of wisdom about them? :) I'm always looking for good activities!

-Jessica

[lauraelmore1033]

I've done several of the rides you mentioned but don't really have any words of wisdom to impart. Just have fun!

A free option for training rides is the Cascade Training Series which starts up in march with a ride from Magnusun to Seward part and works up to a full century to Black Diamond by July. http://www.cascade.org/EandR/Activities_Calendar.cfm?query=cascadefreedailyride

Look for CTS rides on the link above.

[malaholic]

So, I'm making training plans for STP in July, and wanted to do more organized rides to prepare.

By "prepare" do you mean prepare for the length of the ride, or prepare for the crowds? I'm guessing the latter if you're specifically targeting organized rides. If so, then you could definitely check out Cascade's website for some training rides if you want practice riding amongst a group. Of the rides you listed, I've only ever done Daffodil & Flying Wheels - Daffodil wasn't very crowded but Flying Wheels was packed, definitely an STP-like experience. I also remember it taking for-freaking-ever to park at Marymoor with all the traffic arriving for the ride. I'd suggest having an alternate parking location in mind nearby and riding to the start.

Anyway, sounds like a fun lineup you have for the season - enjoy!

[XMcShiftersonX]

By "prepare" do you mean prepare for the length of the ride, or prepare for the crowds? I'm guessing the latter if you're specifically targeting organized rides. If so, then you could definitely check out Cascade's website for some training rides if you want practice riding amongst a group. Of the rides you listed, I've only ever done Daffodil & Flying Wheels - Daffodil wasn't very crowded but Flying Wheels was packed, definitely an STP-like experience. I also remember it taking for-freaking-ever to park at Marymoor with all the traffic arriving for the ride. I'd suggest having an alternate parking location in mind nearby and riding to the start.

Anyway, sounds like a fun lineup you have for the season - enjoy!

By prepare I mean both distance and crowds! Up until now I've done most of my rides on my own or with my husband (hardly a crowd:)). And the most I've done was 40 miles with 2200 feet of climbing. I also plan to do many independent training rides, but yes the organized ones are to get used to the crowds, and just the feel of an organized ride. I'll check into the Cascade club ones, that sounds like a good idea. I also plan to do an independent century with my husband sometime before the actual STP ride. I really want to get into doing longer rides in general. For that last 3 or so years I've been riding, I haven't really been doing distances longer than 32 miles or so. Such a waste really :D!

[malaholic]

For that last 3 or so years I've been riding, I haven't really been doing distances longer than 32 miles or so. Such a waste really !

Not at all - if you're having a good time riding, and/or getting somewhere you need to go then it's never a waste, no matter how long or short the ride is! ;)

[Susan126]

Jessica I'm planning to ride in the STP this July too. I want to do it in one day. The first time I did the STP I did it in two days so I'm challenging myself this year by trying to ride it in one day! :) I've participated in many of the local rides at least once if not more. Many are very challenging. The only way to be ready for your rides is to train. Increase your distance over the weeks; if the ride you're training for has hills, train on hills. Increase your saddle time. Do 20-30 mile rides two to three times during the weekdays and a long ride once a week, usually on a weekend. And increase that long ride until you meet your goal distance.

Of the rides you mentioned I do plan on riding in the Daffodil Classic in April. And maybe the May Day Metric. I haven't decided on what other rides I will do this year. I'm sure I'll be adding to my list! :D

[MM_QFC!]

Hey Everyone -

So, I'm making training plans for STP in July, and wanted to do more organized rides to prepare. I'm planning on doing the either 40 (2000+ feet of climbing) or 60 mile (3000+ feet of climbing) route for the Daffodil Classic on April 18th, then the 50 mile route for the May Day Metric on May 2nd, then the 45 mile ride for Flying Wheels on June 12th, and of course STP the weekend of July 17th. After that I also plan to do either the 45 or 65 mile ride for Cycle the Wave in September. Is anyone else planning on doing any of these rides? Any other rides not mentioned that others are doing? Anyone done any of these rides and have advice or words of wisdom about them? :) I'm always looking for good activities!

-Jessica

Sounds like a great plan, Jessica; I've done each of those rides (except Cycle the Wave) multiple times (5xSTP - 4 as a 1-day rider) and they all provide good opportunities to enjoy supported events (rest stops, SAG support), as well as practice riding with many different groups of various experience and speed levels out on the road too. That'll help in advance of the STP when there are up to 10k of your newest cycling buddies all over the roads with you!
A couple of suggestions for your consideration: since you're planning to ride the STP in 2 days, then it'd be a good idea to plan a couple of days at least a couple of weeks before the STP, to do back-to-back training rides. As you'll essentially be riding a century on Sat and then having to get up and do the same on Sunday, I found it helpful to schedule at least 2 training rides that were long and on consecutive days, so that I wasn't totally unfamiliar with the mileage or how it felt to be in the saddle for a century on 2 consecutive days. I'm not suggesting that you have to do the exact length of the event you're training for - but I'd recommend longer rides than 50 miles. Also, I'm one of those that learned to train for mileage when riding the STP - and not focus on hilly routes; it worked well for me, as I improved my time to Portland each year (early enough to shower, get a seated massage and go out to dinner with friends on Saturday:))
CTS, with Cascade and as mentioned earlier, is a good program, helping to build mileage on organized training rides and the group experience too.
There are also rides in other areas that I incorporated into my training and really enjoyed the different scenery as well as supporting other cycling clubs: the McClinchy Mile ride by the Everett-based B.I.K.E.S. club has several routes out of Arlington (March, I think); there are various Tulip Pedal rides in April that allow you to spin past all the beautiful fields on your bike, up near LaConner/Mt Vernon; RACC, Ride around Clark County is further out - an event by the Vancouver, WA cycling club and is another really well-run ride with beautiful routes - that's in May and so is the Camano Climb- but that has more hills than you really need for STP; there are more rides in May out of Pt Townsend and also Burlington - the Skagit Spring Classic is a terrific ride.
Have tons o' fun! Tailwinds!
Mary

[XMcShiftersonX]

Jessica I'm planning to ride in the STP this July too. I want to do it in one day. The first time I did the STP I did it in two days so I'm challenging myself this year by trying to ride it in one day! :)

Awesome! My husband is doing the one day this year. I'll probably do that someday, but I've never done STP before, so I figured I should start small, haha. Well, good luck and thanks for the advice!

-Jessica

[XMcShiftersonX]

Wow Mary - thanks for all the advice! You're a very accomplished cyclist, good work! I know STP doesn't have much climbing, but I'd eventually like to be able to regularly do 5,000 feet of climbing in a day, someday. Maybe not this year, it looks like most of the rides I have planned are around 3,000ft. But I'd like to know that I could do hills on long rides just in general. Last summer I regularly did 25 mile rides 3 days in a row, etc. Of course I was on a hybrid bike at the time, so my road bike should be a little more efficient, and I'd like to up those distances. So I'll definitely use that advice and practice longer rides, two days in a row before STP. I was kind of worried how I would feel the next morning after all that work and sleeping in a tent!

-Jessica

[MM_QFC!]

Wow Mary - thanks for all the advice! You're a very accomplished cyclist, good work! I know STP doesn't have much climbing, but I'd eventually like to be able to regularly do 5,000 feet of climbing in a day, someday. Maybe not this year, it looks like most of the rides I have planned are around 3,000ft. But I'd like to know that I could do hills on long rides just in general. Last summer I regularly did 25 mile rides 3 days in a row, etc. Of course I was on a hybrid bike at the time, so my road bike should be a little more efficient, and I'd like to up those distances. So I'll definitely use that advice and practice longer rides, two days in a row before STP. I was kind of worried how I would feel the next morning after all that work and sleeping in a tent!

-Jessica

Hi again - your reference to 'sleeping in a tent' prompted me to suggest that you consider and plan for whatever lodging arrangements you make for Sat night. If you're going to camp at the halfway point in Centralia - then you may want to make a goal to get there early and stake out the best tent location for your needs (close to the bathrooms, away from the band, not in the middle of all of the other tents, etc), as it gets pretty crowded there. I used it for a bathroom and lunch stop on the 1-day and so I didn't see too many 2-day riders there yet, but I did see all of the gear trucks and piles of gear bags and tents all over, plus I heard accounts from friends who've camped there on Saturday night and they said it was very busy, and noisy. I've done quite a few AIDS fundraising rides over the years and learned while camping with 1500 others to make sure and bring ear plugs! Even when things quiet down @ 10PM or so, you're sometimes only inches from your tenting neighbor and campgrounds tend to offer a cacophony of all types of sounds at night! Also, no need for an alarm clock as you'll be awakened by lots of 'zipper' sounds in the morning: tent zippers, gear bag zippers galore!
I learned to try and anticipate, then incorporate the whole experience in planning for myself, as I've found that after riding all day, I need to shower, eat and get good rest if I'm going to be able to ride comfortably again each day. My goals were always pretty simple: train to be able to complete - safely and without injury - whatever event ride I was doing and to have fun throughout!
I'm sure that you'll have a great training and riding season; tailwinds to you!
Mary

[evangundy]

I've ridden STP 10 times - 9 as 2-day and 1 as 1-day. A good training "guide" is found on the Cascade Bicycle Clubs STP website on this page: http://cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_mileage.cfm

Scroll near the bottom of the page - the charts give you suggested mileage, increasing weekly. I haven't stuck strictly to the mileage, but used it as a guide, some weeks my miles were lower, some were higher. I found the most comfortable STP years were when my training miles were at the high ends of the suggested mileages, so these charts do help.

Some of the most important words of advice I can give is to have fun and to stay aware of your surroundings. Don't go out too fast - you'll feel burnt out later in the day. Keep smiling and have fun. There are LOTS of riders out there, can be crowded sometimes - stay aware of those around you to avoid accidents. There are probably more crashes and flats in the first 20 miles than in the rest of the ride. STP feels like a rolling party - so have fun :-)

Edna

[XMcShiftersonX]

I've ridden STP 10 times - 9 as 2-day and 1 as 1-day. A good training "guide" is found on the Cascade Bicycle Clubs STP website on this page: http://cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_mileage.cfm

Scroll near the bottom of the page - the charts give you suggested mileage, increasing weekly. I haven't stuck strictly to the mileage, but used it as a guide, some weeks my miles were lower, some were higher. I found the most comfortable STP years were when my training miles were at the high ends of the suggested mileages, so these charts do help.

Some of the most important words of advice I can give is to have fun and to stay aware of your surroundings. Don't go out too fast - you'll feel burnt out later in the day. Keep smiling and have fun. There are LOTS of riders out there, can be crowded sometimes - stay aware of those around you to avoid accidents. There are probably more crashes and flats in the first 20 miles than in the rest of the ride. STP feels like a rolling party - so have fun :-)

Edna

Cool! Thanks for that link! I printed out the mileage page along with the CTS riding schedule and plan to attend as many of those group rides as possible. I'm happy to say I already met my first week goal, but only in one ride! haha, and I'll do a little 20 miler at the end of this week as well. So, it sounds like I'm right where I should be, if not a little farther.

-Jessica

[Aint Doody]

Don't forget about the CROC over Memorial Day Week-end in Pendleton. Lotsa TE ladies and dh's have done this one. Website is www.cylcependleton.com. It's a blast.

[XMcShiftersonX]

Don't forget about the CROC over Memorial Day Week-end in Pendleton. Lotsa TE ladies and dh's have done this one. Website is www.cylcependleton.com. It's a blast.

Aww that sounds fun! Unfortunately, my husband is going to be doing the road cycling portion of the ski to sea race, that same weekend! So we're going to be up in Bellingham. It's also my birthday weekend! If anyone does it though, let us know how it goes. Maybe I'll do it next year?