Quote Originally Posted by XMcShiftersonX View Post
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