STP 2008 - Seattle to Portland Before The Sun Goes Down

326 km (203 mi) done! So it's not a 400k brevet over mountains, but it was still a challenge. And lots of fun. Great weather, good scenery, and mostly good roads - the 2008 STP.

Here I am finishing in Portland at 5:44 PM, very glad to be out of the sun, and done.

I'd flatted just outside Kelso, and the old tube wouldn't fit anywhere else, so I threw it over my shoulder. 
You know, like how they did in the old days:

My Approach to the STP

I had a goal to finish the ride at least faster than how long it took last year, which was 14.5 hours (7:30 PM) finish time.

I didn't really plan on going faster per se, just getting off the bike less. This ride is so organized that there are plentiful rest stop every 20 miles or so. You could bring no money and probably get by on this ride! In fact since (most) riders pay $80+ to do this ride, that's what you're supposed to do.

But now that I've been getting into the rando scene, the prospect of treating this like a 300k brevet was what I had in mind. Meaning, I would skip just about all of the official rest stops, try to minimize off-bike time, etc. I thought I could do it with stopping only three times, which was a little too bold - but I ended up only stopping about five times during the ride:

• 100 km: Roy, bought water w/ ice, gatorade, cinnamon roll, peanuts at a gas station (~10 minutes)
  
• 159 km: Centralia, half way - ate free ice cream, PB&J sandwich, and an orange slice. Only spent about four minutes here (last year was more like an hour at the half-way point). This rest stop was crowded with other riders, in the usual mayhem of strangers that is the STP.
• 168 km: Chehalis, more water w/ ice, chips, peanuts, jerky/cheese combo pack
• 230 km: Lexington area, stopped at a gas station, enjoyed some more ice & shade
• 299 km: Scappoose, bought water, mountain dew w/ ice. Sat in the shade for a few minutes.

The Ride

I left the house at about 4:25, and since I did a last-minute seat position change on the road, I knew I wasn't gonna make the official start at Husky Stadium - so I just followed Roanoke down to where the route goes, cutting off maybe two miles of the route. At about 5 AM I joined the riders, passing just about everyone I saw at 35-40 km/h (23-25 mph) - yeah, too fast for a reasonable start to a double century!

At about Seward Park a mini-peloton of about 10-15 riders caught up with me doing 40+ km/h - and thought I didn't hop onto the paceline right away, I ended up catching up to them and following a wheel or two for a while. The group ended up being split on Rainier Ave, and all of a sudden just four of us were left.

Eventually a guy in a full Garmin-Chipotle team kit (complete with crash-scars!) caught up to us, as did a few other random riders. While my plan was to avoid big pacelines altogether and do this ride more or less solo, the opportunity to cover so much ground at once just couldn't be passed up!

The Hill

At "the hill," a 300-foot climb that isn't all that bad, our average was just above 32 km/h or 20 mph! I've never averaged 20 for more than a half-mile, so this was a real surprise! But I knew my body couldn't push it like this forever, and I took it pretty easy on "the hill" in Puyallup.

Our little group split up pretty well at that point, and I never saw the Chipotle guy again. At the top I kept it solo for the most part, and just ignored pacelines that shot past.

I skipped the big rest stop at about 50 miles, and I'm pretty sure the guys that were ahead of me stopped at it. I kept on pedaling, skipping the crowded parking lot and long lines, in favor for pushing another 10 miles for topping off a 100k (62 mi) and getting supplies at a convenience store. The fast paceline I'd ridden with earlier passed me here, but I let them go. I'd decided that from this point on I was on a solo ride, more or less.

So for the next 10 miles I kept a pace of only 25-28 km/h (15-17 mph), and was mostly being passed. But I'd end up seeing just about all of those jerseys again, and even though many pacelines came by at their 40-45 km/h pace, I held off and just rode on.

Mostly because I didn't want to ride above a comfortable pace, and blow it too early. Or maybe I'd already done that.. But not stopping all that much meant that even thought many other riders rode faster than me, I kept seeing them again, and again.

Centralia - Half Way

Only stayed here for about 5 minutes, compared to the hour or so we spent here last year. Rolled out with a guy on a Ramboullet, who also rides with SIR! It's a small world I guess.

The Rest of the Ride

In between Chehalis and Winlock, I ran into a guy in a red jersey that I'd ridden with briefly on the Barlow Pass ride a few weeks ago. While riding with him, I saw a small black bug flying towards me, and it came straight for my neck! It must've been a bee, because the damn thing got stuck in the front of my collar, and stung the shit out of me! The pain wore off after a few minutes, but I'd forgotten how much those things hurt. Luckily I'm not allergic..

Just before Kelo/Longview, I was thinking to myself about how I'd flatted at a particular corner last year, and was glad not to have flatted yet.. So guess what happens about a minute later? Yup, flatted. No big deal, but I did find out that I was riding on an already-patched tube, and that my spare tube had a short stem on it, which my semi-aero Ksyriums don't work well with. Should've checked that before I left the house I guess..

I spent at least 20 minutes fixing this flat, far too long for a simple tube change, but with the short stem on the tube, it was a challenge pumping it up correctly. While I was fiddling with it the original fast paceline I'd ridden with 100 miles earlier, now with 10 more riders in it, passed me! I even heard one of them remark, "Hey there's that one guy."

It was the classic tortoise & hare scenario, but this flat ruined any chances of finishing before them. Not that it matters, but it makes for good pacing!

With the flat fixed, I rode on to Longview, and was really happy to hit the Lewis & Clark bridge, which meant about 80 km (50 mi) to go. I, for some reason, sprinted up the bridge, passing a bunch of people. Guess I was in my favorite riding terrain: tilted.

After the bridge I stopped for more water/ice, and bought some food I never ate. I hadn't really had a real meal by this point, and my stomach was protesting for sure. Left the store just behind a rider with a McDonald's team kit on - looked like a racer. Let him ride away though, I didn't want to do someone else's pace. But I figured I'd see him again.

The Last 50 Miles

The last stretch of the STP (Highway 30) is strip-mall hell, with five lanes of traffic. But at least at this point you know you're close to the end! I stopped in Scappoose for more supplies, and spent a while recovering from the sun here. Talked a bit with a local rider, who was asking about the STP. I didn't say anything, but at that point my stomach was turning, and I felt kind of queezy. But I answered all the questions, and enjoyed some ice water. "Laugh on the battlefield, cry in the dojo," I think is how the old saying goes.

The last 30km were slow but steady, and I saw quite a few familar jerseys (people that had passed me earlier in the day) go by. But I was ready to be done, for sure! Had this been a 400k I certainly would have had to stop for real food, but I plowed on.

Coming into Portland I saw the familiar sites like that bridge you cross to get into Downtown. While I felt slightly ill, I looked at the time and knew that I'd met my goal for this ride, and had cut off 1.5 hours from last year's time!

Thanks to all the riders I rode with, all the support staff, and Cascade too - I'll be out next year, with a goal of cutting off even more time! 

Timeline

Left Seattle at 4:45 AM
Arrived in Roy, WA at 8:05 AM
Centralia College at 10:15 AM (100 miles, 161km, roughly halfway)
Scappose at ~4 PM
Finish in Portland at 5:44 PM

STP Ride Stats

Distance: 323 km, 201 mi

Time: 13 hours overall

Average Rolling Speed: 28.6 km/h (17.7 mph) (This was 31 km/h at the halfway point, and 30 mk/h at 150 miles - those last 50 were much slower than the rest, for sure)

Flats: 1

Rest stops skipped: 15

Snakes seen: 1

STP Hit and Run - Driver Caught

I was just watching the local news when a story about a cyclist hit by a car during the Seattle-to-Portland ride:

NEAR GOBLE, Ore. -- A Seattle man and two other cyclists were injured in a hit-and-run accident while they were participating in the Seattle-to-Portland ride on Sunday, according to Oregon State Police.

Police said a 1999 Jeep Cherokee was driving on Highway 30 when it crossed the fog line and collided into a cyclist around 9:22 a.m. Two other cyclists collided into the fallen man and his bike and were also injured, police said. [link]

Sounds like the hit cyclist suffered 'serious injuries,' probably some broken bones and nasty road rash. Well they caught the drunk fuck that was behind the wheel, so at least there was a positive end to the story.

I'm really not surprised that it happened on Highway 30 either - sure, it could've been anywhere (there are drunk drivers all over the world, after all), but that last 50 miles of the ride does seem especially dangerous. Cascade, can this (please) be your wake-up call that the STP route needs to avoid roads like Highway 30??

The 2007 STP - Two Hundred and Ten Miles in One Day

At 4:45 the one-day STP (about 2,000 riders I'm told) rolled out to cheers, and with the sun not even up yet we headed off. One woman fell in the first few feet of the ride, that had to be a hard start to the day! I hope she made it..

It was weird looking at my cyclo-computer and knowing that the 0.01 miles it read would eventually read 200-something later that day.. I still think the hardest part of a double-century is the mental side, although the physical toll can't be discounted.

Once we got onto open road the pace lines were plenty to choose from. We ended up on a 50+ person-paceline that was going a good 22-24 mph, and then jumped onto a 25-27 mph paceline and stuck with that for at least 20 miles. Thanks to everyone that pulled me for so long! Sure, I took some pulls at the front of a few of the lines, but some of them are so long and unorganized that you can sit on the back forever.

We finished the first half of the ride by 10:45 A.M., rolling into the half-way festival at the Centralia Community College. Our average speed at this point is still 20+ mph, which is way faster than my usual, but with so many pacelines to choose from it's not too hard to keep your speed up.

After a huge plate of spaghetti and some more sun-block and we were off once again at 11:30 or so. After Centralia is where you start hitting the really tiny/wacky towns that dot the route. Winlock has the World's Largest Egg which sits proudly on their 'main' street. (From my quick searching it looks like there's some dispute as to who's got the biggest egg, but their egg is just about all Winlock's got going for it!)

I love the interesting town-names that dot Washington and Oregon! Tenino, Bucoda, Yelm, Vader, Puyallup, Goble - too bad some of the towns' names don't match their atmosphere!

At mile 150 we took another break, and at this point were starting to get a sense of just how hard it is to do a double-century. It was about 3:00 P.M. and we were definitely slowing down. Dousing my head with cold water of course helped, but at some point I can only eat so many Odwalla Bars, and I can only drink so much Propel. I'm human god-dammit! I should start eating more food made for humans; I'm not an robotic athelete who's sole purpose in life is to consume energy gels and eat odd-tasting 'energy bars.' Luckily the organizers of the STP always have bananas and bagels at the rest stops, guess I'm not the only human in the pack! But at some point even real food doesn't seem to give me a boost. If only I could've had some Phad Kee Mao! Now that would've helped..

The organizers of the ride (Cascade.org) do a great job with the route, taking you on some of the most scenic country roads of Washington State, and showing you some of the most quirky towns along the way. But once in Oregon they decide to throw you on a four-lane highway (Highway 30) for the last 50 miles of the ride! The last 30 miles of hwy 30 are nasty strip-malls and cars pulling in and out of them.

Maybe they're trying to make us hate Oregon? That would make sense because Highway 30 has nothing but fast-moving traffic and worthless towns that weren't even towns. I suppose this is the 'quickest' way to Portland, but can't they tack on 10 or 20 miles somewhere and put us back on country roads? Sure, it's better than the interstate but it stands in stark contrast to the rest of the ride.

So I was beat at the end, and was glad it was over fore sure. But it felt great to accomplish a new milestone, a double-century! Next year I'll try to see just how fast I can do it!

Total Distance: 210 miles (4 miles from my house to the start)
Total Elapsed Time: 14.5 hours
Total Saddle Time: 10.5 hours
Overall Average Speed: 19.1 mph
Flats: 1
Roadkill seen: 7+ (including two birds stuffed in a drain in Portland, go figure)
Mountains seen in the distance: 3 (Rainer, St. Helens, Hood)
Energy left at the end of the ride: zero

Update: got some pics of me during the STP - see here.

STP Training and the Three Feet Campaign

I'm still preparing for next weekend's Seattle-to-Portland double-century, although I haven't been getting in the miles I'd like to. Dennis and I did the Lake Wa loop yesterday, putting in a hot 55 miles with some nice hills. The STP-training guide says to do a 140-miler a few weeks before the big day, but screw it, I'm going for the mind over matter! I've been putting in 100-200 miles per week in the last few weeks, so hopefully that'll be enough saddle-time. (Oh yeah, and don't forget the ass cream!)

My longest ride in a day was 110 miles during the first day of the 2005 STP. 206 miles will take a long time, but it will be a great ride. I wonder if the route is similar to the 2005 route? I'll have to study the map and check it..

As a side-note, check out Cascade's Give Cyclists Three-Feet campaign, it's a great idea!


I'm lucky if I get a foot of space from cars on some roads here in the North West... as I'm sure is the same across many a car-opolis in the U.S. and all over the congested globe.

STP on a fixie in one day?

back in 2005 i did the 206-mile STP on my track bike (gearing: 14x40, or about 75 gear inches), but that was the two-day trip.

for 2007 i'm thinking about the one day option. anyone out there done it on their fixed-gear in one day? what gear size did you use?

i'm tempted to just ride my road bike with a nice gear range, which would be faster, but it just wouldn't be the same...