Getting ready for the 2012 STP

We are good to go.  Since January, 2012, Vicky and I have logged just under 1600 bike miles in preparation.  A few hundred of those have been with my son, Jules.  Four days from when I write this, we three will make this very fun and rewarding 200 mile trek to Portland.

We did a number of short rides on our road trip, January through March. so we could gradually work our way up to doing 100 milers in June.  And that's what we have been doing. 

Those 100 milers are killers, at least the last 35 miles of them are.  Most of our rides have been on areas around the Burke-Gilman in Seattle or on Whidbey Island.  The ones on Whidbey Island are the bad ones--it is an island of hills.

Twice we have made the ride from our home in Langley to Deception Pass, 47.5 miles away.  Both times we felt great all the way there, and for about 10-15 miles back.  But, as I said, the final 30 miles can be really hard.  Hills.  Hills.  And more hills.

The total elevation gain of the 205 miles of the STP is just under 5000 (different people provide different estimates, as there is error with the altimeters everyone uses).  Our Whidbey Island rides get us that much elevation in half that.  That's a huge difference because what it means is that on Whidbey Island there is no rest.  No places where you can just glide along for several miles on flat roads.

Here is my son-in-law's elevation report from Day 1 and then Day 2 of last year's STP.  (by the way, I sure wish Sean was with us this year.  It was such a big deal for him to come out last year and was an experience that I, as a father, never thought I'd have:  to have both my son and my son-in-law ride the STP with me). 

The next two charts are elevation reports from our training rides this year on Whidbey Island. The first is the 94 mile ride to Deception Pass and the second is a 100 mile ride around the island we did as our final training ride this week.

As is obvious from these charts, the STP is a much easier ride than our training rides.  From the top chart it can be seen that the first 50 or so miles of the STP are actually flat.    Flat!  Then there is the Puyullup hill which rises about 400 feet.  It is reasonably steep, and so is known as "the hill" on the STP.

Then at the end of the first day there is a slow rise into Napavine.  But that's it for the first 115 miles.  On the second day there are 2-3 200 foot hills, but basically it is a day of rollers.  And, again, a lot of flat miles.

The two bottom charts, though, indicate that there almost no miles of flat roads on our Whidbey Island rides.  Instead it is up and down, up and down.

For riders like us, the terrain makes a big difference.  I don't have a lot in the way of leg muscles, never have.  All I can do is work with what I have on my 64-year-old body and try to get it into shape.  Hills require muscles, not aerobic conditioning, so after 65 miles of hills, my muscles are shot.

Vicky has ridden even less than I have, so she experiences the same thing, although in attenuated form.  Genetics has been kinder to her, as she and her family are all strong people.  She also has been a runner all of her life, so she has a good muscle/weight ratio in her body.  We both basically started riding seriously in our 60s (her just this calendar year), but she is clearly the stronger rider.

So, what do I do to keep up with her?

I know!  I'll buy a better bike!  Then I won't be that much slower than her.

So that's what I did.  My old Jamis was almost shot--it was a great bike for what I needed to start riding because it was cheap and had a steel frame which absorbs the road well and is good for people with bad joints (like me).  It got me out on a bike, and into cycling, and I will never sell it--I'd rather let it rust as yard art first because I owe it so much.  Since March of 2009, which is when I bought it,  I have ridden a bit over 7000 miles.  I wouldn't have done a fraction of that unless I had purchased this bike.

But my son, with encouragement from my daughter-in-law Jessica, and with full support of Vicky, encouraged me to think about a better bike, now that it is clear that I am serious about the sport.

So I bought the lowest end carbon-fiber Specialized Roubaix.  It is a drop handle bar bike, very comfortable, and quite light.  And I love it.

And I'm still slower than Vicky, just not by as much. 

Here we are at Deception Pass.

And even though there are a lot of stronger bike riders in this state, it takes nothing from our accomplishments in what we have done.  It is a big deal to be able to do this training, two people in their 60s, one of whom has had five operations to correct structural problems in the past three years, and the other who, because of a serious car accident, has a titanium disk in her back which the doctors predicted would mean she would never even run again.

And we have a blast.  And have accomplished something together that we'll always have--we have trained, hard, and often in extreme discomfort, together to accomplish something as a couple. 

And while the "serious" riders pooh pooh the STP as just a fun party-ride, we really don't care.  Riding 200 miles in two days is a meaningful feat for anybody, and for us in particular.  In six days, the three of us, me, my wife, and my son, will cross that finish line in Portland and have a memory together that nobody can ever take away from us.  I can't wait.