Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

! There is a rough training schedule on the stp site not bad to take a look the real issue is two fold that looks like this for the coming weeks one day “training”:http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/stp_mileage.cfm#one
| Week Ending | Weekly | Wed |Fri | Sat | Sun |
| June 5 | 190 | 50 | | 110 | 30 |
| June 12 | 200 | 30 | 10 | 140 | 20 |
| June 19 | 210 | 40 | 20 | 100 | 50 |
| June 26 | 150 | 30 | | 80 | 40 |
| July 3 | 120 | 30 | | 80 | 40 |
| July 10 | 236 | 20 | 10 | 206 | Done! |
Getting to speed. That’s means doing the flying wheels century june 18th at a average of 15mph including stops. 15mph let’s you finish in 14 hours or so.
And there is the really important issue of training your behind to sit on that saddle. This is a really long endurance ride so nows the time to experiment with nutrition. Many folks end up switching to new drinks, food etc and end up feeling sick during the ride. So here are some tips from the pros. First, don’t change what you are a eating in the last week. During the race in particular there are zillions of free goodies (really) so be careful not to chow down and then yuke it up later. Fwiw I’m settled down to cliff bars, hammergel and haven’t foudn the right electrolyte replacement yet but will experiment in the next week.
h3. The course
A couple of folks asked davema and I about this. We’ll actually try to ride the first 70 miles in the final long run before. Gives everyone confidence at least at the start. I’ll figure out the time but probably right after flying wheels and before the last week taper down.
To summarize the scoop. The first 100 miles are the flattest you’ll ever see there is one hill before you get to the half way point. (Erik, I don’t know nyc well enough to know what’s analogous, but its like the nj turnpike from nyc to philly literally in terms of hills).
The trick is not to go too fast that first 100. Many people fly thru at 85% max rate and then bonk the second half. It also has the most accidents as there is a tricky railroad crossing and also lots of people who have never run a paceline. It is also all about finding other groups to hookup with to create ever longer pacelines. Takes a while to find a group to tuck into.
There is a big stop at centralia where folks rest and there is food. As a gadget geek it *the* opportunity to see the lastest in biking technology lying on the ground in the hundreds. More carbon fiber and titanium than the space shuttle has.
The second half features rollers and most importantly the wind really picks up. This is where you get to see guys on $8k bikes who haven’t trained give up and are passed by folks on $600 schwinns. So if we grind it out at low heart rate and find a good larger group to paceline in it will be fine.
The final 50 miles is actually the most deceiving part. You go over the longview bridges into oregon and think you are dne. In actually this is usually the hardest part. These last miles are down the columbia river (hey guys it is windsurfing capital of the US there) and it is typicaly late afternoon when winds are the strongest. So hopefully we have been saving energy till then.
h3. Support
Btw the ride is incredibly well supported. The gold wings motorcycle club runs the route with pumps and tubes. And every 20 miles or so there are stops and bike support. Also lots of small town folks with brownie sales etc. Folks are remarkably supportive of the event although there are always a few bad apples.
h3. Food and drink etc.
That being said I personally try to bring everything that I need. This includes food bars, gu, etc. Two tubes etc. Clothingwise hopefully it will be a good day. Most folks carry a light jacket. The temps should be mild in the 70s but we’ll see when we get there. The perfect weather btw is overcast, 60s and not no wind ironically.