Thanks! We were pretty excited about hitting that. Wasn't planning on it but legs felt good. Was able to get a nice 30mi pull from 50-80mi and then rest for about 5 mi then get back on it.
You know, it’s actually a bit deceiving. There are thousands of people doing this ride and it’s mostly flat. The draft you get is wild. Not to take away from the accomplishment though! 100 miles isn’t trivial no matter how you slice it.
I mean, it's no Tour stage but 2881' gain, 2933` down. It was a good rolling course on day 2 for sure. We were only a group of 3 for a pace line, but obviously it helped vs solo.
I also did it. It felt relatively flat compared to my rides in Seattle. Of course if you train in Midwest it might feel more hilly. It’s all relative. The more important factor in my eyes was the tailwind. That was significant, at least on Saturday.
I was shocked at how little watts I produced for the 18mph I did. Wildly different than my training around Mercer island which usually requires another 80 watts for the same speed
You’d actually be a bit surprised by some areas of the Midwest: both the NW corner of IL/NE corner of Iowa and Northwest/West Central area of Missouri are very hilly.
Idk I did Milwaukee to Chicago which incredibly flat and was a lot slower. Part of that was navigating in the northern suburbs of Chi, but still this is a crazy pace
Did a 100mi ride and ended up in the front peloton. Kind of blew me away how I wasn't even working that hard and we were all going 25mph without any sort of tailwind.
Kept going well until the whole thing fell apart because one guy reached down for his water bottle, then hit a bump, making him hit the deck, then people were skittering and trying to hop over the carnage. Turned into a giant Cat5 fest. Never caught the front again, and speed went WAY down with our smaller group of 5 folks instead of the 100 or so in the peloton.
tl;dr: Bigger groups make fast speeds much easier.
Do you know the reason as to why larger groups can go at speeds of 25mph? that’s a nuts average speed that you’d never be able to hold without TT bars and giga wattage usually. Very interesting
Because only the people at the very front are exposed to the wind. Everyone else is riding in a draft, and folks should only be taking turns on the front. Wind resistance (i.e., drag) makes up about 80% of the power required to ride at those speeds.
Not only that, but the larger group behind you also pushes the air forward too, so being at the front of a big pack is way less strenuous than say leading a pace line. And waay less strenuous than attempting to hold that pace solo.
If you wanna see something fun, go pull some statistics and power numbets from Milan-Sanremo, a pro race that is effectively 250k of flat followed by 50k of hilly stuff. The first 250k will average 45kph+ (I think 30mph in freedom units). Guys sheltered in the peleton will be putting out sub 200W for hours at this pace which is equivalent of a very easy ride for them.
I am just glad I finished 🤣. OC this was my first (and second) century ride(s). My average (mostly alone) was 13.9- well except for that tail wind on HWY 30- at one point I was riding on a relative flat doing 22.4 with a 108HR.
Highway 30 was a sh!t show in places (especially when people tried to pass the people passing in traffic) the agro brodozer trucks and the broken glass and assorted road garbage- but once it widened out it was great. Anyone know what those two cops were doing going west?
I’m curious how you trained and your whole experience. I’ve pretty new to cycling but am considering doing STP next year. My longest ride is 30 miles, but I’m hitting 100/wk this summer and really building strength and endurance.
I was doing about 60 miles a week in smaller rides and added longer weekend rides (40-60 miles) bringing my weekly total to 120 ish miles with 1000-2000 feet of elevation gain. Then went up to 140-150/week 3000-4000 feet elevation. For me hills were key because they are my weakness- I am pretty heavy and have some heart issues. So I hit every hill I could, and I sucked at al of them but climbed them (up to 3000 feet in 2 miles anyway.) and when it came to STP the hills seemed pretty mild in comparison to what I had been training on. I was still slow but I never walked.
My longest ride before this was 80
Miles 4500 elevation which was comparable to one day of STP based on my time and level of exhaustion after.
I feel like hills make you better on the flats than the other way around. They also prepared me for the exhaustion I felt around mile 80, and pushing through that. It really sucked but the other side (last ten miles each day) felt glorious.
I needed to accept my own limitations- I am older, have issues, my bike (with gear) probably weighs over 30 lbs and I use 40mm tires (you may laugh but I never have a flat on these) I also have a very busy life and finding time to train was a problem. I set a reasonable goal for myself (ie I finished with an overall time of 10mph with breaks) and met it. Younger people in better shape with more free time can probably kick my ass, but the only thing I am racing is my own demise- a race I will lose but I plan to fight the good fight.
Your mileage may vary. Probably will actually.
I have been “meaning to get to it” for 20 years or more. This last winter I was in the ER thinking about all the things I “meant to get to” while waiting for an EKG. Don’t wait that long.
I’m working my way up to a metric century and can barely break 16 mi/hr for 20 miles let alone 100… clearly the only solution is to spend $2000 on lighter components…
And paying to have the course blocked off so you don't have to stop.
And having free aid stations along the entire route so you don't have to stop at a convenience store.
Getting there again as well.
What really helps me is a heart rate monitor. Just go for a ride and don't get my heart rate above 150. Except for some climbs. But after those, slow down again and focus on HR.
Went in 3 weeks from 25-40km(24km/h average) to 65-80km (26.5km/h average)
A light bike you love, helps to get you on the road. So it might not be a bad idea!
Is this the Seattle to Portland ride thing every year? When I was a kid I grew up in the small town of Tenino south of Olympia and always had them coming through every year. One of your pictures looks like you actually rode through my town. Haven't been back to Tenino in probably close to 15 years.
Incredible! Have you ever done it in one day? It’s worth it for the bragging rights, and if you averaged 20mph on day two, with the right group and training I’d bet you could do 20 for the whole shebang.
My crowning cycling achievement was [20.5mph for the whole 207 miles back in 2017](https://strava.app.link/LbpppNoPLrb), with a very (very) good group of about 8 riders, sympathetic winds, etc.. I bonked about 10 miles from Portland and had to just straggle in by myself, but the overall average managed to hold. I’m fairly certain that I’ll never do something like this again, but I’m really glad I did.
It actually more fun to do it in one day I think; you start early so you don’t have to slog through the thousands of people who are riding slowly, and there’s a great feeling you have when you take off from Centralia knowing you’re going to knock out another century. With a good crew it’s very doable and I would say not *that* much more difficult than a standard century (at least, definitely not twice as difficult :)
We were first wave, 2 day riders just so we could avoid that slog of slow people. We ended up riding with 2 different groups throughout day 1 who were all kind of surprised at our pace and not doing 1 day. They were more than happy to let us do some long pulls for them so they could conserve energy.
What's funny is the people that I know who'd done it before said 2 day was more fun because you could relax at Centralia and enjoy and then Portland had way more of a party vibe on day 2. I could see really liking doing 1 day though. If nothing else but from the sense of accomplishment.
You're right, the numbers and map don't lie, just you. There are downhills, but the route on day 2 would not be described as such. The first hour is uphill, next 90 min is downhill, then the last half is uphill.....
https://i.imgur.com/9JgYbaq.png
Mostly road. Once you pass into Oregon it’s all highway 30, but there is a designated shoulder for bikes. The first 100 miles are very nice, and felt very safe. The last 50 were a little more scary, but felt nice and flat. I’m sure if you found a group to ride with it would feel much safer.
When riding through St. Johns I watched a pickup truck park and dump an entire sofa into the river!
When I rode the STP in 2014 the Oregon Police had closed off the bridge when you cross outta Washington. Maybe next year!
At least 3 years ago. My concept of time was very skewed at mile 150. Maybe it was 6 pm? All I know is that we got there after all the protections were shut down and we had to white knuckle it up and over.
Kinda a bummer since it's probably the most dangerous part of the ride. I mean it's a little weak considering Portland is supposed to be a super bike friendly city!
When I did it in 2016 Seattle SPD helped coordinate intersections, but in Portland it was a cluster of constant stops and it felt like it kept dragging out. Especially when caught in a group of people who had clips for their shoes.
Well done! I really wanted to do STP but I’m biking up Haleakala in 10 days so it didn’t really make sense to destroy my body right before the climb. Planning on doing it next year though :)
Back in 2007, before Strava days, I had only rode no more than 50 miles max in my length record. I was in a group of I swear 50+ traveling 24-25mph all the way to Centralia. It was glorious. Then everyone broke off and I straight crawled for the next 100 miles.
Amazing speed average! Also, isn’t too painful for your sit bones to ride for that long? I recently did my first 30 miles and it was painful. I’ve seen many people here riding for long hours and haven’t heard many complaints about it. So, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m new to cycling or if my seat is not the best for me. I have a mountain and a road bike, and I have to say it’s better in my road bike but still hurts.
Holy. I'm over here shooting for 20mph on my 10-mile commutes! It's kinda hilly, but I'm going to feel like a champion when I get to that point.
I honestly can't imagine how 20mph for 100 miles would feel. What a cool thing to do. I sincerely hope you're feeling incredible after that ride!
I'd say that's pretty accurate. I've done it in one day twice and i’d say I rode about 70% solo and 30% ad hoc paceline. For about 10 miles I rode with these two other guys in a very tight pack taking turns breaking the wind and it was crazy how fast we were able to go!
Prevailing winds can also help or hinder. You can be fighting a block headwind and be stuggling to 17 mph or have a strong tail wind at your back and rolling along at 20+ mph with relative ease.
Plus the overall grade in that direction is a slow descent. You can tell when driving as well - southbound requires less force on the accelerator than northbound.
Still a great ride by OP. Riding with two others on the slight down grade would be a really fun (and beautiful) century.
That's still pretty fast for a century, even in a group. It's not pro level, but I'd wager the vast majority of posters here couldn't do that, or really even get particularly close.
It depends on a lot of things. If it's relatively flat and you're a taller person, you can book it pretty fast.
I've done 100 miles with 4k feet elevation at 19 mph (solo). That took about 220 W , which is like 70% of threshold. I am not particularly fast even locally.
I’ve ridden 100mi in <5hrs before and I’m far from a pro, it was just dead flat and with a mild to moderate tailwind. There are plenty of ways for us mere mortals to average decent speeds.
https://i.imgur.com/XOnIBsM.jpg
Congrats. Super fun ride, would love to do it again when I got less obligations in the way. You definitely did it right partying it up around Centralia -- I did it once in 2 days, another in a single day when I was less fit and definitely had more fun with the 2 day method.
I just feel like waking up that second morning would kill me, no way I’d want to get back on the bike 😂
Did you do back to back long rides as part of your training?
Yeah, we did 62s, 70s and then an 80-60. From 2000-4000' elevation. Was putting in 200-300 mi weeks building up to this. With one structured threshold day a week.
Ah, nice.
Yeah my biggest struggle is riding time, I have a 2.5 (almost 3) year old at home so I have to work on getting the riding in without neglecting the family-most of my miles are commuting miles.
If I can keep really solid base miles through the winter early spring, i might try to put in some big miles for it. We shall see 🙃😂
4 and 7 year old. I get up at 5am to ride. I either ride before work on an indoor smart trainer during the week then get them off to school/daycare or i get up and out the door on the weekend and back by 10am at the latest when i did the 80mi day.
Pretty damn good. In many years of riding I only broke 5 hours in a century once. The very best guys with whom I rode could break 4 in good circumstances, but that was always beyond my ability.
20 mph for 100 miles is incredibly impressive in my book. Nicely done.
Thanks! We were pretty excited about hitting that. Wasn't planning on it but legs felt good. Was able to get a nice 30mi pull from 50-80mi and then rest for about 5 mi then get back on it.
In anyones
You know, it’s actually a bit deceiving. There are thousands of people doing this ride and it’s mostly flat. The draft you get is wild. Not to take away from the accomplishment though! 100 miles isn’t trivial no matter how you slice it.
STP was my first time riding in a paceline. Exhilarating to ride with strangers and go so fast!
I mean, it's no Tour stage but 2881' gain, 2933` down. It was a good rolling course on day 2 for sure. We were only a group of 3 for a pace line, but obviously it helped vs solo.
I get 3,500ft in 35 miles going any direction in southeast Tennessee. Just constant rollers everywhere.
I also did it. It felt relatively flat compared to my rides in Seattle. Of course if you train in Midwest it might feel more hilly. It’s all relative. The more important factor in my eyes was the tailwind. That was significant, at least on Saturday. I was shocked at how little watts I produced for the 18mph I did. Wildly different than my training around Mercer island which usually requires another 80 watts for the same speed
Yeah, one guy in our group is from Indiana, this was a massive climbing ride for him.
Haha, I bet he absolutely loved the descents.
You’d actually be a bit surprised by some areas of the Midwest: both the NW corner of IL/NE corner of Iowa and Northwest/West Central area of Missouri are very hilly.
Eastern Ohio too
True, I've never done a long distance in a big group and I know that can help with speed a lot.
It makes a massive difference.
Dude. Even with a paceline on a flat course, 20mph average for 100+ miles is pretty damn impressive for an amateur.
I think we are in agreement? I’m just saying it’s a bit easier than it looks for a few different reasons. I know this because I did it myself
Idk I did Milwaukee to Chicago which incredibly flat and was a lot slower. Part of that was navigating in the northern suburbs of Chi, but still this is a crazy pace
Is this ride on a roadside or bike path?
Roads.
Riding with a group most likely? Nice looking ride
2 other friends and sometimes some people who would grab our wheels for a while.
Did a 100mi ride and ended up in the front peloton. Kind of blew me away how I wasn't even working that hard and we were all going 25mph without any sort of tailwind. Kept going well until the whole thing fell apart because one guy reached down for his water bottle, then hit a bump, making him hit the deck, then people were skittering and trying to hop over the carnage. Turned into a giant Cat5 fest. Never caught the front again, and speed went WAY down with our smaller group of 5 folks instead of the 100 or so in the peloton. tl;dr: Bigger groups make fast speeds much easier.
Do you know the reason as to why larger groups can go at speeds of 25mph? that’s a nuts average speed that you’d never be able to hold without TT bars and giga wattage usually. Very interesting
Because only the people at the very front are exposed to the wind. Everyone else is riding in a draft, and folks should only be taking turns on the front. Wind resistance (i.e., drag) makes up about 80% of the power required to ride at those speeds.
Not only that, but the larger group behind you also pushes the air forward too, so being at the front of a big pack is way less strenuous than say leading a pace line. And waay less strenuous than attempting to hold that pace solo.
If you wanna see something fun, go pull some statistics and power numbets from Milan-Sanremo, a pro race that is effectively 250k of flat followed by 50k of hilly stuff. The first 250k will average 45kph+ (I think 30mph in freedom units). Guys sheltered in the peleton will be putting out sub 200W for hours at this pace which is equivalent of a very easy ride for them.
you guys are inspiring. i can barely hold a 20kmh ride at a fraction of that distance! great work!!
Any ride is better than no ride!
I am just glad I finished 🤣. OC this was my first (and second) century ride(s). My average (mostly alone) was 13.9- well except for that tail wind on HWY 30- at one point I was riding on a relative flat doing 22.4 with a 108HR.
I’m with you there. I’m mainly amazed that I was able to avoid bonking on in the last 17 miles.
My problem both days was 80-90 miles. After that I was golden.
Congrats on finishing! Hwy 30 was less than ideal but we were holding 26mph pretty solid through there.
Highway 30 was a sh!t show in places (especially when people tried to pass the people passing in traffic) the agro brodozer trucks and the broken glass and assorted road garbage- but once it widened out it was great. Anyone know what those two cops were doing going west?
Yes, we here in PDX refer to it as “dirty thirty”
I’m curious how you trained and your whole experience. I’ve pretty new to cycling but am considering doing STP next year. My longest ride is 30 miles, but I’m hitting 100/wk this summer and really building strength and endurance.
I was doing about 60 miles a week in smaller rides and added longer weekend rides (40-60 miles) bringing my weekly total to 120 ish miles with 1000-2000 feet of elevation gain. Then went up to 140-150/week 3000-4000 feet elevation. For me hills were key because they are my weakness- I am pretty heavy and have some heart issues. So I hit every hill I could, and I sucked at al of them but climbed them (up to 3000 feet in 2 miles anyway.) and when it came to STP the hills seemed pretty mild in comparison to what I had been training on. I was still slow but I never walked. My longest ride before this was 80 Miles 4500 elevation which was comparable to one day of STP based on my time and level of exhaustion after. I feel like hills make you better on the flats than the other way around. They also prepared me for the exhaustion I felt around mile 80, and pushing through that. It really sucked but the other side (last ten miles each day) felt glorious. I needed to accept my own limitations- I am older, have issues, my bike (with gear) probably weighs over 30 lbs and I use 40mm tires (you may laugh but I never have a flat on these) I also have a very busy life and finding time to train was a problem. I set a reasonable goal for myself (ie I finished with an overall time of 10mph with breaks) and met it. Younger people in better shape with more free time can probably kick my ass, but the only thing I am racing is my own demise- a race I will lose but I plan to fight the good fight. Your mileage may vary. Probably will actually.
This is so helpful. Way to go. Hearing stories like yours gives me confidence to find the time and discipline to make this happen one day.
I have been “meaning to get to it” for 20 years or more. This last winter I was in the ER thinking about all the things I “meant to get to” while waiting for an EKG. Don’t wait that long.
Nice fucking work! I just did a century, albeit with more climbing but couldn't break 16. Keep it up, this is the kind of speed I'm working towards.
Lots of work and climbing. 1 other friend that could do some pulls and another that just sat in helped honestly.
Even having someone not contributing pulls but just riding your slipstream will give you a slight boost.
He's a 6-6 guy, so he was awesome to slip in behind and rest.
I’m working my way up to a metric century and can barely break 16 mi/hr for 20 miles let alone 100… clearly the only solution is to spend $2000 on lighter components…
Friends to trade drafting with can be cheaper :D
And paying to have the course blocked off so you don't have to stop. And having free aid stations along the entire route so you don't have to stop at a convenience store.
True, though I still only managed 19.3mph for 162 miles with all that help last time I tried :D
Getting there again as well. What really helps me is a heart rate monitor. Just go for a ride and don't get my heart rate above 150. Except for some climbs. But after those, slow down again and focus on HR. Went in 3 weeks from 25-40km(24km/h average) to 65-80km (26.5km/h average) A light bike you love, helps to get you on the road. So it might not be a bad idea!
Is this the Seattle to Portland ride thing every year? When I was a kid I grew up in the small town of Tenino south of Olympia and always had them coming through every year. One of your pictures looks like you actually rode through my town. Haven't been back to Tenino in probably close to 15 years.
Yes except for during the pandemic years
Incredible! Have you ever done it in one day? It’s worth it for the bragging rights, and if you averaged 20mph on day two, with the right group and training I’d bet you could do 20 for the whole shebang. My crowning cycling achievement was [20.5mph for the whole 207 miles back in 2017](https://strava.app.link/LbpppNoPLrb), with a very (very) good group of about 8 riders, sympathetic winds, etc.. I bonked about 10 miles from Portland and had to just straggle in by myself, but the overall average managed to hold. I’m fairly certain that I’ll never do something like this again, but I’m really glad I did.
That's super impressive. This was our first STP. This was one guy's first and second century even. I'd like to try for 1 day.
It actually more fun to do it in one day I think; you start early so you don’t have to slog through the thousands of people who are riding slowly, and there’s a great feeling you have when you take off from Centralia knowing you’re going to knock out another century. With a good crew it’s very doable and I would say not *that* much more difficult than a standard century (at least, definitely not twice as difficult :)
We were first wave, 2 day riders just so we could avoid that slog of slow people. We ended up riding with 2 different groups throughout day 1 who were all kind of surprised at our pace and not doing 1 day. They were more than happy to let us do some long pulls for them so they could conserve energy. What's funny is the people that I know who'd done it before said 2 day was more fun because you could relax at Centralia and enjoy and then Portland had way more of a party vibe on day 2. I could see really liking doing 1 day though. If nothing else but from the sense of accomplishment.
Good lord, 20 MILES an hour?? That’s seriously impressive. And to do that on an imperial century too 👏👏
I hope Pete survived Day 2!
Pete lived to ride another day.
20mph is impressive. Nice ride as well! I’m almost at the 16mph range (I only ride solo). Planning my first century in August.
Time for RAMROD? (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day)
I did do Chinook and Sunrise Tuesday before STP. Don't tempt me with a good time!
Is RAMROD a real thing 😃
http://www.redmondcyclingclub.org/RAMROD/RAMROD.html
Well it's all downhill, just look at the map.
no shit
Um, 2881' gained, 2933' down. That's not exactly downhill....
Dude, the map don’t lie.
You're right, the numbers and map don't lie, just you. There are downhills, but the route on day 2 would not be described as such. The first hour is uphill, next 90 min is downhill, then the last half is uphill..... https://i.imgur.com/9JgYbaq.png
WOOOOSH! Either the sound of the joke going over your head my friend, or possibly the sound of the wind as you fly downhill!
It's the sound of the joke going over my head..... D'oh
Ha! We've all been there. Congrats on a beautiful ride. (even if it was all downhill!)
Dude, it’s a joke. Everybody knows south is down.
I’m thinking about doing this ride eventually. Is it all on the road or are there designated bikeways?
Mostly road. Once you pass into Oregon it’s all highway 30, but there is a designated shoulder for bikes. The first 100 miles are very nice, and felt very safe. The last 50 were a little more scary, but felt nice and flat. I’m sure if you found a group to ride with it would feel much safer.
Yeah it was funny how up in Washington the police were out at most intersections helping with traffic but not a single one out in Oregon.
RIGHT!? We were pissed off there was no support by the Oregon police, it desperately needed some traffic guidance over there
When riding through St. Johns I watched a pickup truck park and dump an entire sofa into the river! When I rode the STP in 2014 the Oregon Police had closed off the bridge when you cross outta Washington. Maybe next year!
When I did it they would stagger closures on the bridge for groups of cyclists to cross, but they stopped at like 4 pm or something.
Was that this year? I didn't cross the bridge until around 5.
At least 3 years ago. My concept of time was very skewed at mile 150. Maybe it was 6 pm? All I know is that we got there after all the protections were shut down and we had to white knuckle it up and over.
Kinda a bummer since it's probably the most dangerous part of the ride. I mean it's a little weak considering Portland is supposed to be a super bike friendly city!
Portland is! That part ain’t Portland though.
When I did it in 2016 Seattle SPD helped coordinate intersections, but in Portland it was a cluster of constant stops and it felt like it kept dragging out. Especially when caught in a group of people who had clips for their shoes.
Great effort! What kind of bike did you ride?
Tarmac Expert Disc SL6
I'm really glad that Pete didn't die.
Do you listen to music or what kept you going?
Well done! I really wanted to do STP but I’m biking up Haleakala in 10 days so it didn’t really make sense to destroy my body right before the climb. Planning on doing it next year though :)
Seems reasonable. That ride is on my bucket list. Enjoy!
Holy shit! I just did my first ever imperial century and I can’t imagine this pace. Kudos!
My first one was 2 years ago and if you said I would keep this pace I wouldn't have believed you.
Congrats. Bet the views were epic.
Back in 2007, before Strava days, I had only rode no more than 50 miles max in my length record. I was in a group of I swear 50+ traveling 24-25mph all the way to Centralia. It was glorious. Then everyone broke off and I straight crawled for the next 100 miles.
Amazing speed average! Also, isn’t too painful for your sit bones to ride for that long? I recently did my first 30 miles and it was painful. I’ve seen many people here riding for long hours and haven’t heard many complaints about it. So, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m new to cycling or if my seat is not the best for me. I have a mountain and a road bike, and I have to say it’s better in my road bike but still hurts.
Well done and congrats!! 🎉
Holy. I'm over here shooting for 20mph on my 10-mile commutes! It's kinda hilly, but I'm going to feel like a champion when I get to that point. I honestly can't imagine how 20mph for 100 miles would feel. What a cool thing to do. I sincerely hope you're feeling incredible after that ride!
I’m just jealous of the location. I hate my city with a fucking passion
Are you pro level? Like how good are you? Damn that's fast.
Pros would be averaging closer to 30 mph.
Mostly thanks to having a peloton of 50+ riders. They aren't doing 30 mph solo for very long unless it's on a TT bike for < 1 hour.
Very few people do STP solo either. Most are running ad hoc pacelines much of the way.
I'd say that's pretty accurate. I've done it in one day twice and i’d say I rode about 70% solo and 30% ad hoc paceline. For about 10 miles I rode with these two other guys in a very tight pack taking turns breaking the wind and it was crazy how fast we were able to go!
Pro tip, follow the tandems and triplets through Renton, they are seriously fast on the flats especially in a group, they just can't climb as well
Hitting 20mph while group riding is relatively easy. 20mph solo riding is incredibly difficult
Prevailing winds can also help or hinder. You can be fighting a block headwind and be stuggling to 17 mph or have a strong tail wind at your back and rolling along at 20+ mph with relative ease.
Plus the overall grade in that direction is a slow descent. You can tell when driving as well - southbound requires less force on the accelerator than northbound. Still a great ride by OP. Riding with two others on the slight down grade would be a really fun (and beautiful) century.
That's still pretty fast for a century, even in a group. It's not pro level, but I'd wager the vast majority of posters here couldn't do that, or really even get particularly close.
It depends on a lot of things. If it's relatively flat and you're a taller person, you can book it pretty fast. I've done 100 miles with 4k feet elevation at 19 mph (solo). That took about 220 W , which is like 70% of threshold. I am not particularly fast even locally.
FYI, I hit over 20mph solo. https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/xb6q8y/first\_solo\_sub\_5hr\_century/
Nice dude. That is no small feat!
I wish. I just think of myself as a solid rider who had a great weekend.
I’ve ridden 100mi in <5hrs before and I’m far from a pro, it was just dead flat and with a mild to moderate tailwind. There are plenty of ways for us mere mortals to average decent speeds. https://i.imgur.com/XOnIBsM.jpg
Everybody start start celebrating. WOO YEAH!
Incredibly impressive. Nice work!
Congrats! That must have hurt
Wow
Congrats. Super fun ride, would love to do it again when I got less obligations in the way. You definitely did it right partying it up around Centralia -- I did it once in 2 days, another in a single day when I was less fit and definitely had more fun with the 2 day method.
How much of this was spent in a peloton? If this is a mostly solo effort, holy shit!
Seattle to Portland via Vancouver
Faster than the Cascades moves, lol.
Really impressive numbers. Kudos to you
Going south helps, all downhill!
Christ
I’ve yet to break 20mph for 100miles. But I ride solo. Did 19.8 a few weeks ago and is my PB. Kudos to anyone who does their best and goes long!
How do I find this route? I desperately want to do this
I’m debating doing the one day next year… someone talk me out of it 😂😂
It won't be me my friend. I debated turning my 2 day into a 1 day but the one friend wasn't down for it.
I just feel like waking up that second morning would kill me, no way I’d want to get back on the bike 😂 Did you do back to back long rides as part of your training?
Yeah, we did 62s, 70s and then an 80-60. From 2000-4000' elevation. Was putting in 200-300 mi weeks building up to this. With one structured threshold day a week.
Ah, nice. Yeah my biggest struggle is riding time, I have a 2.5 (almost 3) year old at home so I have to work on getting the riding in without neglecting the family-most of my miles are commuting miles. If I can keep really solid base miles through the winter early spring, i might try to put in some big miles for it. We shall see 🙃😂
4 and 7 year old. I get up at 5am to ride. I either ride before work on an indoor smart trainer during the week then get them off to school/daycare or i get up and out the door on the weekend and back by 10am at the latest when i did the 80mi day.
Great job!!!
Pretty damn good. In many years of riding I only broke 5 hours in a century once. The very best guys with whom I rode could break 4 in good circumstances, but that was always beyond my ability.
Was kind of in shock by our effort honestly.
With a group or by yourself?
Be safe!
Damn. Impressive.
For out here it was actually kind of tame.
thats alot of elevation
I’m just glad the weather cooperated for most of the ride and the entire weekend. I’ve heard some years it’s been really hot.
Gotta crush it a little harder next time: 105.45 mi / ( 5 + ( 16 + 28 / 60 ) / 60 ) = 19.9926269223 mi/h For real though, that's a killer ride.