Seattle's Child

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STP family ride

The author and his family ready to roll on the 2-day STP. Photo courtesy Nils Dahlgren

Biking the STP with kids: A family of 5 takes the challenge

With preparation, this dad says the 2-day ride is well worth it with kids

Seattle-to-Portland. STP. Itā€™s an iconic ride within the Pacific Northwest bicycle community ā€” and one that draws about 8000 participants from around the world. Ā This year my wife and I made it a family affair when we biked the STP with our three kids.

A big challenge is passed down

I completed my first STP in 1992, during the summer between 6th and 7th grade. My dad and I trained all through the spring that year and rode it with my classmate. I still remember the mass start on day one, the onlookers hoisting garden hoses in Centralia to cool us off as we rode through, and the final coast down to the Willamette River, across St. Johnā€™s Bridge and into Portland near the end of day two. We had such a positive experience we did it again the following year.

Almost 30 years later, my oldest son, having heard our stories, began asking to have his own STP adventure. He was still in the 5th grade, and I managed to hold him off until he was 13 before doing his first ride. Heā€™s now completed it twice. My middle son joined us two summers ago, and now, this year, our youngest son, 11, and my wife joined to make it a full family affair.

Ride organizers atĀ Cascade Bicycle ClubĀ (CBC) open registration in January. We signed up early and began our training rides in April.

Boost rider confidenceĀ 

For novice riders of any age, there are plenty of great resources around town and online to help you become a more confident, long-distance rider:

  • Get to know local bike shops.Ā Whether looking to upgrade your bike or tune up your current one, pick out new padded bike shorts or a bright new jersey, get a basic repair kit to carry with you, or add another water bottle cage to your frame, your neighborhood bike shop will have you covered. Staff is also an excellent resource for training route recommendations and tutorials for basic bike maintenance.
  • The CBC hostsĀ regular classes, and its websiteĀ resources pageĀ has trail maps, a bike shop locator, and more. After signing up for the STP, they will email newsletters throughout the spring with further information to help you prepare.
  • Determine your fuel needs. Drink before youā€™re thirsty and eat before youā€™re hungry; thatā€™s the basic rule for refueling on long rides. Everyone is different, but you can findĀ general guidelinesĀ online. Plan for a small snack or energy gel every hour and a larger snack or nutrition bar every second hour. And, while the CBC hosts official rest stops every 25-30 miles with plenty of free food and drinks, itā€™s also a good idea to carry snacks.

The family training plan

The STP is doable for most moderately active parents and kids. If your child plays soccer or basketball, runs track or cross-country, or if your family bikes or hikes together semi-regularly, the physical demands of the ride will be within your capacity.

Training regularly for several months ahead of time, especially as a family, is less about building leg strength and more about gaining comfort on the bike over long distances, practicing changing the inevitable flat tires, understanding your hydration and nutrition needs, and learning to ride safely together along roads open to traffic.

We started slow. Our first ride was a 20-mile ā€œshake-out rideā€ to establish a good routine around getting out the door with everything we needed and ensuring the bikes worked properly.Ā 

From there, we steadily built up to longer rides of 40, 60, and 80 miles each weekend. We used these rides to educate the boys about proper ride etiquette, demonstrate how to safely pass slower riders, and give room for faster ones.Ā 

They practiced essential hand signals for turns and stopping, and we explored new trails ā€“ the Green River Trail south out of Tukwila was a favorite of our older two boys. Occasionally, we added rides on back-to-back days to simulate the two days of the STP. We completed one 100-mile ride in late June before we tapered off ahead of STP weekend in mid-July.

Have patience, will travel

Throughout our training period, we had good rides and tough ones, wet ones and hot ones. Our 16-year-old wanted to push the pace at times. His 14-year-old brother wasnā€™t always the quickest to get going on the weekends. And the 11-year-old sometimes acted like he knew more than the rest of us.Ā 

Suffice it to say that parenting on two wheels has its challenges. But my wife and I were able to dig deep for patience when the need arose. We reminded ourselves regularly that the payoff in Portland and the life-long memories we were creating together were worth any bumps along the way.

STP Family ride

Photo courtesy Nils Dahlgren

Day one: Ready to rollĀ 

We were up at the crack of dawn for the STP 2023 weekend. Having prepped the day before and dropped our overnight bags with the support vans. Afterward, all we needed to do was finish a big breakfast, apply sunscreen, check our tire pressure, and roll out the garage. We were on the course from the University of Washington starting line, across the University Bridge, and onto Lake Washington Boulevard by 7:00 a.,m. The excitement rising from clusters of other riders all around us was infectious. The route ahead was fresh and full of promise.

What you canā€™t prepare for

Months of training as an individual or family canā€™t prepare you for the experience of riding together with so many others. There is a natural boost when you are part of an informal peloton. We found ourselves cruising comfortably faster than weā€™d ever done previously. Everyone was looking out for each other, calling out the occasional pothole or piece of debris in the road, chitchatting while waiting at traffic lights, and encouraging each other on the up-hills.

We rode together, single file, our matching pink jerseys making it easy to keep track of each other in the crowd. And we rotated the lead every five miles, each taking a turn to set the pace while the others drafted and ā€œrestedā€ behind.Ā 

Ride organizers map a mostly flat route and do an excellent job of managing traffic. Still, if you go, be prepared for passing cars and a few sustained climbs. For riders needing assistance, there are plenty of volunteers in support vans and riding along the route.

The rest stops had everything needed to make the long days a little more comfortable: bananas, PB&J sandwiches, chips, and cookies, as well as first aid tents for additional sunscreen, ibuprofen, or first aid items for more serious care. There were also kike mechanics to keep your wheels moving smoothly.

Lodging on the STP ride with kids

Experience taught me that going a little further than halfway on the first day is well worth it. We ended our Saturday in Napavine, WA, at the 113-mile mark. Riders can book a wide range of accommodations for their overnight stay. There are STP-affiliated lodgings from Centralia to Kelso in schools, churches, hotels, and rented tents. Overnight bags arrive at designated locations, and some riders pack their tents to sleep in while others have friends or family drive down an RV for the night. We stayed at a school in Napavine.

Lodging fees are fundraisers for local organizations and include shower facilities, dinner, and breakfast on day two. We were among the first riders to arrive at around 3 p.m., tired but elated. We were assigned to our own classroom for the night, and after roughly seven hours on bikes, we made short work of the burgers and snacks provided and were in our sleeping bags by 8 oā€™clock.

STP Family ride

Photo courtesy Nils Dahlgren

Day two: All downhill to Portlandā€¦mostly

We were again on the road by 7 a.m. Sunday morning after a big pancake breakfast. In their youth, the boys had recovered much quicker overnight than my wife and I, and it was a reminder that our training may have been more necessary for us than for them. The oldest asked if we could set a faster pace than the day before, and all three were calculating how soon we could get to the finish line if we maintained various speeds.

Riding together over long distances, you tend to develop repetitive phrases or look for various things along the way. Itā€™s hard to recall who started what or why but these become ways to pass the time on the bike and keep moving forward. After five or ten minutes of quiet peddling, one of the boys would call out, ā€œMore hype!ā€ And then someone else would repeat it until weā€™d all hyped each other up and lapsed into another stretch of silence. We also kept our eyes out for VW Beetles. The miles rolled past, and Portland neared.

At the large rest stop in St. Helens, Oregon, about 30 miles from the finish, I met Nathan, 10, from Redmond. He was riding for the first time with his older brother and dad. His favorite moments were the downhills and all the free food at the rest stops. He was all smiles and already making plans to do it again. Nathan and his brother were one of about two dozen kids we saw throughout our two-day trip.

We crossed the finish line into Holladay Park a little after 1 p.m. Well-wishers lined the sidewalks along the last few blocks leading up to the park. A brass band played in the beer garden as we collected our finisher patches and t-shirts, picked up our overnight bags from the transport vans, and headed to catch our ride back home.

I was proud of the boys for all the work they put in. We all felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Weā€™ll have stories to share for years, and Iā€™m confident weā€™ll be back on our bikes for a future STP adventure.

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About the Author

Nils Dahlgren

Nils Dahlgren is a freelance writer and father of three based in Seattle. He also blogs at awesomesolodad.com