[kanadary]

i have done the stp twice 2006, 2008, the first time was with family and my niece (12) and nephew (10). the niece didn't make it, mainly due to a poor fit with the bike, too big.. she was flying in from calgary and used my sil's bike so there wasn't time for a proper fit. that's important. other than that it was too many breaks which lead to a very long day two. thethe midway break is in centralia so if you're going past, i hope you can find accomodations. as for training, i rode around lake sammamish once a week, about 22 miles a round trip, starting when the weather got better, around april, and a few times twice around. i rode with a stumpjumper the first time, changing to slicks. the second time i did it with a surris, and just a few family members, no kids, my sister dropped out at mile 70, my bil dropped out day two at mile 120, both because of knee issues. i had a much more enjoyable ride since we didn't stop at every rest stop and i was able to make it to the food stops before they were emptied out. the only drag was riding on your own for 80 miles. for me, the worst is hwy 30... its not hilly but boring. good luck.