Debbie Thomas Teaches Her Training Class How to Ride The STP Safely

stp bike ride
Debbie Thomas trained a group of riders for the 2014 Group Health STP classic.
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By Gail Wood

oly ortho logoEach time Debbie Thomas has ridden the annual Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, she’s taken a different approach.

First, two years ago, she road the 202 miles in two days, riding to the halfway point at Centralia and stopping for the night. Then last year she road it in one day, starting at about 5:30 a.m. at Husky Stadium and finishing around 9:30 that evening.

Now, for her third STP, which will be July 12 and 13, she’s going to be riding with six people she’s helped train since February.

“We’ll ride together as a group as much as possible,” Thomas said. “One of my riders can go about half of the distance with us. Then she needs to back off.”

Of the six riders, five are rookies with no biking experience. That’s “rookie” with an underline for emphasis.

“This is their first year on a bike,” Thomas said.

Only one has a little biking experience and that’s limited to short rides. However, four are long distance runners. They have the fitness and ability to push themselves when tired. And there was no question they pushed themselves. As they did their training rides for the STP, they were also running in preparation for the Capital City Marathon that occurred in May.

Combining their miles for training for the two events, they ran and rode about 1,000 miles. On Sunday, which was their day for long rides, Thomas led her group on a 100-mile ride.

stp bike ride
Debbie Thomas (second from right) trained a group of riders for the 2014 Group Health STP classic.

So, fitness for these four runners wasn’t a big factor, besides the saddle soreness. But there’s also another side of riding bikes Thomas emphasized.

“It’s also learning bike safety,” Thomas said. “Learning how to ride in a group. Learning what’s around you, making sure you’re looking for traffic and other riders.”

In the STP, there’s always traffic. About 2,500 of the 10,000 riders entered in the STP will do the ride in one day. The other 7,500 riders stop overnight, usually in Centralia.

All of the riders pass through South Sound along state Route 507 from Roy to Chehalis, stopping in Yelm and Tenino for snacks and drinks. By the time the STP, which is sponsored by Group Health, is finished, 26,000 sandwiches, 35,000 cookies and 11,000 fig bars will have been served.

With the crowds, Thomas said learning to ride in traffic is as important as getting fit.

“The main reason for crashes is not looking and just not moving your bike and crashing into something,” Thomas said. “You can get messed up on a bike. I’ve seen people that have crashed and then been taken away in ambulances.”

She’s taught her group to beware.

“Everyone is excited to go,” Thomas said. “And they just go and don’t pay attention and they knock into someone and knock them over.”

A woman in Thomas’ training group was not only a rookie on a bike, she also wasn’t in the greatest shape at the start of the training in February.

“She’s come a very long way,” Thomas said. “She struggled at first. She’s lost a lot of weight.”

On the training rides, this rider would fall back and she couldn’t keep pace.

“So, I worked with her the most,” Thomas said. “From where she started she has made 110 percent improvement. The rest are fit. They just needed to learn the bike stuff.”

In February, Thomas, who owns Twisties Frozen Yogurt in Lacey with her husband, Chad, started her group out with 20 mile rides.  For their long rides on the weekend, she added 10 to 20 miles each week. Then she boosted it to 70- and 80-mile rides, capping it with the 100 miler. Thomas told her group that the more miles they put in, the easier the STP would be.

During the week, Thomas also taught classes for indoor cycling at two gyms – Vision Fitness and Health in Tumwater and Anytime Fitness in Yelm.

For the last three blocks of the STP, there are people lined up along the road, cheering and clapping. It can be the boost tired riders need to get to the finish.

Two years ago, the STP included riders from 40 states and three other countries – Canada, Japan and Malaysia. There were 7,740 Washington riders, 2,049 from Seattle. From Oregon, there were 1,195 riders, 558 from Portland.  The oldest rider entered last year was 85.

There were plenty of repeat riders. Fifty-three riders registered had done the STP 20 times and 230 riders had done it 10 or more times.

Jerry Baker, 71 and from Seattle, has ridden in all 34 STPs. He won the inaugural 1979 event, when it was a time trial between Seattle and Portland City Halls.

Thomas isn’t worried about anyone in her group winning. She’s just hoping everyone finishes.

Next year, Thomas hopes to lead another training group for the STP.

“It’s fun. I like doing this,” she said. “Teaching people a knew way of staying fit and being safe too is fun. This gives them the encouragement to do it.”

 

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