Here's a closer look at the team of STP one-dayers I'm training with for the July 14 ride.

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RICK BEITELSPACHER
South Hill
Age: 48
Profession: Kalles Junior High (Puyallup) English teacher.
Riding Profile: Beitelspacher rode the last two Seattle-to-Portland Classics in one day. He’s also completed the ride twice in two days.
Beitelspacher is the unofficial team coach, a natural role for him considering his career as a teacher and Kalles Junior High's football coach. He cooridantes most of the team's Saturday rides and has taken on the sizeable task of coaching me up.
He rides the STP each year to keep himself motivated to keep working out. "It's easy for me to work out when I have a goal I'm working toward," he said.
Beitelspacher has run two marathon's and says doing the STP in one day is only less challenging because cylcing is a little kinder on your body.
"After riding the STP I can see getting on my bike the next day," he said. "After a marathon you don't want to do anything."
Beitelspacher rides 2,000 miles each summer.

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KENNY ESPINOZA
Puyallup
Age: 43
Profession: Gauge service technician and part-time model.
Riding Profile: Espinoza was introduced to riding by his ex-brother-in-law, Tour de France competitor Doug Shapiro. The family ties allowed him several chances to train with professional riders.
Espinoza is training for his second STP. He finished his only other ride, in 2005, in one day.
The team regularly refers to Espinoza as Flavio. The nickname apparently comes from his work as a part-time model. His buddies briefly stopped laughing when they heard how much the modeling gigs pay, but for the most part they remain relentless.
Espinoza travels regularly for work but makes an effort to stay at hotels with exercise bikes to get his miles in.
Espinoza has the broadest shoulders in the group, so when faced with a stiff head wind his teammates love to be the one drafting behind in the pace line.

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RUSS MEYERS
South Hill
Age: 38
Profession: Sumner Middle School Social Studies teacher.
Riding Profile: Meyers has the most STP experience in the group. This year will be Meyers 14th consecutive STP and his fourth time doing the ride in one day.
The team also considers him the strongest rider. This means when others are hurting, he often gets to take long turns at the front of the pace line giving others more time to recover.
Meyers trains regularly at home while most folks are still in bed. With his schedule booked with spring football practice at Sumner Middle School, where he is the football coach, the only time he has to train is at 4 a.m.
So at least three mornings each week, he wakes up way too early so that he can get his workout in.
On last Saturday's ride, the team left from South Hill and pedaled through Orting to Sumner before returning home via a one-mile hill on Fruitland Avenue. Meyers had football practice during the middle of the ride, but instead of skipping the ride he used it to commute to work. Later he pedaled 15 miles home by himself.

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SCOTT WAGAR
Federal Way
Age: 39
Profession: Manager of Seattle’s Auto-Chlor System, part of a national chain that specializes in dishwashing operations and manufacturing.
Riding Profile: Wagar is another strong rider with vast STP experience.
He has finished the STP eight times and five of those rides took just one day. Wagar, like the rest of the team, say doing the 203-mile ride in a day is definitely the way to go.
His experience has already paid off in helping me offset my lack of riding knowledge. When Wagar and I reached the top of the one-mile Fruitland Hill last weekend, my back tire fell off.
While it would have taken me several minutes to put the bike back together, he slapped it back on with the speed of a NASCAR pit crew and I was ready roll again without even slowing up the team.
Wagar, Meyer and Beitelspacher rode the STP together last year, averaging just less than 18 mph.

Welcome to our cycling blog which is launching today (April 19) as part of our STP Project.

The STP Project is a look at what it takes to get ready to ride the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. Specifically, I will be training with a group of experience cyclists in an attempt to ride the 203-mile STP in one day.
I have no real cycling experience outside of riding the 2005 STP in two days on a 43-pound mountain bike and watching the Tour de France on TV.

Along the way, I hope to give you some insight into why people are so hooked on this sport, some tips for getting ready for your long rides, some good training routes, as well as a look into the local cycling community.

Anything else you want to know? Just ask: craig.hill@thenewstribune.com.