9-year-old finishes 202-mile STP ride

Ashvin Naik knew his 9-year-old son was game for the 202-mile Seattle-to-Portland bike ride when after a recent 80-mile training ride Aaryea Naik was still bouncing with energy.

On Sunday, with Seattle a day behind him and Portland in view, Aaryea still had power to spare. His pace kicked up from about 10 to 15 mph in the final miles, and the father-son team finished around 5 p.m., well ahead of many other riders.

The STP — one of the nation's largest recreational rides, with 10,000 registrants this year — does not keep track of the youngest riders who finish on their own bikes, rather than on tandem or trail-a-bikes. The oldest registered rider was 85.

But STP spokeswoman M.J. Kelly said Aaryea is likely one of the youngest to finish under his own power.

"That's unfathomable. I'm so impressed," she said. "When you're at single digits, that's a major accomplishment."

It was Aaryea's idea. Inspired by his uncle's Atlantic-to-Pacific coast bike trip, Aaryea and his father bought new road bikes and rode more than 1,600 training miles since February. Their longest ride, a one-day trip around Lake Washington, left Ashvin, a software marketing consultant, exhausted. Aaryea, a fourth-grader at Redmond's Louisa May Alcott Elementary, was not.

"My son is pushing me to the limit," said Ashvin Naik, 39, of Redmond.

They rode to Centralia on Saturday, and got a later-than-planned start Sunday morning. But they soon found a pair of riders who encouraged Aaryea to draft behind them, and 40 miles breezed by.

Aaryea hadn't told his classmates of his ride, fearing he wouldn't finish. Ashvin just hoped to finish by 6 p.m.

But Aaryea's late push got them to Portland early. "I knew that I could do this," he said.

It also gave him new ambitions. During the ride, Aaryea said he wanted to do RAPSody, a 170-mile ride around Puget Sound that features 9,600 feet in total elevation gain.

And next year, he said, he wants to do all 202 miles of the STP in one day.

Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com