SeattleRando Blog

Ray Whitlock pre-rode the 1000K route, and provided this report. Registration closes next Wednesday, and you can register here.

I have 2 confessions to make. The first, I DNF’d this ride, not necessarily because of ride difficulty or because of medical or mechanical issues, but simply because the rain on Day 1 and for the last 5 hours of Day 2 was non-stop. The second is that I rode the days out of order. With the weather forecasting ½ inch of rain and temperatures in the low 40’s near Lake Quinault, there was no way I was going to ride a route with 30 miles of gravel and going through many areas with no cell coverage. They say that bad decisions make for good stories, but I wanted to survive to tell mine. The good news is that it appears I got the bad weather out of the way for you all and the forecast looks great for June 25 – June 28!

What follows is a daily account of what I found on the ride as if I had ridden it in the proper order. Since I couldn’t convince myself to ride an entire 300K in a downpour, I didn’t ride Day 3 but did drive most of the route and have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Well, except for the pit bulls. I also was able to ride the section of the Willapa Hills Trail that’s on Day 3’s route a couple weeks ago, so have first-hand knowledge of that section.

Highway 101 is a busy road but there’s a wide shoulder so no issues there. At approximately 8 miles from the Matlock Store, I was shocked out of my zone by a pit bull that came running out of his driveway unimpeded and headed straight for my left foot! It was all I could do to get unclipped and off my bike while nearly falling over to get my bike between me and the dog. I yelled at him to go home several times before he finally started doing so. As I started pedaling again, he once again gave chase. I yelled again and walked my bike for a while until I was certain he was back home, and I could outrun him if need be.

Your first opportunity for food and water comes at the Matlock Store ~37 miles from the start of the ride. The store doesn’t open until 8 am so if you’re fast, you may get there before they open. It may be worthwhile though as the next opportunity for water isn’t for another ~30 miles at Wynoochee Lake and your next opportunity for food isn’t for another ~70 miles at Lake Quinault.

Retrace your steps to get out of Wynoochee and turn right onto Forest Service Road 22/Donkey Creek Road. The gravel begins almost immediately and doesn’t stop completely for 14 miles. There’s a long stretch of gravel followed by a long stretch of pavement and then gravel and pavement interspersed with each other frequently. The gravel is in pretty good shape, but I did find myself riding on the wrong side of the road to find a good line. If you do this, beware that people camp along this road and you should expect vehicles. Stay alert, keep your headlight on and try not to do this on blind corners. I rode on 28’s but you may be able to go faster and be happier if you ride on 32’s or larger. Also, I had no Verizon cell service from Wynoochee all the way to Highway 101 so it may be a good idea to have a Spot or InReach GPS tracker with you on this ride in case you need help in this area.

Once you turn onto Highway 101, it’s 13 miles along this busy, but well-shouldered road to your next turn. The Lake Quinault area has 2 choices for food and beverages along the South Shore Road and 1 on the North Shore Road. It’s probably best to stock up as soon as you can as by now, as it’s been a long haul since Matlock. The Quinault Mercantile is open every day 8 AM – 8 PM. The road along the south side of the road is nice pavement for about 8 miles until you hit gravel. The gravel along the south side is buttery smooth, but the north side offers some bigger stuff along with some potholes.

There’s nothing very exciting between here and the end of the ride, except for the fact that when I was entering the small town of Montesano, I had flashbacks of PBP 2019 as the entrance into town was slightly uphill with a church at the top! It was about then that I looked down at the road conditions and realized, nope, I’m not in France!

Day 2: Whereas Day 1 headed west to the Olympics, Day 2 takes us east to the Cascades and near Mt. Rainier. The day starts off heading south on less busier roads than days 1 or 3. You’re out of town before you know it with plenty of services along the way as you’re generally paralleling the west side of I-5 all the way down to Chehalis. Don’t miss the turn at mile 22.7 like I did! You really do take the I-5 South on ramp, but you don’t get onto I-5 as the road splits beforehand.

In Morton, you’ll have to go off route south for about ½ mile to get to services at the Morton Country Market. However, I felt it was well worth it as they have everything you need including a hot food bar and a nice wood shed located right next to the entrance where I was able to sit and get out of the rain. For the rest of you, maybe you’ll need relief from the sun.

From Morton, you’ll continue on a nice stretch of road until you eventually hit Highway 12 which is a busy road but has a nice wide shoulder. The next opportunity for food and water is in Randle where you turn south to get off the highway. Now you’re back on pleasant and peaceful country roads with little traffic. That is, until you encounter the Pit Bull Challenge #2 along Cline Road at approximately 3.5 miles before you hit Bennett Road. I spotted this guy barking at me and running along the other side of the fence and didn’t think much of it as randonneurs encounter this all the time. You see the dog running but you know you’re safe because there’s a fence between you and him, so you blow him kisses or say sweet things like, “You’re such a good doggie”. Well, on this occasion, as I watched the good doggie running on the opposite side of the fence, I saw him disappear behind some trees and bushes temporarily until he got to the corner of his property where I thought the chase would end. To my shock and horror, he continued running as fast as ever but there didn’t appear to be a fence any longer! Next thing I knew, he was out on the road making a beeline toward my foot and it was déjà vu all over again trying not to fall over while fighting off this beast. He did eventually give up after a lot of yelling and walking of my bike and using it as a shield between him and I. On neither of these encounters did anyone at the homes of these good doggies appear or voice any kind of commands to their pets, so exercise caution as it may be a regular thing with all cyclists.

With my blood pumping, the next 6 or 7 miles along Bennett Road and Highway 12 into Packwood were a piece of cake. There are plenty of choices in Packwood for food and drink, but I chose the 76 station at Skate Creek Road as they have plenty of choices and there’s an info control there anyway. Stock up here because the next opportunity isn’t for another 25 miles in Ashford at the always friendly Suver’s General Store.

From there, it’s a beautiful ride up Skate Creek which is a 10- or 12-mile climb but it’s a nice, gradual incline coming from this side. The early Summer we had in May, followed by our most recent monsoons in June-uary have the greens of the forests and the whites of the gurgling creeks popping in a stunning array of colors. At the next stop of Ashford it’s a cruise along Highway 706 to Elbe where you join Highway 7. Beware of the railroad tracks both on your way into and out of Elbe as both sets are at treacherous angles to the road.

The next 10 miles of road are pretty busy with little to no shoulders in places. However, with it being a Saturday (instead of a Sunday when a lot of folks would be leaving Mt. Rainier) and the slow speed limits posted at some of the narrow, tight turns I think the traffic won’t be too much of a stress factor.

I must admit I really did not enjoy the 10 miles from Eatonville up to where you make the turn onto Kinsman Road. There’s a lot of traffic and once again, little to no shoulder in places. I did however find that most vehicles were courteous, and I don’t think I got honked at a single time. Make sure you have all your lights flashing and ride single file if you’re in a group.

Once again, we’re heading west, but this time out to the Pacific Ocean instead of the Olympic Mountains. The road out of town takes a slightly different route than Day 1 due to RUSA rules. Early on a Sunday morning, it should be no problem. On this day, you take Highway 8 to go west. Again, a busy road with a wide shoulder. The first opportunity to restock your food and drinks is at McCleary, approximately 22 miles from the La Quinta. You’ll soon be following familiar roads, except that things look all turned around because on Day 1 you were traveling some of these roads in the opposite direction.

Stock up in Montesano because it may be a while longer for any other opportunities depending upon what you’re able to find in Cosmopolis and along the highway to Twin Harbors. Heading out of Montesano there are some narrow bridges and hills along Highway 7 but a good shoulder to ride on otherwise.

As you pull in to Cosmopolis up Blue Slough Road, make sure you take an immediate left onto 2^nd to the left of the Cosmopolis sign as soon as you take a right on 1^st. It comes up fast! Make your way to the trail adjacent to the yellow Lions Club building. There’s fountain water and honey buckets available.

You may get lucky and find some services open along Highway 105 on a tourist-filled Sunday afternoon. If not, enjoy the views of these lush forest and tidal landscapes. Just past the first Twin Harbors entrance, you’ll find a Shell station with a Subway sandwich shop on the right. Otherwise, the next entrance to Twin Harbors offers flush toilets and running water.

In Raymond, I was hoping the route could turn onto a short section of the Willapa Hills Trail to avoid some traffic on Highway 6. However, after checking it out in the pouring rain, I’m not certain the chunky gravel is very ridable once the pavement ends. Thus, up Highway 6 it goes with some tight turns and a narrow bridge right outside of Raymond, followed by a couple narrow bridges further on up the road.

There are sections along this road that have little or no shoulder; however, on a Sunday night with your bike lights flashing, I don’t think it will be an issue.

The Pe Ell Texaco station, 28 miles from Raymond, should be open until 10 pm on a Sunday night. Shortly thereafter, you finally get to turn onto the packed gravel and very dark by this point, Willapa Hills Trail. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I rode this section of mostly packed gravel at almost road speeds on tubeless 28’s. The only difference is that then it was broad daylight whereas by now, it will probably be completely dark. Have your headlights blazing and it will probably go just as smoothly for you.

Approximately 19 miles later, as you’re preparing to turn left onto Highway 6, please exercise caution as the gravel here is very large and loose and the left-hand turn onto Highway 6 is a bit of a blind corner with vehicles approaching at high speeds from the left. There’s a 76 station not too far up the road from here.

As you enter Centralia on the sidewalk under I-5, the Chevron straight ahead of you may be the last chance for supplies so you should probably stock up now if you need it. The last 30 miles into Tumwater is nothing exciting but fairly straightforward in getting the horses back to the barn.

Registration link (closes 6/16 at midnight)

When I think of what makes a great populaire, among the important parts are things like:

• it should start with an espresso (doppio of course)
• 20 meters of gravel and a bit of climbing at the beginning to warm up
• have a near- equal number of left turns and right turns
• at 33.7K (give or take a few hundred meters), a twice- baked almond croissant magically appears
• gently rolling roads through farm- and pasture- land with views of a winding river
• somewhere around 77K, maybe more coffee and a treat, before a bit of climbing to justify all those calories (don’t overdo it- there’s only 30K to go!)
• 100 meters of single track, just enough to add to the excitement
•  a nice, quick downhill before 7K of water views along E Lake Samammish Pkwy NE
• finish at a brewery (with a food truck!) to quench my thirst and visit with other riders

If this checks any of your boxes, come to our Summer Populaire on Saturday, June 19. Checkin should be quick, just to pick up your brevet card to start around 8:00 AM.

Route & Cue Sheet: RWGPS Route (FINAL)
RUSA Route 1446 Snoqualmie River Run Populaired
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28988869

Parking: Avoid parking in the Peet’s/ Whole Foods parking lot. There is a bike trail parking lot just to the west of Peet’s, enter from NE 70th St.

Or you may consider street parking on NE 65th street by Postdoc Brewing, less than a kilometer from the start.

Note:Printed cuesheets will not be available at the start. You may choose to print your own. To print it, from the route page, click the More button, then select Print Cuesheet.

Andrew  Sapuntzakis, Sarah Stolz & Kevin Smith pre-rode the Spring 400K, packed with views, climbs, more views, even more climbs—the perfect SIR ride!

Note: There are many turns on this route. If relying on a cue sheet, pick a font you can read, and bring a “map light” once it’s dark. If using electronic navigation, make sure the device doesn’t choke on the 300+ course points, and have a way to recharge it. While there is lots of parking near the hotel and the stadium, for peace of mind please consider using the park & ride ~5 blocks away, just E of 102nd Ave. Now it’s onto the ride!

The start rolls down from McMenamins, crosses 522, and jogs left onto the new ped/bike bridge to the trail. Follow that all the way to Fremont. It’s not as smooth as it once was, so go easy through this part. Be nice to kids, pets, and other traffic along the way. Pro tip: Met Market is on the right at ~11.4 miles (18.3km), with bathrooms, water, and a decadent chocolate chip cookie that is sure to get you through the first few hills.

Northlake Pl, across from Gas Works, makes for a smooth transition onto 34th. A wide left onto the Fremont bridge sidewalk, then some quick rights to the ship canal trail take you under the Ballard bridge. Go through a made-u-look-both-ways railroad crossing, onto the sidewalk on the S side of Emerson, and then follow the 2-way bike lane over the railyard. Bike lane turns right on Gilman, becomes Gov’t Way, right up to the front entrance of Discovery Park. Don’t miss the left at the top, otherwise you’ll be backtracking up a solid extra climb.

Note the (former) stables on your right as you start to head down to the first control. At the bottom, avoid the right fork with the concrete overpass (or you’ll end up in the wastewater treatment plant- yuk). Answer the first question, take in the view to your next control destination at Alki Point, have a final bite of that gooey cookie, then head back up. Turn right just before the stables, and head toward the S park exit. Magnolia Blvd should be an easy cruise with stunning Elliott Bay views and homes to match. Don’t miss the turn onto Thorndyke, with its gentle incline down to the railyard. Admire the other Victorian technology, but be aware of an extremely narrow fenced ramp—communicate with oncoming trail traffic!

Take it easy on the trails through the waterfront parks, then go into the street once you reach Alaskan Way. Stay on it until King St to avoid the sidewalk/trail confusion caused by overlapping construction projects. After a short smooth trail segment, you’re back on Alaskan/E. Marginal Way. Activity is returning to the port, but watch for potholes! The cues will get you through to the W Seattle Bridge trail, but spare a glance for the repairs to the upper bridge. Traffic on the lower roads should still be reasonable, and the green lanes should help you get across the Delridge/Spokane/Chelan/Marginal spaghetti bowl intersection. Once across, getting to Harbor/Alki isn’t bad. The road that loops past the 2nd control has been “pedestrianized.”

As you head south, a short climb connects Beach Dr. to Fauntleroy, but you only head south briefly before turning to bypass the ferry traffic. The Original Bakery is at the foot of the Marine View Dr. climb. Enjoy more Sound views as you climb, then ~2.5 miles to prepare for Shorewood Blvd, which will make you glad you brought “easy” gears. Marvel at its multi-stage reveal.

From ~49 miles (79km) until Dash Point there are several sharp descents with tight turns—stay in your lane! If you’re not familiar with these roads, take it easy.

Work your way down to three-tree point for the next control, then more ups and downs to Redondo Beach, which has public restrooms. More climbs and drops—don’t miss the turn to get to the Dash Pt control. The climb out includes a steep segment and more great views. If you look closely, across the water is your next control destination, so close, yet…. Rejoin 509, but not for long, and don’t follow it down to the water.

As you approach Tacoma, use the sidewalk when you cross the Eells St bridge over the Puyallup. North of downtown Tacoma, the route jogs left to Commerce/Stadium, where construction materials and streetcar tracks make for a narrow path. Stay to the right of the tracks, you don’t need to cross them. Turn right at the light on Tacoma Ave, where Salamone’s pizza (opposite corner) sells by the slice, and it’s also a food option on the way out of town. Ruston Way is like a narrower Alki. The Point Ruston Public Market has bathrooms inside and food trucks outside. Options in the Ruston development may be busy. Consider grabbing some food to eat at the control in Dune Peninsula Park, taking in the sweeping views. Hopefully the Mountain will be out to show your next direction, you’ll be seeing it for hours. Water and bathrooms are available in the park pavilion.

In Puyallup, the river crossings aren’t bad, but take a wide left and get onto the sidewalk where Shaw goes over the tracks. Use the near crosswalk just after the tracks to get on the Foothills trail rather than turning onto busy Pioneer. Cruise all the way to Orting Safeway, McD’s, etc.

The initial climb on Orting Kapowsin Hwy doesn’t have much of a shoulder, so do your best to stick to the fog line. Eventually, the route passes the Kapowsin grocery (Texaco gas station) twice—it’s decently stocked, but has no bathrooms. From there, it’s mostly downhill back to Pioneer and the Foothills trail. The sani-can along the trail was not well maintained, so you might byo paper.

Leaving South Prairie, there’s another climb. On the way into Wilkeson, note the skillet-eggs-n-bacon feature in the skate park. There are a few food options, although the Pick & Shovel saloon is probably your best bet, with outdoor seating around back. Figure ~30 minutes to the Carbonado control and back.

From here, the route profile stays pretty tame for the next 100km, so you can hopefully make good time. Services can be found in Burnett, Buckley, Enumclaw, with a control before the Green River. Then head for the Safeway control (open till 1 AM) on Kent Kangley Rd. The staffed Landsburg control just three short miles away marks the return to trails (no services) all the way to Renton. The Landsburg control will have hot coffee, hot water for tea, cocoa, cup-o-soup, packaged sandwiches and energy providing snacks.

From Renton, it’s the East Side of Lake Washington that most of us can do in our sleep, although the gravel rail trail is almost entirely closed for construction, so we have you on the Lake Washington Loop trail. Then the I-90 trail to Mercer Island, and the scenic way around starting with the twisty bits. After the floating bridge, there’s a steep half block up to Seattle’s Lake Washington Blvd, and a twisty, bumpy descent through Frink/Leschi Park to a restroom info control at Madrona Park. Continue on, up the hairpin, west to MLK, and through the Montlake neighborhood to the 520 trail via the Montlake overpass due to the posted closure on the Roanoke trail stub.

Cross the lake again, and the “rolling” trail dumps you onto Northup, then 24th for some short climbs. Then it’s on the trail again to 148th for the last info control, and then back off the trail once more due to construction. Pass Microsoft and Nintendo, and a quick trail descent to Redmond. Onto the Sammamish River Trail all the way to Bothell, up the ramp, o’er the bridge, and back to the hotel where your author(s) will be waiting to congratulate you.

Mark Thomas, Jan Acuff and John Nguyen pre-rode the Brevet Week 400k. Here is their report of the ride:

Starting in Redmond again, the 400k takes a standard route to Snohomish via Paradise Lake Road (with its one deadly little stinger of a hill) and Broadway. The route then follows the river towards Everett before veering north to Marysville. At 59km in Marysville, the pre-riders stopped at a Starbucks (there is also a convenience store) to fuel up for the sturdy climb to Lakes Ki and Goodwin. 

With a Marysville stop, we headed straight through Stanwood and then over the bridge to Camano. Although busy and annoying, the bridge has a decent shoulder and should be fine. We definitely encountered some ups and downs on the north and west sides of Camano Island before refueling again at the Elger Bay store (123km).

There may be nice views as you head up the east side of Camano and than back over to Stanwood. The 55 kilometer or so stretch from Stanwood to the base of Chuckanut is the flattest part of the ride. We stopped for convenience store sustenance at the Whitney control at 178km partway through this stretch. Chuckanut Drive is terrific and a couple of the overlooks on the left would be worth a picture stop.

We had pizza (and maybe a beer) at the Fairhaven control a bit past halfway (212km). In addition to the pizza place, there is a grocery store just beyond and then a few more restaurants past that.

The upcoming climb from Fairhaven to Lake Padden and beyond is a leg buster with occasional double digit grades. We sort of knew it was coming, but it was a doozy nonetheless. A bit of an inconsistent descent took us to Lake Whatcom. Plenty of nice scenery along the Lake, but unfortunately, this was, for us, the busiest section of the ride for traffic. Once we left the lake, it was pretty quiet to Sedro-Woolley. (Note that the 600k takes a bit of an alternate route to Sedro-Wooley, featuring Lake Samish instead of Lake Whatcom, but not depriving its riders of the nasty climb out of Fairhaven).

Services are available in Sedro-Woolley after about 55km of nothing from Fairhaven, but with only another 18km to Mount Vernon, we opted not to stop. The route goes west on Cook and south on Gardner instead of following WA-20 from Sedro-Woolley to Burlington. When the route reaches 20, cross over to the other side and use the trail, which is paved to about a block before the turn south through Burlington. To cross the Skagit River, the route goes under the bridge and then up the ramp onto the bridge over the river. On the other side, there are a few blocks of fairly convoluted routing that kept us from having to cross lanes of traffic to make left turns and otherwise avoid the worst of the traffic.

We stopped at the McDonalds/convenience store across the street from the control in Mount Vernon. I believe that they are both open 24 hours. If you expect to be there late (reference control closure is about 1:30am), you might want to call ahead and confirm the hours. From the control, bike lanes and then nice quiet roads brought us to Conway. It may not be the absolute flattest way out of Mount Vernon, but it’s pretty nice. It got dark for us in that stretch. 
After Conway, the second to last significant climb goes up to Lake McMurray and shortly thereafter, we found ourselves on the Centennial Trail for about a 50km jaunt to Snohomish. If needed, services can be found about a block west of the trail in Arlington at a 7-11 visible from the route. We didn’t stop there and indeed pushed on to the finish without any further refuel stops (about 110km from Mount Vernon to finish). Additional services are available in Snohomish before the final climb up Springhetti and Broadway to Matlby. A quick downhill into Woodinville and trail riding back to Marymoor make for a quick(ish) last bit.

by Ray Whitlock

Routes: https://ridewithgps.com/events/148081-2021-summer-solstice-1000

The Summer Solstice 1000k is a brand new route and should entail some great adventuring. We have traveled most of these roads on other Brevets and Permanents, but there are a few twists and turns to keep you entertained. The route consists of 3 loops all starting and finishing at the La Quinta Inn in Tumwater, WA. While that will make it easy to clean up and grab some sleep after each loop, it will also provide an easy temptation to abandon. There are portions of the ride that will require more than the usual rando self-sufficiency.  Make sure you check your yearning for sleep and civilization at the door so that you can successfully finish the entire adventure!

Day 1 has us heading out for the biggest challenge of the 3 days where we will ride out past Shelton and Matlock on mainly paved back roads. We make a visit to Wynoochee Lake for some incredible views of the Wynoochee River valley, refill our water bottles, visit some civilized restrooms and maybe even take a swim if it’s a warm day. From there, we will head southwest onto Donkey Creek Road (FS Development Road 22) and approximately 7 miles of gravel before the pavement begins again. At Highway 101, we turn north up to and around Lake Quinault, circumnavigating it in a counter-clockwise fashion. The south shore of the lake is a bit of a roller coaster, but nicely paved with a couple choices for services along the way. Stock up there and get ready for another approximately 11-mile stretch of well-packed gravel (rideable on 25’s/28’s) just beyond the east end of the lake and around to the north shore where we’ll head west and eventually rejoin 101 to head south. From there, it’s a 16-mile cruise down the wide-shouldered 101 where we will pick up some more back roads all the way down to Montesano. At Montesano, we head east to Elma along the Monte-Elma Road and then head south all the way down past Oakville on lightly trafficked back roads. The final stretch of the day has us heading north up through the Mima Mounds area and back to Tumwater for a well-deserved night of rest.

Day 2 will be a nice break from the hard work you put in the previous day and should give your legs somewhat of a break in preparation for the adventures of Day 3. We head west to Montesano, Cosmopolis and all the way out to Twin Harbors State Park for a view of the Pacific Ocean where we will head south along the water down to the northern portion of Willapa Bay. From there it’s a trip through Raymond for a restocking of food and water and then along the well-shouldered Highway 6 for a return trip towards the east. With any luck, we’ll be able to ride a 20-30 mile stretch of the Willapa Hills Trail on pavement and well-packed gravel starting at the town of Pe Ell or at Rainbow Falls State Park. How much of this trail is rideable will be determined during the pre-ride or maybe sooner. From there, we’ll make our way back north through Centralia, Bucoda and Tenino for our second overnight in Tumwater.

Day 3 has us going east into the foothills near Mt. Rainier. We head south along generally flat roads through Centralia and Chehalis until we turn east and climb steadily up through Alpha and Cinebar. We will travel along Highway 12 for approximately 20k until we get to Randle and head a bit south and cross the Cowlitz River. With some luck the Eastern Washington wind machine will give riders a nice push up Highway 12.

We travel along the south side of the river along Cline Road most of the way into Packwood. Packwood will be a good opportunity to stock up on food and water before heading up the largest climb of the day, Skate Creek Road. We’ll follow the scenic Johnson Creek all the way up and back down to near the Nisqually River where we will head back to the west and along the river into Ashford for a restocking of supplies. From there it’s east through Elbe and along Alder Lake and then north on Highway 7 to avoid some of the angry traffic along the Alder Cutoff Road. From Eatonville we head north and even further north to avoid the heavy traffic and lack of shoulder along Highway 702. We then head south and cruise through Roy and McKenna until we pick up the Chehalis Western Trail in Yelm. The trail will send us north and east along the north side of Offutt Lake and back to the finish line in Tumwater.

Registration Information:

• Registration Opens May 25
• Hotel accommodations – Registered riders will be responsible for making their own hotel accommodations
• There are portions of the ride that will require more than the usual rando self-sufficiency
• RwGPS route and or information will be updated on the registration page as it becomes available