2023 Events Season: STP, a Gravel Tour, and More!
Paul Tolmé
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Registration for Seattle to Portland (July 15-16) opens Jan. 10 for members, Feb. 7 for non-members.
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New Tour Lites, a gravel tour of the Methow Valley, and the tentative return of RSVP and the Emerald City Ride highlight our biggest events season in years.
Mark your calendars and start making your bike travel plans. Cascade is excited to announce the dates and new locations for our expanded 2023 Events and Rides Season.
Building on the hugely successful return of the Kaiser Permanente Seattle to Portland presented by Alaska Airlines in 2022, Cascade’s 44th STP will be held July 15-16. Members can register as early as Jan. 10, and non-member registration opens on Feb. 7.
Cascade is also adding new Tour Lite locations and including all seven of our Tour Lites in a new Rides Around Washington series. Our three-day, fully supported Tours Lites allow people explore Washington state’s most scenic destinations. One of these destinations is the majestic Methow Valley, where we will hold the new Winthrop Gravel Tour Lite.
Click Here for the Full Rides and Events Schedule
“This is going to be the most exciting and fun events and major rides season in years,” says Lee Lambert, Cascade’s executive director. “Participants can feel good knowing that they are supporting our Mission and Vision while enjoying and exploring Washington state and the Pacific Northwest from the saddle of their bike.”
Revenues from events are a top source of funding for Cascade’s advocacy and equity work, education programs, and community building initiatives like the Pedaling Relief Project.
Chilly Hilly, Ride for Major Taylor, Lake Chelan
The 2023 events season begins on Feb. 11 with the Seattle Bike Swap, a chance for vendors to sell and customers to buy lightly used or vintage gear and score some bonkers bargains.
Chilly Hilly starts with a fun ferry ride to Bainbridge Island from downtown Seattle.
On Feb. 26, the riding begins with our wintertime classic, the Chilly Hilly. Held on beautiful Bainbridge Island, Chilly Hilly is an opportunity to kick off your STP training and shrug off the winter blahs.
April brings the Cascade Training Series, the Ride for Major Taylor, and our Lake Chelan Tour Lite.
The Lake Chelan Tour Lite offers views of blue waters and orange sunrises.
For beer fans, our Seattle Bike-n-Brews microbrewery ride will be held in May, which is also Bike Everywhere Month.
STP, Flying Wheels, and Three Days of Gravel Riding
On June 3, riders can test their STP fitness on Flying Wheels–which offers short and long routes of up to 100 miles through the foothills and farmlands east of Seattle.
Late June brings us to the lovely Methow Valley, where Cascade will put on its first gravel tour in the town of Winthrop. Tentative dates for the Winthrop Gravel Tour Lite are June 23-25.
“Sign up early for the Winthrop Gravel Tour Lite because it will sell out early,” Lambert says. “I’m personally excited to ride this one. People have been asking us for more gravel rides and we are delivering on that request.”
STP begins with a dawn ride over the University Bridge in Seattle.
Things really get cooking in July with the arrival of summer weather and the 44th edition of the largest and most iconic big ride in the Pacific Northwest–STP. If you’ve never ridden STP, check out our photo gallery and read about the “Tutus, Smiles, and Stoke” of STP 2022 here.
Ride Around Washington
For people eager to explore scenic riding destinations across the state, we have turned our Tour Lites into a series called Rides Around Washington.
In late July and early August we will present two new Tour Lite locations–Grays Harbor and Long Beach–that will serve as our 23rd edition of the Ride Around Washington. Held back-to-back with a rest day in the middle, the Grays Harbor and Long Beach tours will provide the opportunity to explore southwest Washington’s scenic Pacific coastline while staying in the communities of Aberdeen/Hoquiam and Long Beach.
Last season’s popular Port Townsend Tour Lite returns in August, and another three-day Tour Lite just over the Cascades will be added to the Rides Around Washington schedule for September once we iron out details.
Canada Here We Come, Eh?
The Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party (RSVP) is tentatively scheduled to return for the first time in three years on Aug. 26-27, giving riders the opportunity to experience one of the most scenic double centuries in North America.
Last held in 2019, RSVP is a stunningly beautiful 200-plus-mile ride from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia. We will confirm and announce RSVP dates in early 2023. Meantime, get your passport and party pants ready.
September marks an opportunity to celebrate the fall grape harvest and sample Washington state’s viniculture with the Woodinville Wine Ride. It’s wine tasting on two wheels.
Late September marks the occasion of our last big one-day ride of the season: the Kitsap Color Classic–an opportunity to enjoy the fall foliage of the Kitsap Peninsula. Our Rides Around Washington season will conclude in the fall with the Walla Walla Tour Lite, Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.
Emerald City Ride, and Supporting Bicycling for All
Prior to the pandemic, the Emerald City Ride through Seattle was one of our most popular and beloved events.The Emerald City Ride is a chance to see Seattle from a new vantage. In years past, families and Seattle-area riders had the opportunity to pedal on Interstate 5 express lanes closed to car traffic, or through the SR99 tunnel.
The Walla Walla Tour Lite provides views of golden wheat fields and verdant vineyards.
Cascade is working with the Washington State Department of Transportation and Seattle Department of Transportation to determine a date for resuming this iconic ride in 2023. We hope to announce an Emerald City Ride date in early 2023.
Overall, 2023 offers many new riding opportunities while also giving longtime Cascade riders the chance to participate in our annual classics.
“This will be the most robust and adventurous rides season for Cascade in many years,” Lambert says. “Thank you to everyone who signs up and joins us in 2023. By riding with us, you support our efforts to improve bicycling for everyone across our state.”
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