Eastside Coffee Rides (Steady) – Week #4

The ride for this week (Oct 24) will depart Wilmot Gateway Park (by the pergolas in the park) at 8:30am to cycle to Redmond Ridge via Education and Novelty Hills and returning to Woodinville via Sammamish River Valley and Kingsgate Hill.  This ride is estimated to 28.5 miles in length with an elevation gain of approximately 1381 feet.   We’ll adhere to a steady pace on the flats.  I will post the final route about a week before the ride to account for any last minute changes due to construction, etc.

This is the third of a set of 6 planned Saturday morning rides to local Eastside coffee shops.  These ride can be used (if you choose) to partially meet the International Coffeeneuring Challenge (http://chasingmailboxes.com/2015/09/19/coffeeneuring-challenge-2015-a-dream-within-a-dream/)  Please note that while these rides “qualify”, they are not unique in that many other Cascade Free Group Rides (e.g., CAFES, etc) or individual rides also can be used to qualify for the challenge (FYI: we have clarified that Cascade FGR’s are eligible with the Coffeeneuring Queen).

All of these rides will go to a different local Eastside coffee establishment (bring your own funds to purchase beverages or snacks please).  The rides will be conducted at a Steady pace (12-14 mph) on the flats to respect the original ride concept from our own CBC member Joe Platzner who originated the idea and described the intended Ride Style as  “….you need to ride your bike slowly to a nearby coffee shop and enjoy a fine beverage”   There will be hills on the weekly routes.   .   

Weather impacts  – we will plan to do a very shortened version of a route to meet the minimum Coffeeneuring Challenge criteria if weather conditions require it (this will be the Ride Leader decision on the day of the ride….normally the trigger criteria would be “Steady Rain”).  Safety issues can cancel if we have local Ice/Snow, Earthquakes, and/or Volcanoes.

While the Coffeeneuring Challenge requires 7 rides in 7 weeks, we will only be offering 6 rides in this set of rides as I will be in Walla Walla on Oct 10-11-12 for those rides.  You will need to find another Cascade FGR or to do an individual ride that weekend if you wish to keep the continuity required for the Coffeeneuring Challenge. 

Riders should be able to sustain an overall Steady pace, read a cue sheet, and change a flat. Riders can ride on their own, in small groups, or with the ride leader.   Faster riders and better hill climbers are welcome but for them the ride can be self-paced and self-guided. The ride leader is generally slow up hills but will always get there.