Winter Training Series (WTS) 3: Renton, Covington, Hobart, May Valley, Bellevue

This is the third of this year's eight Winter Training Series Rides hosted jointly by CBC and the Seattle Randonneurs. WTS starts January 11th and will end on February 29th. During this eight-ride series, distances progress from about 34 miles to 100 miles. WTS is a great way to do some early season training, with a natural buildup of miles, while enjoying the company of other riders. Winter riding is tough enough--this gives you a chance to do it with friends. 

This ride starts and ends at Bellevue's Newport Hills Park and Ride. This year's route is a reversal of last year's new route but keeps us mostly off the perennially busy Issaquah-Hobart Road. We first head south through Renton and out the Cedar River Trail. From there it's up 196th to Covington and Maple Valley to Hobart.  Then up Tiger Mountain Road from the south and back via Maple Valley and May Creek Roads to Newcastle.   Along the way we follow a short stretch of the unpaved section of the Cedar River Trail onto one of our favorite roads: Dorre Don.  Unfortunately, one of our favorite coffee stops, Ristretto's Coffee comes a little early in the ride going this direction (26.5 miles), so folks may want to wait until we get to the Starbucks in Covington at mile 30.1.

Generally all the Winter Training Series rides start at 9:00 AM except the last one. The 100-miler on February 29th will start at 8:00 AM. Please be at the start early enough to sign in, pump up your tires, adjust your fenders, and put all your warm clothes on. Sign-in starts at 8:30 AM, ride announcements are at 8:50 AM, and we start promptly at 9:00 AM - no waiting for those still arriving. Though there will usually be a number of ride leaders on the course, these are self-paced and self-guided rides with friendly encouragement and lots of camaraderie. THERE ARE NO REGROUPS IN THIS SERIES. For more general information, please follow the link below to Introduction to WTS.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you want a cue sheet, please go to the RideWithGPS link below and print one out for yourself.  There won't be any available from the ride leaders.

All rides are rain or shine. We might shorten a route for really foul weather, but the only outright cancellation will be for snow or ice.  We may delay the start if we believe that the conditions will be safer a bit later in the day.  CHECK THIS WEBPAGE BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME.

To save time and to make the sign-in process much easier, please register for this ride. If you already have a Cascade account make sure you are logged in and click the <Register> button at the top of the ride description, then make sure to check the box indicating you have read the Waiver & Release, add your emergency phone number and click <Save Registration> button. Don’t worry if you can’t make the ride, you don't need to unregister. If you don’t have a Cascade account consider setting one up! It only takes a couple of minutes and won't cost you anything. If you’ve pre-registered all you need to do is check off your name at the start of the ride – no lengthy sign-in procedure.

Directions to Start: From I-405 take Exit 9.  The parking lot is on the east side of the freeway.  THERE ARE NO RESTROOMS AT THE START - (There's a Starbucks at Exit 7 - 2 miles south of P&R.)