Winter Training Series #5: Snohomish, Happy Valley, Arlington (Self-Paced)

This is the fifth of this year's nine Winter Training Series rides.  WTS starts January 6th and will end on March 2nd. During this nine-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. 

Directions to Start: From SR-9 take the 2nd Street exit and continue east to Avenue D. Continue approx. 1 mile to the Snohomish Haggens at 1301 Avenue D, Snohomish, WA. Please park in the SW corner of the large lot – away from the store.

UPDATE: Since we have been rained out the past few weeks, there will be an additional, shorter option for riding today. Riders may ride this route, 57 miles/1400ft climbing: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45421004  or ride the scheduled 71 mile route shown in the Route Map link.

WTS #5 is a counterclockwise loop from Snohomish to Marysville via Ebey Island then north via Happy Valley and Sylvana to Arlington and back via Burns Rd, Schwarzmiller & the Centennial Trail.  One can shorten the route and take out some climbing by returning via the Centennial Trail from Arlington. There is an optional coffee stop at mile 46 at Stilly's Coffee House in Arlington.  In addition there here are bathrooms @mile 17.5, @mile 37.5 and @mile 65.5.  Please limit speed on any multi-use paths to the legal maximum (usually 15 MPH, occasionally 10 MPH).

Generally all the Winter Training Series rides start at 9:00 AM except the last one. Please be at the start early enough to have your registration confirmed, pump up your tires, adjust your fenders, and put all your warm clothes on. Sign-in starts at 8:30 AM, mandatory ride & safety announcements are at 9:00 AM, and we start riding when that is completed.  All riders must attend the safety briefing to participate.

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 Introduction to WTS.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you want a cue sheet, please go to the Route Map link and print one out for yourself.  There won't be any available at the start.

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.

Registration is required. There will be no sign-in at the ride start.  You must be registered by no later than 5:00AM on the day of the of the ride.  If you already have a Cascade account make sure you are logged in and click the green Register button and follow the prompts. If you can't make the ride, please remember to un-register. If you don’t have a Cascade account, setting one up only takes a couple of minutes and it's free.  Make sure you are registered by 5:00 AM the day of the ride.  Registrations after that will not be accepted and you will not be allowed to participate.

We hope you can join us!