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

KEEPING RIDERS SAFE

  • Advance registration required. If you decide not to ride, please click Cancel My Registration below to open space for others. (How to cancel) 
  • Attendance at the pre-ride safety briefing is required to participate in the ride.
  • All participants must follow Wash. state guidance on masking, distancing and vaccination for indoor and outdoor activities.
  • If you have tested positive for COVID or have been exposed to someone with COVID, follow the CDC quarantine and isolation guidelines. In general, if you have COVID or are displaying COVID symptoms, you should not participate in group rides.
  • Some rides stop at indoor venues. All riders should have face coverings available in case a business or public transit requires their use.
  • A CPSC certified helmet is required to be worn to participate.
  • PDF icon Click here for more Details

If you are new, please read our newcomer information.

Register Now
Date and Time: 
Saturday, January 22, 2022 - 9:00am
Start Location: 
Newport Hills Park & Ride
5115 113th Pl SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
Directions
Contact Information: 
Ralph Nussbaum
RENussbaum@outlook.com
2067139417
Distance: 
56 miles
Elevation Gain: 
2,600 feet
Pace: 
Self Paced
Terrain: 
Hilly
Regroup: 
None/NA
Weather Cancellation: 
No rain cancellation
Interests: 
Training
Registration for this ride closed on Saturday, January 22, at 5:00 am

This is the third of this year's nine Winter Training Series rides. WTS starts January 8th and will end on March 5th. 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. 

The ride starts and ends at the Newport Hills Park & Ride along I-405. 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.  One of our favorite coffee stops, Ristretto's Coffee comes a little early in the ride going this direction (29 miles), but it's well worth the stop. 

Generally all the Winter Training Series rides start at 9:00 AM except the last one. The 100-miler on March 5th will start at 8:00 AM. 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.  If you miss the briefing, you will not be able to ride with the group. 

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.

Pre-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 <Register Now> 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 un-register. If you don’t have a Cascade account set one up! It only takes a couple of minutes and won't cost you anything.

Even though you’ve pre-registered, you will need to check off your name at the start of the ride.  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 attend the ride!

Directions to Start: From I-405 take Exit 9.  The large 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 the P&R.)

Links: 
RWGPS Course
Introduction to WTS

Comments

Hanoch is absolutely right!  The route will definitely be ridden in a clockwise fashion. I reversed the route for the reasons mentioned but then failed to "reverse" the ride description.  So we do first go out May Valley and then do a short section of Issaquah-Hobart Rd before climbing up Tiger Mountain.  From there we make our way to Hobart, Dorre Don, Lake Sawyer and eventually Covington before finishing with Jones Road and back to Newport P & R.

Thanks for pointing that out,

Ralph

Ralph, your reply says counter-clockwise, but then you proceed to describe the ride in a clockwise direction, same as shown on the RWGPS route.  

Counter-clockwise would go south to Renton first, then Cedar river, Covington, Dorre Don, Tiger Mountain, and return via May Valley.  That's the reverse of the RWGPS route page.  

Could you edit your reply to make it consistent?  

 

Why does the route go onto the very busy Renton-Maple Valley Rd at Mile 46.6 as opposed to just using the Cedar River trail? Looks like the route joins the trail at mile 48.1.

Jeffrey, that's a good question.  It looks like a mistake to me, especially the way that the route re-joins the trail by doing an unnecessary loop along 148th St.  

Personally, I'll be using the trail.  Also, this is perhaps a good opportunity to give a warning about the trail:  From the golf course west, the speed limit is only 10mph and there has been enforcement of this recently.  

There must be gremlins in my computer/RWGPS.  I definitely intended to use the Cedar River Trail after coming off Jones Rd and 154th.  Yes, we need to respect the trail speed limit and I will point that out at the safety briefing.

Submitted by Cary Drake on

I'm aware that the day's ride goes down 196th...nevertheless, I'd like to offer an alternative for those unfamiliar, for any future rides that may involve going up 196th, which I've found to be troublesome due to vehicle speeds even going uphill, and an adequate shoulder. For years I've taken the first right, after crossing 169 from Jones Rd., onto SE 162nd which in my experience enjoys little to no traffic. A brief series of uncomplicated turns releases you back onto 196th, from 195th Pl. SE, which is the top of the hill and the common regroup point for those still climbing. Please excuse my two cents...

Newport Hills Park & Ride
5115 113th Pl SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
Directions
Ride Leader(s)
Ralph Nussbaum
Wang Yeung

Registrations so far...
Self Paced

58 rider(s)