Fort Townsend Women & Non-Binary Weekend (Steady)

Please note, this is a Women and Non-binary ride only. W&NB rides are only for individuals that identify as a woman or non-binary, including trans-gender women and cis-gender women. Male identifying riders can support this group best by finding other appropriate rides on the Free Group Rides calendar and leaving this space for W&NB riders.

THIS IS A WEEKEND EVENT THAT INVOLVES CAMPING WITH TWO DIFFERENT BIKE ROUTES. READ ALL INFO BEFORE REGISTERING SINCE THIS WILL BE A SMALL INTIMATE GROUP!

We will be group camping at Fort Townsend Historical State Park near Port Townsend, WA from Friday, 7/16/27 through Sunday 7/18/27. The group camp site isn't well marked, so plan to park/lock my red bike at the entrance to it.  Standard group camp guidelines allow for 7 vehicles to park at the group's campsite at no additional fee

Cost: Cascade Bicycle Club will be covering the cost of the group camping site. 

You will be responsible for your own equipment and food, however. At a minimum, you will need a tent, pad/cot and sleeping bag. There is potable water at the park.

Suggested items:

• Food for meals if you plan to eat at camp
• Camp stove/burner if you plan to cook your own food
• Headlamp/lantern
• Plate, utensils, mug/cup for hot beverages, water bottle
• Bug spray and sunscreen
• Camp chair/stool
• Towel and toiletries (they have free hot showers and electricity in the restroom)
• First aid kit
• Phone charger
• ID card/cash/debit card
• Bike essentials (spare tube, patch kit, tools, etc.)

Things Ride Leader will provide:

• Kettle for hot water
• Can opener, salt, pepper, cooking utensils (tongs, spoon, egg turner)
• Dish tub, soap and sponge
• Trash bags for daily use (they do have dumpsters at the campground)
• Hot chocolate, instant coffee, tea bags, and sugar (bring your own creamer)
• Lines to hang wet towels
• Firewood if no burn ban

Note: I have a one-burner camp stove and a one-burner propane stove (like those used in a restaurant), one pot and one skillet, so can only use one item at a time. If anyone has a larger camp stove, we may not all need to bring one (I think having 4 burners would work ok). As we get closer to the date, we'll have a zoom meeting to go over stuff to bring, cooking, etc.

About Fort Townsend Historical State Park:

The park is a quiet, heavily forested 367-acre marine camping park situated just two miles south of Port Townsend, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. Perched on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound, it features 3,960 feet of saltwater shoreline along Port Townsend Bay. Unlike other local military forts that feature massive concrete bunkers, Fort Townsend is unique because its historic grounds have almost completely returned to nature, offering a tranquil retreat under a dense canopy of old-growth trees.

The group camp site has vault toilets, however there are flush toilets and hot showers available in the main campground. It's 0.4 miles though, so you may want to bike to them. There is potable water at the group site.

Schedule:

• Friday: Arrive after 3pm at Fort Townsend Historical State Park. Dinner will be whatever you bring or cook, or you can drive into Port Townsend and eat at one of the many restaurants. RL will greet everyone as they arrive. Please try to arrive before 9pm so we can introduce each other.
• Saturday: Breakfast on our own. Suggested items like oatmeal, cereal, muffins - things that can be made and eaten quickly. Hot water/hot beverages available. Help clean up after breakfast. Be sure to pack a sack lunch! At 9am we will have a safety briefing day-use area (by the parking lot), then ride from the State Park to Fort Worden and through Port Townsend. We will be stopping at North Beach County Park to eat our lunch before continuing the route and back to camp. There is a port-o-potty, but no potable water there.
  Free rest of day (bring games if you have some). Dinner will be the same as Friday night.
• Sunday: Breakfast on our own. Hot water/beverages available. Help clean up after breakfast. Pack up camp and load vehicles (leaving your reservation tag visible - shouldn't need a Discover Pass; we need to do this because we won't be back before checkout time at the site). Be sure to pack a sack lunch! At 9am we will have a safety briefing day-use area (by the parking lot), then we will ride from the park to Fort Flagler. We will be eating our lunch at Fort Flager before returning to our camp. Once we return to the State Park, you are free to depart (you may want to shower/change before departing.

There is no electric at the group camp site if you ride an ebike. Be sure you have enough battery charge for both rides!

Day 1 Route: We will be mostly riding on roads with some traffic (but shouldn't be heavy). We will be riding some trails through Fort Worden State Park which includes some climbs to the former gun batteries. We will also be riding some hard-packed dirt with light gravel (minimal) on the Larry Scott Trail as well. Total mileage is 32.4 miles.

Day 2 Route: This route involves riding along roads on the shoulders with minimal traffic. The shoulders are wide and traffic is usually not an issue. Once we turn onto Marrowstone Island, there's even less vehicle traffic as we ride to Fort Flagler. Total mileage is 33 miles.

For each route, we will climb and descend hills at our own pace, and we will regroup frequently. The pace will vary between 12-14 mph. We'll also limit our speed on any multi-use paths to the legal maximum (usually 15 MPH, occasionally 10 MPH).

Use the restrooms at the group camp prior to departure. We will stop along the way for restrooms/food as indicated on each route map.

Note: If weather forecast calls for rain anytime during the weekend, the trip will be cancelled. Ride Leader will send an email on Thursday evening, July 15, 2027. Please check before leaving for the ride.

We hope you can join us!