CHEW 10 (Vigorous)

CHEW is a 12‑week winter training series designed to build and maintain real cold‑season fitness. Each week's ride builds on the last, and the workload ramps up quickly—so starting this late in the series means jumping straight into the deep end. Expect hills, expect climbing, and expect to work.

Ride Start: Let's meet at the Newport Park & Ride. Be there, ready to go at the time listed. Note: start time is 30 minutes earlier this week. There are no restrooms and no water at the ride start/end, but Newcastle Beach Park is just a mile away if needed. The first official restroom break will be at mile 5.8. As always, it's a good idea to arrive hydrated and have your two water bottles full up. We will start with a required safety briefing, and roll out when that's done, so make sure you arrive early.  All riders must attend the safety briefing to participate.

Route: We'll head north with a loop through downtown Bellevue, then over to Lake Sammamish, south along the lake, under I-90 and then up Zoo hill, through Coal Creek and Newcastle to Renton, then north near the Seahawks Training Facility, up the hill back into Newcastle and finally back to the park and ride.

Route Note: Zoo hill is one of the most challenging hills in the Seattle area. If you haven't been riding CHEW or other challenging routes (e.g., over 35 miles, over 2500 feet of climbing) prior to this ride, you may want to reconsider. The route is a continuous up and down with a lot of elevation and not much flat riding. 

Please note the rain route listed in the additional links, and download that too, just in case.

Stops: We will stop along the way for restrooms/water at the Downtown Park in Bellevue (mile 5.8), with a longer 20-minute break at Starbucks (mile 25.1).

Pace: Riders should be able to sustain the appropriate pace which can vary depending on grade and tail or head winds. On hills, we will climb and descend at our own pace, and regroup when needed. A rider who is significantly under the pace of the overall group may have to either drop to a slower pace or continue the ride on their own. We will also observe speed limits on multi-use paths/trails (sometimes 15 MPH or even 10 MPH). 

Fenders! Please be considerate of your fellow riders and have full fenders if the roads are wet, or you may be asked to ride at the rear of the group.

Things to bring: a spare tube and tools to fix a flat (just in case); a phone; ID; cash and/or credit card; ORCA card; water and a small snack. It's also recommended to have a navigation device or at least access to the RWGPS route on your phone, in case you need to finish the ride on your own.

Note: If weather conditions meet the weather cancellation criterion listed in the Weather Status or if there are unforeseen hazardous riding conditions or other unexpected events, the Ride Director will cancel the ride and all registered riders will be sent a notification email. If the ride is cancelled at least two hours before the start, Ride Leader(s) will not be at the start location. Please check before leaving for the ride.

We hope you can join us!