Come join us to cycle in and enjoy one of the prettiest corners of the U.S., Puget Sound, Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula and the greater Seattle area. Our home base will be West Seattle, eight km south of downtown. Some of our rides will take us across Puget Sound on ferries to Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island, Bremerton, and the Kitsap Peninsula. We’ll even get a chance to climb Toe Jam Hill and go past Frog Holler Forest, not to mention seeing a few trolls along the way! Other rides will take us around Lake Washington through Bellevue, Kenmore, Kirkland and Renton. We’ll get a good taste of Seattle’s neighbourhoods as well, including the Washington Park Arboretum, downtown Seattle and its waterfront, the Japanese Gardens and the Hiram Chittenden Locks.

Our accommodations will be at The Grove West Seattle Inn, 3512 SW Alaska St, Seattle, WA 98126 (206-937-9920).  Cost is approximately $190 US per room per night, breakfast included, plus tax.  Each participant will be responsible for making their own hotel reservations as The Grove does not allow blocks of rooms to be reserved.  Best to do this as soon as possible as the hotel is very popular.  Participants can also book through AAA/CAA or other booking options, with various kinds of deposit and cancellation policies.  Participants can select other accommodations but note that the nearest hotels are about 9 km away.

Travel:

Participants from out of town can fly into the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).                                                                                  Taking Amtrak is also a viable option. All Amtrak trains to and from Seattle take unboxed bicycles in the baggage car for a nominal fee. Amtrak’s King St. Station is 8 km from the hotel on an easy-to-follow path.                                                                                                                              Both road and e-bike rentals are available at:

• EVO Bikes
• 3500 Stone Way N.
• Seattle, WA 98103
• (206) 973-4470

• Montlake Bicycle Shop
• 2223 24th Ave E.
• Seattle, WA 98112
• 206-329-7333

The daily rides will range from 47 to 90 km, with time to stop for coffee and/or picnic lunches and a lot of scenic views.  The rides will be primarily on paved, peaceful rural roads or bike paths, with lots of rolling hills along the way.  We’ll also have some urban riding on city streets.  All rides except one will begin and end at our hotel.  While we hope for sunny summer cycling weather, this is NW Washington so please come prepared for cooler temperatures and possible rain.  Note that while there are no major climbs, there are a considerable number of rollers.  Please be sure you’re up for the challenge before signing up for the ride.

The $100 US fee will cover the organizational costs and supplies and is required at the time of registration. It will also include a meet-and-greet dinner and a tour’s-done dinner, the locations of which are to be determined.

Accommodations, meals, bike rental, ferry costs nor individual expenses of participants.  Also, the hub and spoke coordinator’s fee has been waived.

Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 2 p.m. Meet and greet at the hotel in West Seattle for a 20km ride along the Alki Trail on the waterfront to City View Park, Alki Point and Lincoln Park.  Afterward, we’ll head off to a waterfront restaurant for dinner.  We’ll do this ride on Saturday morning the 14^th for those who can’t make it on the 8th.

Monday, June 9 to Friday, June 13, 2025 Below is a tentative list of rides, with approximate distances which are subject to change.  The order in which we do these rides and the daily start times will depend on the weather and the ferry schedules.  Also, two of the rides are quite hilly, Southworth, with almost 1,200m of elevation gain and Vashon Island with well over 1,300m.  Group interest will dictate which, if either, of those two we do.

• Bainbridge Island: We’ll ride to the Colman Dock in downtown Seattle and catch the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and go through Manito Beach, Manzanita, Fletcher Bay then climb Toe Jam Hill and back to the ferry and our hotel. Multiple options, 47 km/675 m to 78 km/1,100 m elevation
• Bainbridge Island/Edmonds/Chittenden Locks: We’ll ride to the Colman Dock in downtown Seattle and catch the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, this time going to the north end of the island, crossing the Agate Pass Bridge and into Suquamish. We’ll catch the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds then ride south through Seattle along the Interurban, Burke-Gilman, and Elliott Bay trails and back to our hotel.  90 km/915 m elevation
• Bremerton/Bainbridge: We’ll ride to the Colman dock in downtown Seattle and catch the hour-long ferry to Bremerton.  We’ll ride north through Enetai, Brownsville, and Keyport then head further north and have lunch in Poulsbo.  From there, we’ll ride along the east side of the island and catch the ferry from Bainbridge back to Seattle.  90 km/924 m elevation
• Lake Washington Loop: A Seattle classic, we’ll drive to our starting point and ride around Lake Washington.  We’ll go through Seward Park, the Seattle Japanese Garden, the University of Washington campus, then to Kenmore where we’ll go south through Kirkland and Bellevue.  We’ll go past the Boeing assembly plant in Renton and back to the start.  Multiple options, 57 km/458 m elevation to 82 km/709 m elevation
• Mercer Island/I-90/SR-520: This loop takes us from our hotel through downtown and over Lake Washington on the I-90 bike path.  We’ll go around Mercer Island looping around the south side then cross into Bellevue and go north, passing near Bill Gates’ 66,000 sq. ft. mansion.  The route takes us back to Seattle on the SR-520 bike path then back to our hotel.  63 km/677 m elevation
• Southworth: For those of you yearning for hills, this ride will give your legs a workout. We’ll ride to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal then catch the ferry to Southworth.  We’ll ride through the Manchester State Forest, Annapolis and then head northeast just before we get to Gig Harbor.  From there, it’s Sunrise Beach and Olalla then the ferry back to our hotel.  76 km/1,180 m elevation or 88 km/1,180 m elevation
• Vashon Island: If the hills of the Southworth ride weren’t enough for you, Vashon Island will take care of that itch.  We’ll ride to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal then go down the west side of the island.  We’ll head northwest through Jensen Point Park, onto Maury Island, the Maury Island Marine Park, Point Robinson Lighthouse then north to the ferry and back to our hotel.  53 km/840 m elevation or 80 km/1,345 m elevation

Our last ride will be on Friday, June 13, and the hub and spoke will end that evening.  Participants should plan to depart on Saturday, June 14.

Registration will be on the CCCTS website on the date shown. Participant selection is done primarily by lottery results, but the leader will have the final decision on who is accepted or not for the Hub and Spoke. Leader has the option to prioritize up to 30% of the participants.

The computerized lottery system will be used if the event is over-subscribed.  A $100 US payment is required at the time of registration. The lottery signup will run for a week, after which time the leaders will review the results.

The selection process will consider the following criteria in evaluating candidates:

• fitness and riding ability and experience required for the tour
• a history of demonstrating safe riding practices
• acceptable social behaviour.

The leader may interview riders or others who know them to verify their suitability for the tour.  The coordinators will have the discretion to make the final decision on whether someone is accepted for a tour and may reject applicants after discussion with the Hub and Spoke Director.

Registration fee payments are considered non-refundable in the event of cancellation. Wait-listed cyclists who don't make it to the Ride's "Go List" are encouraged to remain on the wait list; alternatively they may request a refund of their registration fee (minus the Stripe fee).

Air Travel Emissions

A return flight from Ottawa to Seattle is just over 7,000 km and will produce about 1.7 tonnes of total emissions per person. For comparison, one year of driving a gasoline-powered car produces 2 tonnes of total emissions. For more information on the impact of those emissions on climate change and extreme weather events, please see https://cccts.org/club-document/air-travel-emissions-from-cccts-tours

Communicable Illnesses

The CCCTS Communicable Illness Policy takes into consideration regulations and recommendations from Public Health Authority of Canada, BC Centre of Disease Control, and Public Health Ontario. In the case of illness while on tour, it is expected that all participants will follow the procedures outlined in this policy. Please refer to https://cccts.org/club-document/communicable-illness/ for details on the club’s Communicable Illness Policy.

CCCTS strongly encourages all participants to be up to date on their vaccinations for COVID and all other communicable diseases.  Everyone should bring three COVID test kits with them on the tour and take responsibility for self-testing if they feel ill.  All participants from outside the US must have out-of-country medical insurance for this trip, including coverage for COVID-related illness.