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Cascade Loop Bicycle Tour
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From Lk. Chelan, Washington
June 9-16, 2002
(8 Days - 500 Miles - $300)
[ Cycling - Camping & Motels - With Sag Support ]
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Join Sue and myself as we ride the famous Cascade/Whidbey Island Loop. This semi-luxury tour brings the best of the west and east side of the Cascades together with a stint in Puget Sound as well. Our trip begins in our home of Chelan and travels in a counter clockwise direction to the interesting destinations of Winthrop, Marblemount, LaConner, Langley, Skykomish, Leavenworth, and finally back to Chelan. You'll be treated to the vast apple orchards of Chelan, the snow covered peaks of the Cascades, the beauty of the seashore on Whidbey Island, and lots more. This is our first ever luxury tour where we'll camp on the sunny eastern side of the cascades and stay in hotels/motels on the potentially wetter western side of the mountains. We have a limit of 20 riders
. So sign up early. Interested in this little adventure ?
then call or write to sign-up or be placed on our trip information mailing list.
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Physical & Skill Level Requirements: This particular tour has an average of 70 miles a day with two days presenting us with major climbs over Stevens and Washington Passes . To some riders, this might be considered an easy tour, to most of us it would be considered a moderately difficult ride. Know your capabilities and make sure you have the ability to do this sort of riding. Prior training to handle the day after day riding we will be doing is essential. Our truck is primarily for carrying gear, but it will be available to you for sagging if necessary.
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Camping & Hotel/Motel Options: The terrain and climatic conditions we will encounter during this tour can be quite different. Because the weather here on the eastern side of the Cascades is generally rain free in the summer, we have planned our trip so that we can take advantage of low cost campgrounds. As for the western side of the mountains, perhaps Sue and I are a little misinformed, but it appears there might be a chance of a tad bit of rain over there. Consequently, we thought we would not take any chances and have decided to book lodging for that part of the loop. We have priced the trip so that everyone (other than possibly couples) can have their own individual bed. You must be willing to share your room with others as we can't afford to have private rooms for individuals, unless you are willing to pay a little extra for your privacy. If we find that some of you have a snoring problem, we'll probably put you in a room with each other so you can have a competition to see who gets to sleep first.
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Equipment:
Bike Gear: You will need a road bike in good mechanical condition equipped with low gearing for some of the substantial climbing that we will encounter. Please have the bike equipped with new tires and a couple of water bottles. Fenders might be handy. There are few bicycle shops along our route and we carry only the minimum of repair parts and tools.
Camping Stuff: You will need a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. Also bring your personal cooking gear such as sauce pan, plate, cup, & silverware. Don't bring a stove as we will provide you with that.
Clothing: Even though you are cycling in the clear rain free environment of Eastern Washington, the western side has the potential of providing us with the occasional rain storm.
.so make sure you have foul weather gear.
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Food: You have the choice of cooking at our two campsites or because we are located close to restaurants, you will certainly have the option to partake of the local cuisine. In the hotels/motels that we stay in, you probably will not have the option of self catering so the restaurants and food stores are likely to be your best option. Here is how it works when we are camping! We will supply each of you with your own food bin. Each day , we will stop and meet you at a grocery store where you can get what you need. We don't have a refrigerator so that will encourage you to keep your produce purchases to a minimum. Again
. We provide the cook stoves
. You don't have to bring yours. For those of you who have not traveled with us before
.the food arrangements might seem a little confusing?
.. So if you have any questions, feel free to write or call.
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Maps: We will supply you with whatever maps are necessary to complete this ride. More than likely, we'll provide a Washington State Road Map and supplement it with own semi-detailed route description
maybe even a little hand drawn stuff that will surely not guarantee that you will get lost. You know
the usual stuff "turn left at jct. Of Hwy.10 and Skunk Hollow Rd. etc." If we have time, we might even through in some profiles.
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Luggage: I would suggest that you limit yourself to one large backpack or duffel bag
not including what you throw in your food bin. Please have name tags on your luggage in case you disappear somewhere on the ride. That way we can divvy up your stuff at the end of the tour. Fee free to contact us if you feel you can't make the one bag limit and we'll work something out.
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Vehicle Support (Sag) : This is what your support vehicle looks like. It is in reality a home made RV and is where Sue and I live about 4 months out of the year. In spite of the ugliness of this vehicle, it has proven to be a reliable work horse that can travel almost any road with the possible exception of a hard 4 wheel track. It is a 1999 Isuzu NPR with a 4 Cylinder Diesel Engine. It is used primarily to carry your gear and transport Sue and I to our camp or hotel/motel. You are expected to ride most of the miles on this tour
. But of course, we can give the occa
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Our Charges and Your Other Expenses:
Our Charges: The charge of $300 pays for your campsites, motels/hotels, maps, sag vehicle, and guides (Sue and I). Your money also pays for the incidental fees associated with planning and organizing this trip, web-site maintenance, telephone, and email/mailing expenses.
Your Other Expenses: You pay for everything else such as - food, reading material, trinkets, transportation to Chelan, ferry from Whidbey to Mukilteo, and any other tourist oriented expenses.
Payment Method: We need payment of $300 by May 1. Send payment to: Wayne Martin, 246 W. Manson Hwy. #197, Chelan, WA 98816. You can probably still sign up after May 1
. It is just that we will have made all our bookings on that date
.so you need to check with us for sure after that date.
Cancellations: If you cancel before May 1, you can probably get all your money back right away. If you cancel after May 1, I'm sure there will be some sort of lodging penalty that we have to pay
so we'll send you a refund after the trip so we can determine the true amount of
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Roster: We'll send out a roster by email as soon as we have a pretty firm idea of who is going. Sometimes, knowing who is on the roster lets you share equipment, flight bargains, etc. The roster is usually sent out 2 to 4 weeks before the trip. We generally include each person's name, mailing address, e-mail, and telephone number.
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Sign-Up Limit: The maximum number of cyclists we can have for this trip is 20 not including Sue and myself. When you sign up, indicate if you want to be placed on a stand-by list if the trip is full. For those of you who have never been on one of our trips, we would like to talk to you on the phone somewhere along the line before you are officially accepted.
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June 9 (Sun.) Lodging and Meal Invitation. You are all invited to stay at our place here in Chelan. We have plenty of floor space and some extra mattresses. We'll feed you supper and breakfast so you won't have to go out to eat. If you think you might be staying with us, give us a call or write so we know who to expect. Our local phone is: 509-682-9570. Email: waynesue85@yahoo.com
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Getting To Our Place & Parking. We live at 917 Park View Rd. within the city limits of Chelan. Find Safeway Foods in the center of town and then proceed west on Hwy. 150 towards the town of Manson. Shortly after passing the city park on your left, you will see a sign to the golf course on your right. Make a hard right turn and go uphill a short way until you turn onto signed Park View Rd. We are the last house on the left which is the uphill side of the street. The ride will start here and it will also be the parking spot for your car during the trip unless you have something else in mind.
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June 10 (Mon.) Chelan to Wintrhop (69 Mi.) We will meet at our place ( 917 Park View Rd.) at 8 am, sort out any last minute details, load up all our gear, and hopefully hit the road by 9 am. After a leisurely climb out of the Chelan Basin we'll breeze through some apple country and descend to the Columbia River. A few more miles brings us to the outlet of the Methow River and we will follow it in a leisurely manner through the Methow Valley to our destination in Winthrop. (Camping)
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June 11 (Tues.) to Marblemount (86 Mi.) In contrast to yesterday, you will not find today all that leisurely as we have to climb up and over Washington Pass 5,477' followed by a short descent and another short climb over Rainey Pass 4,855'. Once we have these barriers out of the way
. Life becomes good again. We'll be traveling through some pretty impressive mountain scenery as we cruise down through Newhalem and Marblemount to our lodging a few miles beyond. (Cabins)
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June 12 (Wed.) to LaConner (65 Mi.) Today will be a "walk in the park" in comparison to yesterday. We'll follow the Skagit River west towards the flat Skagit Delta to our lodging for the night in the river/seaside town of LaConner. (Hotel)
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June 13 (Thurs.) to Langley (64 Mi.) I don't know a heck of a lot about today's route through Whidbey Island. I'm told it is kind of hilly out there. Reckon we'll find out? I'll try my best to pick out roads with little traffic. I know that we'll definitely be going through Deception Pass and probably cruise by Fort Casey on the western side of the island. Our ultimate destination is Langley but that is subject to change depending on the size of our group and the available lodging in the area. (Motel or B & B)
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June 14 (Fri.) to Skykomish (70 Mi.) We'll finish off our ride on Whidbey, catch the ferry across to Mukilteo and wind our way on as many back roads as possible in the valley between Everett and Sultan where we connect up with Hwy. 2. Our lodging for the night will be a nice motel on the Skykomish River. Should be a pretty easy day. (Motel)
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June 15 (Sat.) to Leavenworth (60 Mi.) Got another semi-tough day for you, as we climb up and over Steven's Pass 4,061'. We'll take some back roads in the process that should make the process a little less painful. We'll pull into Leavenworth and make a bakery run up Icicle Canyon a bit before pulling into our camp on the edge of town. (Camping)
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June 16 (Sun.) to Chelan (67 Mi.) Today, we head on some back roads towards Wenatchee pretty much following the Wenatchee River. We'll make a brief stop in Cashmere to check out the local applet and cotlet candy factory. From Wenatchee we hop onto Hwy. 97 for a quick run towards Lake Chelan and the end of the trip.
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