CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A proper escape from Seattle with roads worth waking up for. A 921 km loop that starts and ends near Bonney Lake, about 17 h 48 of riding. The climbs: near Tanglewilde-Thompson Place, Scenic stretch near Seabeck and near Sequim. It tops out at about 1,600 m. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Next is High point near Tanglewilde-Thompson Place.
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch near Seabeck.
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Photo stop near Sequim.
Sequim sits on the north side of the Olympic Peninsula, on a broad plain between the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is famous for its climate: lying in the rain shadow of the Olympics, it receives far less rain than Seattle or the rainforests on the west side of the peninsula. That dry, sunny microclimate made it a farming centre, and today it is known for its lavender fields, which bloom in July and fill the air with fragrance.
Read the complete Photo stop near Sequim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The high point of this section. Next is Seattle / Pacific Northwest return.
Beyond the map there is only forest. No bike can go there, and it is part of the appeal of the region that the surrounding tarmac skirts it.
Read the complete Seattle / Pacific Northwest return write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Seattle / Pacific Northwest return sits at 397 km, about halfway. Next is Food stop near Gold Bar.
Food stop near Gold Bar is where this day stops to eat. Next is Mount St Helens Windy Ridge checkpoint 8.
Across Puget Sound from Seattle, on the eastern shore of the Kitsap Peninsula, the little community of Manchester looks back at the city skyline from a beach of pebbles and driftwood. On a clear evening the view is remarkable: the towers of downtown Seattle across the water, the Space Needle, ferries crossing in the dusk and, on a good day, Mount Rainier floating above it all. It is a quiet, unassuming place, with houses scattered along the shore and in the woods behind.
Read the complete Near Manchester write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mount St Helens Windy Ridge checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Mount St.
Bonney Lake sits on a plateau east of Puget Sound, at the edge of the suburban sprawl that spreads out from Tacoma and Seattle, and on a clear day Mount Rainier fills the horizon as a vast white wall. The mountain, at over four thousand metres, is such a presence that it seems closer than it is, and locals check it each morning the way other people check the weather. It is a very large volcano, officially active, and the city is built in the path of its mudflows, a fact that the county takes seriously.
Read the complete Mount St write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Back to Mount St. That is the ride.
This High point near Tanglewilde-Thompson Place → Scenic stretch near Seabeck stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
Scenic stretch near Seabeck → Photo stop near Sequim is the technical section. Hairpins, gradients and mixed traffic can stack up quickly; use low drama inputs, stay wide of centre lines and expect buses or riders appearing exactly where optimism says they will not.
This Photo stop near Sequim → Seattle / Pacific Northwest return stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
Seattle / Pacific Northwest return → Food stop near Gold Bar can flow quickly, but only if you keep village limits and junction sightlines sacred. Fast connectors are where rides get untidy when fatigue creeps in.
Food stop near Gold Bar → Near Manchester is the logistics leg. Watch junctions, villages and speed changes, then let the roadbook do its job: move you out of the clutter without spending your best attention too early.