Time To Do Hurricane Ridge!

(The road leading up to) Hurricane Ridge is temporarily closing to cyclists due to construction. I've never done this climb, but it sounds the views at the top are well worth the suffering to get there.


The climb starts in starts in Port Townsend, then you head south into the Olympic Mountains, uphill for 17 miles. Cresting out at about 5,200 feet! I've got to do this before they start construction.. [map]


But since the December 3rd storm damaged the road, parts of it are apparently in this kind of state - if the traffic is already down to one lane, is it even ridable currently?

[image source]

Not sure when the construction starts, but all I know is that I've gotta do this climb soon!

In theory you could take a ferry from Seattle out to Bainbridge Island, then pedal all the way out there in one day! From clicking out a rough route on veloroutes, it seems to be about 72 miles to get out there. Then just 17 miles up to the ridge. Double that for the ride back, and you've got 178 miles total.

Add 15% for the inaccuracy of the route I clicked, and let's say 195 miles. OK, let's just called it a double-century. 200 miles is 320 kilometers, so if you added 25 miles or 40 km, you'd have a great flèche route!

I'd love to do this ride in a big group, but convincing anyone to do it (in one day) might be a tall task. If only Cascade would create a new ride (S2H?), print out some maps, make some jerseys, get people to train for it, and charge $80 and we've got ourselves a classic Northwest event!