PORT ANGELES — Preregistration for Sunday’s “Ride the Hurricane” recreational bike climb up Olympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge Road opens today.
As a safety precaution, motor vehicle traffic on Hurricane Ridge Road — from the toll booth to the ridge, a distance of 12.4 miles — will be closed in both directions from 6 a.m. to noon the day of the event.
Olympic National Park will waive entrance fees at the Heart o’ the Hills’ entrance station Sunday.
Access to the Lake Angeles-Heather Park trailhead and Heart o’ the Hills campground will remain open throughout the day.
Registration will be at the Port Angeles Visitor Center, 121 E. Railroad Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Saturday.
Registration also can be completed online at www.chambersignups.com and be either mailed or delivered in person to the visitor center. Registrants are required to sign a waiver, available at www.tinyurl.com/RTH-waiver.
The day of the event at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., registration will open at 6 a.m. For those preregistered, the event’s official wrist band can be picked up at the college at this time.
At 7 a.m., the access booth will open to cyclists. All cyclists must show their wrist bands to proceed past the booth.
Until noon, cyclists can pedal the 37-mile round-trip path through Olympic National Park up to the ridge.
Cyclists seeking more of a challenge can view route maps online for the experimental 101.4-mile “Ride the Hurricane Century Route” and 62.7-mile “Ride the Hurricane Metric Century Route.” Maps can be viewed at www.tinyurl.com/RTH-maps.
The Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce is organizing the ride, with sponsorship from area businesses.
For more information, email director@portangeles.org.
