PORT ANGELES — About 100 cyclists peddled through the winding meadows and shores of the North Olympic Peninsula on Sunday.
Among them was Port Angeles’ 8-year-old Blake Hobbs, who rode a total of 60 miles in the Olympic Peninsula Bike Adventure.
Darcy Schneider-Hobbs, Blake’s mother, said she and her family had done the adventure the year before.
“He did really great,” she said at the lunch break at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
“We rode to Blyn and back already, and he did all of that — starting in Port Angeles — in just three and a half hours.”
Blake said that biking was one of his top activities.
“I do it almost every day if I can,” he said.
Schneider-Hobbs said the family would likely continue in years to come.
“Last year, we had a lot of fun seeing some friends that we already had, and this year we’ve had a great time meeting some new friends,” she said.
Though Blake was among the youngest, he was beat out for the prize by a 4-year-old, Dee Christensen, event coordinator, said.
Bicyclists chose among three rides — a 10-mile, 25-mile or 60-mile — all on the Olympic Discovery Trail.
During lunch, a host of prizes was raffled off.
“We are really grateful to Mike’s Bikes and Beckett’s Bikes for offering some of the prizes,” Christensen said.
The event cost $50 per person to enter, and the proceeds were divided between the Boys & Girls Club Foundation and the Port Angeles Parks and Recreation Department, Christensen said.
The Boys & Girls Club Foundation is building up funds to support the Port Angeles and Sequim club locations, which do not receive funds from the national group.
Wayne Knorr, who hails from Arizona and traveled the farthest to participate in Sunday’s ride, has attended most of the six years the adventure has been going on.
“I had to miss last year because I had been hit by a car and was still recovering,” Knorr said.
“But pretty much every other year I’ve been part of it.”
Knorr said he got into biking to improve his health.
“And at that point it is just addictive,” he said.
“I just can’t stop.”
In addition to the adventure on the Peninsula, he also annually bikes on Vancouver Island and in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Last year, I went to Costa Rica for a ride, and I am planning on either going to New Zealand or Italy next,” Knorr said.
Christensen said the event went smoothly.
“This year we had plenty of sweepers with help from the Border Patrol,” she said.
“They rode on the trail to make sure everyone was OK and were ready to provide assistance if anything happened.
“In addition to them, we also have some local kids who are strong riders who were sweeping the trails.”
Those riding the 60-mile ride pedaled from Port Angeles to Blyn, where they took a break at the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s Heron Hall.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
