SEQUIM — Two by two, the Northwest Tandem Rally is headed to Sequim this weekend.
Since 1986, the Northwest Tandem Rally has been bringing together tandem bicycle enthusiasts once a year to promote bicycle tourism, camaraderie, and to raise funds for bicycle infrastructure and awareness.
Drawing hundreds of tandem bicycle teams from around the nation, the rally is hosted in a new Pacific Northwest venue each year, hosted by a local organizing committee.
The event, a fundraiser for the Olympic Discovery Trail, is set for Saturday and Sunday and is organized by Peninsula Trails Coalition (PTC), a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works on the construction, maintenance and advocacy of the Olympic Discovery Trail. The PTC is putting on the event in partnership with Peninsula Adventure Sports and the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The Sequim rally will include two days of supported cycling routes in short, medium and long distances. Rest stops along the routes will have water and snacks. There are more than 500 participants signed up, meaning more than 250 tandem bicycles will be visible about the area.
Public participation
Each day there will be a vendor expo and beer garden at Carrie Blake Community Park in the bandshell area, 506 N. Blake Ave., between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Admission to the vendor expo is free, while beer garden proceeds will go to the Olympic Discovery Trail.
Also open to the public are:
• 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday: Live music from Ranger and the Rearrangers at The James Center for Performing Arts bandshell (free)
• 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: Slideshow talk from Paula and Lorenz Eber from Bike 4 Breath. The Ebers will describe their 14,931-kilometer, around-the-world adventure on tandem bicycles with two children, during which they raised $65,000 for asthma research and clean air.
• 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. both days: Try out a tandem bicycle. Visit the Co-Motion Cycles tent at the vendor expo to get an orientation and instructions, and take a bike for a loop around the park.
The Peninsula Trails Coalition is seeking volunteers for the event. Those interested in helping out are encouraged to visit the volunteer signup page at runsignup.com/Race/Volunteer/WA/Sequim/NorthwestTandemRally2023.
Also needed are one or two groups or nonprofits to host a rest stop along the bike route. A donation will be given to the group or nonprofit for their efforts.
For more information, email event coordinator Lorrie Mittmann at lorrie@peninsulaadventuresports.com.
For more about the Northwest Tandem Rally, visit nwtr.org. For more about the Sequim event, visit nwtr2023.com.
Sponsor support
The event’s main sponsor is Rodriguez Cycles in Seattle, a company which has made hand-built tandem bicycles for 50 years and is sponsoring the event in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Local sponsors include Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, The Lodge at Sherwood Village, Hurricane Coffee, Rainshadow Coffee, Sunny Farms, Broken Spoke, That Takes the Cake, Fifth Avenue and Sherwood Assisted Living.
This isn’t the first time that the North Olympic Peninsula has hosted the Northwest Tandem Rally: a local bicycle club hosted the rally in Port Angeles in 2000.
