The most cyclist-centric weekend of the year arrives Saturday and Sunday as bicyclists descend on Sequim and Port Angeles for a pair of drastically different tours.
Cyclists at Saturday’s Tour de Lavender can select from a 35-mile loop course for those looking for a more casual, relaxed ride on mostly level terrain or a more challenging 63-mile metric century tour of the Dungeness Valley which includes a couple of steep hill climbs.
Registration is available at https://www.bikesignup.com/Race/WA/Sequim/Tourde Lavender. Fees are $75, $15 for ages 1-12.
Proceeds from the Tour de Lavender go to the Peninsula Trails Coalition and are used for the construction and maintenance of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
The event is the trail’s largest fundraiser each year, bringing in $30,000 on average, and the coalition needs volunteer help to make the event run smoothly.
Volunteers can assist at the Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., with pre-orders and the merchandise tent from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday.
Pizza and beer garden volunteers are sought starting at 2:30 p.m. to hand out pizza to riders and volunteers.
Volunteers also can help out the snack tables at Sequim lavender farms.
Purple Haze Lavender Farm will need volunteers from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. to prepare fresh fruit and hand out water to riders, plus tear down and clean up, and Martha Lane Lavender has openings from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Volunteers will receive a Tour de Lavender T-shirt, pizza and a beverage from noon to 5 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club.
To volunteer, visit https://www.bikesignup.com/Race/Volunteer/WA/Sequim/TourdeLavender.
For more information, email info@olympicdiscoverytrail.org or call Brian Anderson at 360-775-5395.
Ridge re-opens at noon
The annual Ride the Hurricane hill climb from Port Angeles City Pier all the way up Hurricane Ridge Road will be held Sunday morning. Registration is full for Sunday’s climb.
Hurricane Ridge Road will be closed to all motor vehicle traffic starting at 7 a.m. and ending at noon. The road will reopen to traffic at noon when the event is concluded.
Once the road reopens to vehicles at noon, the first 345 vehicles will be permitted to enter. Clallam Transit will also be adjusting its shuttle schedule to accommodate the event. Regularly scheduled shuttles before noon are canceled. Only the 12:45 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. departures from Gateway Transit Center and 1:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. return trips from Hurricane Ridge will operate.
Access will remain open during the event on lower portions of Hurricane Ridge Road for the Lake Dawn residential area, Heart O’ the Hills Campground, and the Lake Angeles and Heather Park trailheads. Olympic National Park will waive entrance fees at the Heart O’ the Hills entrance station for the rest of the day Sunday.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
