Events

September, October

• High Pass Challenge -- September 7, 2008 Breathtaking 114-mile ride through the Gifford Pinchot Wilderness Area; 7,500-foot elevation gain.

• Ride 542 Mount Baker Hill Climb -- September 7, 2008 Grueling and scenic bike ride up the Mt. Baker Highway. 4,300 feet of climbing in about 25 miles. Recreational or competitive options. Leaves from Glacier.

• Headwaters Century -- September 7, 2008 Three bicycle rides -- 45, 65 and 100 miles; leaves from Enumclaw High School.

• MS 150 Bike Tour -- September 13-14 2008 Some 2,000 cyclists are expected for this year's annual fund-raiser for MS Society. The route passes through Skagit, Whatcom and Island counties; begins and ends in La Conner.

• Big Ride Pacific Coast -- Sept. 13- 27, 2008 The fund-raiser for the American Lung Association is a 960-mile bike tour down the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Francisco. Average 75 miles a day; longest is 88 miles

• Chuckanut Century Bicycle Ride -- September 14, 2008 The northern Washington bike ride event features five options from 25 to 124 miles (double metric century), including a standard 100-miler.

• Trek Tri Island -- September 20-22, 2008 This 26th anniversary bike tour leaves via the Anacortes ferry and visits San Juan, Orcas and Lopez islands; fund-raiser for American Lung Association

• Tour des Lacs -- September 20-21 2008 Spokane to Coeur d’Alene and back using various routes -- 40 to 122 miles each day. Includes meals and luggage transport, but participants set up overnight accommodations.

• Tour de Whidbey -- September 27, 2008 Several options face bicyclists riding in the 7th annual Tour de Whidbey this year. Rides of 100, 50 or 40 miles are planned from Greenbank Farm (check website), as well as a beginner 10-mile ride that leaves from Coupeville. The century is one of the most challenging rides in western Washington. This is a fund-raiser for Whidbey General Hospital Foundation.

• Gran Fondo -- September 27, 2008 A choice of three bicycle rides through wine country around Walla Walla to benefit people with cancer. Distances are 22, 30, and 60 miles.

• Olympic Bike Adventure -- September 28, 2008 50 miles of cycling on the off-road Olympic Discovery Trail, beginning at the City Pier in Port Angeles and east to Sequim and back. Also 10 and 25 distances. A fund-raiser for the Boys & Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula and Port Angeles Parks and Rec

• Dam2Dam -- September 27, 2008 Thumbs Up bike tour includes 25-, 50-, and 100-mile loops from East Wenatchee. Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond rode the event in 2006. The event is a fund-raiser for Mike Utley Foundation

• Wine Country Trek -- September 29 - 30, 2007 Cyclists will pass by orchards and vineyards on this two-day bicycle ride between Yakima and Prosser, site of a Hot Air Balloon Festival and Harvest Festival. 120 miles; camping overnight in Prosser.
  

• Ellensburg Manastash Metric/Half Century -- October 6, 2007 Two routes through rolling terrain around Ellensburg. The 66-miler includes a steep climb that the 33-mile route avoids.

• Kitsap Color Classic -- October 5, 2008 Loop bicycle rides around Kitsap Peninsula.