Cyclists descend on Cheney for Ride Around Washington tour

CHENEY – After braving the weekend's triple-digit temperatures, more than 80 members of the Cascade Bicycle Club set up camp in Cheney's Hagelin Park on Sunday after an 83-mile long trek from Chewelah.

The club's 22nd annual Ride Around Washington (or RAW, as they like to call it) takes cyclists on a week-long tour across 419 miles of Eastern Washington's scenic countryside, spending the night either in local hotels or camped out in the park before completing the journey in Chewelah on Friday.

Each year's tour route takes a different shape, but tour director RJ Conn says the club is no stranger to the West Plains. "We have been at both Chewelah and Cheney many times in the past... We knew what to expect coming here," Conn said, perched on the back of a support truck.

The RAW's hefty $800 price tag does cover the cost of meals, which were provided by local catering services, but the weary travelers have enjoyed venturing out to local restaurants and watering holes after a long ride.

Conn, who has spent more than 30 years with the club, handles the supply and logistics of the tour from a box truck in Hagelin Park. "Usually, we carry a little more support staff and crew along with us, but like every other business we're trying to ramp up again after two years of shutdown from Covid," Conn remarked, noting that this is the first tour that has been able to go forward since the pandemic began.

Cascade Bicycle Club has been running the Ride around Washington since 1999, starting with an ambitious trek from Bow-Edison on the coast to the Idaho state line at Newport.