Suncadia Cycling Festival - Counting Down to 1 Long Weekend, 2 Incredible Nights, 3 Great Rides

By Jennifer Schofield, Event Director at Bicycle Adventures  

We are putting the finishing touches on our plans for the inaugural Suncadia Cycling Festival - the only cycling event in the area that features road, mountain bike and gravel riding.

As the Event Director, I’ve gotten to scout the routes, festival grounds and the towns we’ll be riding through. And it has been really fun for this long-time Seattle resident to get out of the city and spend some time in friendly small towns like Cle Elum, Ronald and Roslyn.

Every time I visit Suncadia, and its surrounding cities of Cle Elum, Ronald and Roslyn, I make a point of checking out a new cafe or restaurant. So far I have not been disappointed - and I think I'm pretty spoiled by my husband who cooks professionally in Seattle.

He and I did the road route a few weeks ago – after a quick bite to eat at Suncadia's Canary Lounge. We had sunny weather with just enough of a breeze to make it nice. I always get a kick out of seeing any wildlife, or even livestock, and this day didn’t disappoint. We spotted a few rabbits, (big!) birds of prey, dozens of horses and my favorite, chatty cows. (I always yell “moo!” at cows when I ride by and it makes me happy when they respond. Even if they were already talking before I rode up.)

Once we got out of Cle Elum, I think we saw maybe 2 or 3 cars on the road until we got to Ellensburg… and even then traffic was light and friendly. He and I raced each other up the hills, which worked out pretty well at first, but then I kept stopping to snap photos of the farm and forest scenery. This city dweller really enjoys those wide-open spaces, and the mountains off in the distance don’t hurt either!

This weekend I made a final ride-through on the mountain bike and gravel rides that I probably won’t get to ride during the festival (that’s the participants’ job!). That’s okay though; I love that scouting routes on my bike is part of my job description. (After admitting that I “moo” at cows, the participants are probably happy that I won’t be on the road with them.)

We think this event is going to be pretty fun, and hope to see you there! (Moo!)