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Enjoy some of SIR’s favorite South Sound roads with this 300K which begins and ends in Lacey.

Route Description

RUSA Route #2729 "2023 Spring Olympia 300K - South Sound Figure 8"

Eddie Bishop's Pre-Ride Notes

Ricky Blacker, Jan Acuff and I pre-rode the route earlier in the week. We had a mostly dry day, but very cold and foggy early (and by early I mean for the first 3+ hours!) and also very cold at the end. In the middle we had dry (one brief light shower) and warm weather. We hope you are as fortunate as we were and maybe even a few degrees above freezing at the start! The route is almost identical to previous years and we were happy to see some of the rougher bits improved, and no major construction to deal with.

The ride starts near the Starbucks at 4700 Avery Ln SE in Lacey. This is in a large commercial development anchored by a Lowe’s. Please park over in the main Lowe’s parking lot, away from the small businesses that ring the complex. We will be setup somewhere in that parking lot for the start (probably not right at the Starbucks, it’s a small patio).

As we head out of town toward Littlerock, the first 30K are a nice flat warm up for the first big climb of the day. Climbing Bordeaux and D-Line first thing means that all the hills for the rest of the day will seem "not that bad"! But these climbs have a lot to offer on their own. The Bordeaux part of the climb is magical. Follow a beautiful, loud, bubbling creek as you ascend at a moderate 4 to 5% grade. Once you make the turn onto D-Line, the magic fades for a bit. While less than a mile, the 10-15% grades will wake you up if you weren’t already. But no climb has a better payoff than this one. Once you summit, get ready for 10K of glorious descending (steeper at first then gentle for most of it) alongside Cedar Creek on a mostly car-less road. It really doesn’t get any better!

Ricky near the top of D-Line on the Bordeaux climb (Photo by Jan Acuff):


CAUTION – While this road has received some much needed repair recently, there are still some rough patches. Be mindful of that on the descent.

From there, a short stint on Hwy 12 gets us over to Elma Gate Rd and some quiet riding along the Chehalis River, through Oakville and out to everyone’s favorite South Sound control – End of the Trail Shell. USE CAUTION when crossing the Black River bridge on Hwy 12. There is no shoulder and traffic moves very fast. From the control, we head out to Lewis County and a couple of familiar climbs, Garrard Creek and Manners Road, before rolling into Centralia on Lincoln Creek Rd.

A quick control and a traverse of Centralia brings us to Centralia-Alpha Road with all its ups and downs. Once that’s done, we make our way up Hwy 508 to the staffed control at Cinebar. The friendly SIR Volunteers will have snacks and drinks (no lunch this year but Mossyrock is just 17K down the road). This is essentially the mid-point of the ride and is (deceptively) the highest elevation on the route. So "it’s all downhill from here" (NOT!)

Cinebar will be much more welcoming for you than it was for the pre-riders! (Photo by Jan Acuff)


Next we take a beautiful ride around Mayfield Lake and Ike Kinswa State Park, before the climb up to the control at Mossyrock.

Mayfield Lake


After the control, we will head into Mossyrock, then turn west on a road that parallels Hwy 12 on the south side, eventually crossing UNDER the highway to ride on the north side for a bit. Altogether, this avoids over 2 miles of Hwy 12 riding.

CAUTION – There is some gravel here. The turn to go down to the tunnel and the half-mile on the other side of the tunnel is gravel. We noticed on the pre-ride that the gravel is much improved over previous years. It was very hard packed “almost pavement” like. But buyer beware!

Don’t miss this one – yes we are going through the tunnel


CAUTION – Once you are back on Hwy 12 you will eventually cross Mayfield Lake on a somewhat narrow bridge. It is quite long, and there is fast moving traffic. The sight lines are good.

Next we hop on another of my favorite roads – Spencer Road. This stretch is a low traffic rolling road which offers peekaboo looks at the Cowlitz River. Then we start the climb up toward Winlock and down the other side into town. Make sure not to miss the photo op of the giant egg in town! (Photo by Jan Acuff)


From Winlock we head up Tennessee Rd for the last significant climbing of the ride. Once that last big roller on Tennessee is behind you at about 220K, there is virtually no more climbing! That’s right, 80K of downhill or flat to finish the ride. OK, a few "bumps" show up but they are either short or gradual.

After Tennessee Rd we get to the aptly named Pleasant Valley Rd and equally pleasant Twin Oaks Rd. I love this stretch. Gently downhill, low traffic and scenic. A couple hundred yards of Hwy 6 brings us to Scheuber Rd and an enjoyable run into Centralia. If you are unfamiliar with this section of the route, please follow the cues carefully. You need to get on the sidewalk to go under the freeway, as the road becomes one way the other way. From here it’s another navigation across Centralia then on up to Tenino for the last 30K on the Thurston County Rail Trails (Yelm-Tenino and Chehalis Western). For many of you, it will be dark by this point. Watch for debris on the shoulder of Hwy 507 and various wildlife, pedestrians, bumps and debris on the trail.

A note about services: Services are generally widely available along the route, although there are a few stretches with not much. In particular from the End of Trail control at 58K to Centralia Safeway at 113K there is nothing but 2 non-trivial climbs. Make sure you have all the water you need. After the first transit of Centralia there is the staffed control at Cinebar at 155K with drinks and snacks (33 tough KM from the Centralia control), but no commercial services until Mossyrock at 172K.

Also, for those expecting to take about 17 hours or more, note that there are very few (if any) services open after 10:00 PM once you leave Centralia. The Chevron at 248K is on the cue sheet as the last services open after 10:00.

Finish at Farrelli’s Pizza where you can share your stories of glory with other finishers over a well-earned beer and some pizza! (Until midnight. After that, an SIR volunteer will be waiting to congratulate you and take your card).

Come on down to the South Sound on Saturday, April 1 and join us for a ride you’re sure to love!

Finish

The finish is at Farrelli’s Pizza:

Farrelli’s Pizza & Pool Co
4870 Yelm Hwy SE
Lacey, WA 98503

Route and Cuesheet

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38942122 [FINAL]

Note: Printed cuesheets will not be available at the start. You may choose to print your own. To print the cuesheet from the route page, click the More button, then select Print Cuesheet.

General Rules

• All riders are required to have read and signed a waiver (part of the online event registration) before beginning the ride.
• All riders must comply with local traffic laws as well as RUSA's Rules for Riders.
• All riders must have front and rear lights, a reflective vest or sash, and reflective ankle bands. See RUSA Article 10 for details. Be prepared to show these to the ride organizer at the start. Lights should be on during any low-light conditions (rain, fog, night, tunnels, etc).
• All riders who cannot finish a ride (DNF) must contact the organizer ASAP using the phone number on the brevet control card.
• All riders must turn in their signed brevet control card at the ride finish.
• All riders must check-in with the organizer or a volunteer at the start, the finish, at any overnight controls.