BRNW (Bicycle Rides Northwest) is excited to announce that BRNW Washington 2022, the “Olympic Dreams,” tour, will be cycling through the Olympic Peninsula region July 9-16. The week-long, fully supported road-bike event will start and end in Port Townsend, and will follow a highly scenic, roughly out-and-back route that will include overnight stays in Port Townsend, Port Angeles, at Salt Creek County Park, and in Forks.

The Olympic Dreams tour sold out its 300 total rider spots within 24 hours when registration opened in December 2021. BRNW has not been able to host a large tour since 2019 due to Covid, and rider anticipation is high. The organization brings everything they need with them.

A highlight of this year’s tour will be a free public concert at the Clallam County Fairgrounds in Port Angeles, on Monday, July 11, featuring local musicians Kim Trenerry and Jason Mogi of Deadwood Revival. The concert will serve as a fundraiser for the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT).

One of the principal goals of this BRNW tour is to shine a spotlight on the work the Peninsula Trails Coalition (PTC) has done in developing the ODT. BRNW has not previously been to the peninsula in its 35 years of touring, because of a lack of safe riding routes for groups. “The concept of the ODT, and in particular the completion of the Spruce Railroad Trail segment on the north shore of Lake Crescent, has changed the game for cycling groups coming to the Olympic Peninsula,” says Jim Moore, BRNW’s Executive Director.

One of BRNW’s main goals as a nonprofit is to spotlight communities throughout the Northwest and provide them an economic boost. BRNW tours showcase the regions that make the Pacific Northwest special. BRNW provides community grants to each host community; grants from this tour will support the ReCyclery in Port Townsend, the PCT/ODT, the Forks Food Bank and other local causes.

Riders will depart between 7 and 8 a.m. each morning, and ride at their own speed throughout the day.

“We know this volume of cycling traffic will impact users of the ODT and local roads,” Moore says, “and we’ve stressed to our riders that this is a popular, multimodal route. We welcome local residents to meet our riders.”

Touring this region by bike offers participants opportunities to engage and interact with communities in an immersive way. Event organizers work directly with local businesses and points of interest to offer tours or educational programs for riders to learn about the area. The event jersey features an orca design commissioned from Jamestown S’Klallam tribal artisan Bud Turner, and both the JSKT and the Quileute Tribe will deliver cultural/educational presentations to the riders. Other local involvement includes a voluntourism opportunity with The ReCyclery, speaker presentations on the Elwha River restoration and the history of the Olympic National Park, and activities during “layover days” in Port Angeles and Forks that include hiking, kayaking, whale watching, the Port Angeles Underground Tour, museums and more.

The tour’s overnight camping spots include the Jefferson County Fairgrounds (July 9), the Clallam County Fairgrounds (July 10-11 and 15), Salt Creek Park (July 12), and Tillicum Park in Forks (July 13-14).

For more information, visit www.brnw.org or contact Jim Moore at info@brnw.org or 503-504-2656.