Three Pass Ride – 2010

A number of Western Washington motorcycle groups gathered and Ken’s Restaurant off I-90 exit 34 to ride the annual Three pass ride.  Randy the X Man, of  PNW Sport Touring group, was the originator of this ride and it has become a popular spring event.  I was participating with the Seattle Motorcycle Rider group.

 JD’s Three Pass Route

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The ride plan included a rendezvous point at the XXX Drive-in in Issaquah.  That is where Brutus and I met up with them.  We had time to get acquainted and have a cup of coffee before heading to the primary gathering site.  Claudette was a co-host of the event and also our little group’s ride leader.  This is actually my first ride with the group, but I knew Claudette from when we both did our first IBA SS1000 with the MTF back in June 2007. 

Ken’s Restaurant was just a short 13 mile run up I-90.  There was already quite a crowd when we got there.  I would guess there was in the neighborhood of  a hundred motorcycles but that is just a wild guess.  I didn’t try to count them.

I wandered around and took pictures and found Tad, who I met during the R-IDES of MARCH VIII ride.  As it turned out he was the ride leader for another group of riders from the Greater Seattle and Puget Sound Motorcycle Riders group. 

There was an attempt at an overall group safety briefing but most people were too busy socializing to pay much attention.  Claudette had already done one for our small group of six riders so hopefully the other individual groups did the same thing. 

Claudette is also the organizer for the Lady Riders of Western Washington group.  They had a nice showing at the event and they all got together for a group picture.  I managed to wander over just in time to take my own pictures.

Eventually groups started to depart on the ride.  Claudette rounded us up and got us out on the highway ahead of most of the gathering.  I think we ended up passing just about everyone that left before us.  Claudette likes a spirited pace.

The ride over Snoqualmie pass was uneventful and the traffic was fairly light.  There were three different side routes that were part of the planned ride but there was no requirement to run them.  The goal was to get off the beaten path and possibly introduce some new roads to people.  The first one was the West Nelson siding road between Easton and Cle Elum.  There was construction on I-90 and we ended up in the left lane with barriers preventing us from getting to any exits.  I thought we were going to miss the turn off but the barriers ended about 2/10s of a mile before the exit.

Due to a little GPS problem I was having we didn’t run the whole side route into Cle Elum but ended up getting back on I-90 at the East Nelson exit.  We took the first exit at Cle Elum and stopped at a Chevron Station for those that needed to fuel or a pit stop.  From here we ran a strait shot out WA-97 and WA-2 to the planned lunch spot in Cashmere, the Country Boys BBQ.  We didn’t take the side route from Cle Elum out WA-10. 

The ride across Blewett Pass was interesting as we encounter some rain and hail.   The roads were clear so we didn’t have any issues other then visibility and the cold.  The weather was fantastic in Cashmere with plenty of sunshine.  Some of the riders needed it to get warmed back up again.

The BBQ was very good and they did an awesome job of feeding the large group of riders that showed up.  Even though some of the group preferred to go to Leavenworth for lunch, the streets at the BBQ were lined with motorcycles.  There was a constant line waiting to order for the better part of an hour.  The organizers did call ahead and let them know the group was coming.  Otherwise the would likely have run out of food.

I had a combination plate of ribs, pulled pork and chicken.  It was all very good.  Eventually it was time to go and we geared up to head back out on the road.  There was a short jaunt down WA-2 to Peshastin where we turned off on Main St. to take the back road that connects with Chumstick Road.  The Chumstick loop was the best riding of the day as far as twisties are concerned.  The road was wet in quite a few places so the pace was somewhat subdued.  Otherwise it was great. 

There was one last stop at the Shell station where WA-2 and WA-207 come together.  We said our goodbyes at this point seeing as how folks would be heading in various direction once we got to the Monroe area.  We were then back on WA-2 heading towards the pass.  The traffic wasn’t heavy but it was slow enough to probably annoy the more spirited riders.  We lucked out on Stevens Pass as there were just a couple of sprinkles of rain here and there.  Claudette, David and I turned off in Sultan to pick up Ben Harper Road and then headed South on WA-203.  Eventually I was alone riding South though Carnation and eventually back to I-90.  I decided to head East to pick up WA-18 and add another pass to my route, if you want to call Tiger Mountain a pass. 

The total days riding was almost 300 miles.  A great ride with some good socializing.  The gallery with all of the picture from this ride can be found HERE.