The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Participants of the 17th Annual Ride Around Washington cycled into Skamokawa Vista Park on Sunday after a 54-mile ride from Ilwaco to finish the first leg of the seven-day event.

The event got a late start on Sunday, and riders were rolling in until 7 p.m. Tents lined the field in rows, a temporary city. At 8:30 p.m., riders and their organizers were finishing up a meeting. A large catering trailer was in the background and a few people could be seen picking up a late dinner. Set up next to it was an equally long traveling shower trailer.

"We had a lot of challenges this morning, Charles Ruthford, one of the route's designers explained after the meeting. "It was a long difficult trip to get all the bikes in the moving van to Ilwaco. Usually we have everyone in camp by 5 p.m."

According the Ruthford, this is the third time that RAW has come this way.

"This is a favorite ride," he said. "Folks really like riding up the Columbia. The tail winds are wonderful. They very much enjoy getting out and doing this kind of riding."

Seattle resident Stacey Nakagawa, in her first year producing the event, shared some finer details.

"We have 250 cyclists this year," she said. "They are anywhere between the ages of 25 to 80. It's a pretty big range of people, all really strong, fantastic cyclists. A lot of them come every year so it's like a family. It's really fun."

She would love to be riding, but this year she is working with the support crew.

"This is our first night and we're pretty excited to be here," Nakagawa said. "A lot of people have never come to this area before so it's great to highlight. This place is beautiful."

"Every year we pick a new route," Nakagawa continued. "This is kind of special because we are in the second year of a four-year cycle. Last year we went from LaConner to Ilwaco. This year we start off where we left off last year. We'll end in Walla Walla. Then we'll go along the eastern side of the state and finish a whole clock-wise circle of the state."

Diana Zimmerman

Two long support vehicles bring food and showers to those participating in the RIde Around Washington.

One young woman was walking back from the beach after taking pictures of the sunset. It was her first visit to southwest Washington. She'd started the day with a migraine and was only able to complete 30 of the 54 miles from Ilwaco to Skamokawa.

"Coffee," Trish Clark, an IT specialist from Seattle said. "I should have had some some coffee to start my day. She said she'd done RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) a couple times but found this event to be much more organized.

Early the next morning, the group would head east on SR 4 towards their next stop in Vancouver at Vancouver Lake Park, an 88 mile trip that included 2,135 feet of climbing. Hopefully Clark got her coffee.

"We'll be pulling out at 6:30," Ruthford said. "You will hardly know that we've been here."