Fri May 26 – Mon May 29, 2023 Sequim, WA

The Sequim rally took place on May 27-28, 2023 at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim, Washington. The event had a total of 536 participants from 18 states and Canada. Attendance from over 50 miles away from Sequim was 523 with 332 from out of state or country.  64% of participants stayed in hotels / short-term rentals with an average of 3.5 nights per tandem team.  The rest were primarily camping – some with our camping set up, and some at various parks and RV places.  This event was a great success!  We had fantastic weather, great feedback from the attendees and raised money to support the ongoing development of the Olympic Discovery Trail.

On the first day, after a ribbon cutting by the Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce and welcome by the president of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, the 8am roll out was led by the owner of Bike Garage on his penny farthing!  We had 3 different routes (short, medium and long) that went generally from the Sequim area east. The rest stops along the route visited iconic places including Trollhaven, John Wayne Marina, the historic Dungeness Schoolhouse, and Fleurish Lavender Farm. Each rest stop was hosted by a different local non-profit organization, with donations provided to each for their cause. We finished the day with lunch, a band at the bandshell, and some great vendors at the Expo. Free yoga was offered twice per day for both Saturday and Sunday, and mechanical support was provided by Broken Spoke of Port Townsend.

Day two roll out was led by the Sequim Wheelers, a local non-profit that uses adaptive bikes (tandems!) to provide cycling opportunities for those that cannot cycle on their own. The routes went from the Sequim area generally west (all the way to Port Angeles) with rest stops at Agnew Country Store, Port Angeles Pier on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the iconic Elwha River and the Dungeness River Nature Center. The last rest stop of the day at the Dungeness River included an ice cream social hosted by the NWTR Board of Directors and Hurricane Coffee! In the afternoon we announced the location of NWTR 2024.

The routes used a combination of the Olympic Discovery Trail and the rural roads of Clallam County.  We thank our sponsors Rodriguez Cycles, celebrating their 50th year hand-producing tandem bicycles, Co-Motion Cycles, ATOC/Draftmaster/Topper, the Lodge at Sherwood Village and Swift Summit NW, as well as a number of local companies that provided in kind items and services to help make the tandem rally amazing!