Alefest Bike Ride In Leavenworth, WA

[Susan126]

This looks like it will be a fun ride!

A fun un-timed bike ride through the beautiful Wenatchee National Forest near Lake Wenatchee, Washington.

Alefest Bike Ride (http://www.alefestbikeride.com/)

And after the ride the Alefest in Leavenworth! My hubby Joe is looking forward to the ride and the beer fest afterwards! :D

[Starfish]

Looks like a neat ride, but pretty flat? Is that what you got from the website route descriptions, too?

[Susan126]

Yes, wonderfully flat! I love these kinds of rides too! I do massive hills (I'm doing the RAMROD this July) and these are my "just having fun" rides! Scenery, friends, and food and beer afterwards! Oh and for a good cause. $10.00 of entry fee goes towards cancer. Plus we are taking our mountain bikes along too. We'll be doing a lot of climbing the next day! Hitting some of our favorite trails over there. All of them steep, twisty, and with whooping downhills! The best of both that weekend! :p

[teigyr]

So are you going to go? I just checked our schedule and we don't have anything going on that weekend.

Might be fun :D

How long of a drive is it to get there?

[Susan126]

Joe and I are going. We are staying with some friends who have a place over there. Our friends are mountain bikers. So they will spend Saturday at the beer fest and Joe and I will do the road ride then meet them. On Sunday we'll do some mountain biking with them. Plus I may have talked two teachers that I work with into doing the road ride. Both are cyclists. One is going home tonight to inform her boyfriend about the ride. She said she will know for sure on Monday!

[teigyr]

Hmmmm. I've been running and swimming and my stuff has occupied our time lately. That ride would incorporate two of DH's favorite things, riding and beer! I appreciate the altitude gain (or lack thereof) and have never been to that part of the state.

I looked and there are hotels that aren't too terribly expensive.

I might have to register us :D

[Susan126]

If you do register let me know. We can meet up at the ride's start! :)

[Starfish]

It does sound fun. Maybe I can incorporate a camping trip that weekend. I'm thinking by that weekend I will need to be doing more climbing, and don't know that area enough to know where to do a good climbing road ride...

I will see, though. Would be fun to meet you, Susan, and fun to see you & DH again, Teigyr!

Good for you on RAMROD this year (both getting in, and doing it!).

[Susan126]

Thanks Starfish. Yep I got in by volunteering at last year's RAMROD. I worked the sandwich stop. It was fun seeing the riders come in. And about doing it . . . hmmmmm haven't done it yet but I'm hoping! We'll see how my training goes this spring and summer! I hope I do make it around the mountain! Every time I think about it I get anxious! Okay deep breathes deep breathes!

[Starfish]

Hey Susan, if you end up coming over here for some training (a lot of the RAMROD training groups end up over here), let me know! Would be fun to meet up.

[Aint Doody]

Thanks for posting this. I think there will be several of us from Pendleton attending. I look forward to seeing y'all.

[MM_QFC!]

Hmmmm. I've been running and swimming and my stuff has occupied our time lately. That ride would incorporate two of DH's favorite things, riding and beer! I appreciate the altitude gain (or lack thereof) and have never been to that part of the state.

I looked and there are hotels that aren't too terribly expensive.

I might have to register us :D


Hey Teigyr - I think that you and MrT/DH would enjoy this lots...Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, Fish Lake all beautiful areas to ride - and you can't beat the beer garden in Leavenworth for those post-ride 'recovery' drinks either!
I usually plan on about 1.5-2 hrs to get there and you should be able to find plenty of lodging options too. Have fun!

[Aint Doody]

I'm all signed up!

[ohshooterlove]

I just signed up for that ride. I'm a complete newbie to bike riding but it seemed fun and plus I can drink beer afterwards! I hope everyone has a great ride.

[Harley]

Thanks for the heads up on the ride. It's in my neighborhood, I'm signed up!

Sounds like great fun (if it stops snowing by then). Hope to meet some of you on the ride.

[Dog]

Hi Susan,

I too registered for RAMROD and am anxiously waiting to see how the lottery goes. A couple of guys from my Spin class have ridden it the past few years and encouraged me to give it a go. My riding this year has all been in Spin class, but I've done a lot of running preparing for 1/2 marathon in 2 1/2 weeks. Once the race is over, I'm switching to riding outside. If I don't get into RAMROD this year, I will probably volunteer to secure a spot for next year.

Just discovered this forum over the weekend and I love it. A great group to learn from!

I hope to see you on the mountain!

- Dog

[cyclinnewbie]

My dad, hubby and I just signed up...very excited! Now just need to find a place to stay. Hopefully the snow will have melted by then lol.

[Aint Doody]

Well, it was fun!! And I got to meet Harley at the 1st rest stop. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. With 10 miles to go in the 50 miler, I finally removed my jacket. What fabulous scenery, lovely homes to see around the lake, no traffic--except one jerk in a red pickup who thought he should get as close to us as possible. I even saw 2 rufous-sided hummingbirds--first I've seen since last summer. My only complaint was that there were no porta-potties at the 2nd rest stop. There weren't any at the first one either, but we wandered into a camp building that had bathrooms.

They're having a women's only ride over the same roads in August. I put the brochure somewhere & now can't seem to locate it. I think it's called the Vella Bella. If I weren't already doing the OR Bike Ride at the same time, I'd go back and do this one. There are a few hills, but not what you'd call climbs. I had to hit granny a couple of times, but it is rather early in the season still due to our lingering winter in the Pacific Northwest. There was still plenty of snow to see. They had a great turnout for their 1st ride. I think there were 200 riders. Don't miss this next year.

[Kano]

This one?

http://www.athleteslounge.com/events/event.php?eventid=2264

Karen in Boise

[Susan126]

Hi Susan,

I too registered for RAMROD and am anxiously waiting to see how the lottery goes. A couple of guys from my Spin class have ridden it the past few years and encouraged me to give it a go. My riding this year has all been in Spin class, but I've done a lot of running preparing for 1/2 marathon in 2 1/2 weeks. Once the race is over, I'm switching to riding outside. If I don't get into RAMROD this year, I will probably volunteer to secure a spot for next year.

Just discovered this forum over the weekend and I love it. A great group to learn from!

I hope to see you on the mountain!

- Dog
Hi Dog! You haven't heard anything about whether or not you are in this year's RAMROD? You should have by now! Registration was from from March 1 - 31 and notices sent the first week of April. Make sure you check your spam folder. Spam filters may have prevented your email notification from getting through. I really need to pick up my training. I am so far behind where I would like to be. The weather has been my biggest deterrent from training. But I did get a good ride in this weekend. Joe and I went to Leavenworth and rode the 50 mile course of the Ale Fest Bike Ride. Here are a few pictures that I took:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d167/Howler247/Daily%20Rides/alefest03.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d167/Howler247/Daily%20Rides/alefest07.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d167/Howler247/Daily%20Rides/alefest09.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d167/Howler247/Daily%20Rides/alefest12.jpg

And guess who I ran into today at the Leavenworth Starbucks? Mimi and Raleighdon with a big group of cyclists! Joe and I were leaving to come back home and stopped for mochas before we hit the road. Wow! It was really cool seeing them!

[jesvetmed]

Looks like a beautiful day over there! Glad so many people got to go and ride. I need to head EAST!

[mimitabby]

http://www.sersale.org/bike/pinnacles.jpg

yes, we were up in the orchard country; having nothing to do with snow OR ale...

[Harley]

My friend Chris and I rode 25 miles at the Alefest. It was fun, cool at first, but a beautiful day and nice ride. Great turnout for the first year event. Only complaint is no beer at the end??? That's just wrong. But we did have a 3 hour drive home, so for the best.

Glad I got to meet AintDoode, I noticed they were from Oregon and introduced myself. Susan for xcskiing next winter check out http://www.mvsta.com
you won't be disappointed with the 200km of groomed trails.

and looking at numbers... Chris had a fun one!
We checked out the river for Harlequin ducks, but didn't see any. But I'm coming back with my flyrod.

[mimitabby]

no beer? why was it called an Alefest then?? :confused:

[lauraelmore1033]

Dh and I did the 50 miler. What a stunningly beautiful ride! The snow was a big shocker, though. We had hoped to enjoy the Alefest in Levenworth, but were too tired to find it when we were done. The waitress at the pub we settled on told us that the remaining 4 hours of the event weren't worth our money. so we ordered a pitcher of the local Hefewizen and called it our own private "alefest. Definitely a must for next year.

[Susan126]

no beer? why was it called an Alefest then?? :confused:

Honest there was an Ale Fest in Leavenworth that weekend!

2nd Annual Ale Fest (http://www.leavenworthalefest.com/)

and that Saturday there was an Ale Fest Bike ride too!

Ale Fest Bike Ride (http://www.alefestbikeride.com/)

and Joe and me and our friends Kathy and Jim went to them both. Well Kathy didn't do the ride she just did the Ale Fest! :D But Joe, Jim, and I did the ride!

It was fun!

Snow, sun, scenery, and all!

[mimitabby]

oh, okay. I feel better. It was really awesome to run into you at Leavenworth!

[Aint Doody]

Yep, Kano, that's the one.....
This one?

http://www.athleteslounge.com/events...p?eventid=2264

Karen in Boise

And thanks for all the pictures y'all posted. I was so mad at myself for forgetting my camera. And we went to the Munchen House afterwards for beer & brats. Didn't see any other cyclists there, but the food/brew were wonderful.

[Susan126]

oh, okay. I feel better. It was really awesome to run into you at Leavenworth!

It was great seeing you and raleighdon too! What a great weekend we had for biking!

I'm glad the 75 mile course was canceled. Joe and Jim barely made the 50 mile course. They are both out of shape! Too long of a winter and too many long workdays! I have Joe on a diet and I'm trying to get him back on his bike and back in shape. Weekdays are definitely out for Joe so I'm trying to get him out at least on the weekends! :D