I’ve ridden six rides in the past two years, and I have thoughts. The six rides were 7 Hills of Kirkland, Passport2Pain, Ride the Hurricane, Tour de Blast, and RAMROD (Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day). Given the opportunity to compare, I’ve written an analysis of each ride based on “Snackies”, “Challenge”, “Sights”, “Inclusiveness”, “Fun” and “Support”. The ratings are mostly subjective, but I do have a system.

• Snackies – Scored on abundance, variety and tastiness.
• Challenge – Rated on distance, climb distance and grade.
• Sights – Measured very scientifically by beauty and awe
• Inclusiveness – Based on accommodations, attitude, official policies and reception.
• Fun – Ranked by attitude, humor, decor and activities
• Support – Observed preparation, amount of staff and observed attentiveness

These all were great rides, worth doing at least once. Some I would do several times, and at least two I will do the rest of my life. That said, they are all not equal. Much of that is based on the terrain featured, but the people and organization are a big factor. I will go into my experiences with each, rate each one, and at the end present the tier list from my own observations and experience. Note results may vary!

Passport2Pain (2023)

The year I did it they started doing it backwards. This will be a theme. They said it was because the ride was a teenager, which reflects their fun and irreverent take on a very hard challenge. It’s a fundraiser for Vashon Rowing Club and started when a group of them decided to ride the craziest, hardest route around the island. They have no allusions of glory and riders are deemed Idiots, Weasels, Weenies or Tourists, depending on how much pain you signed up for and continue to do. This makes it extremely inclusive for riders of most abilities and bike types.

It’s hilarious fun with each stop/climb run by a volunteer with a theme. Themes have included Star Wars, Beatles, misguided chiropractors and the perennial devil who chases you up the notorious Burma Road. In true diabolical form, he yelled at me for almost stopping.

Snacks we’re copious and varied from espresso beans, oranges, the usual bars and even Moon Pies.

Having a completed passport was one of my favorite achievements and the tacos at the end we’re wonderful. Here’s the rating I’ve given this ride as well.

Ride the Hurricane

This ride is sort of a “home” ride for me as most of Brenda’s family is in Port Angeles. I want to love this ride, but there are factors and organizer decisions that make it a no go for me anymore. Let’s start with the good though. It’s a chance to ride from sea level at Hollywood Beach all the way to the top of the ridge at 5078′. There’s a lot of forest and mountain valley beauty on the way up. It has fresh made espresso part way up, and truffles! The taco bar at the end is nice, but not as good as Passport2Pain. The drummers nearly at the top are very encouraging as well, and the view at the top is a nice look at higher mountains to the south.

What has turned me off this ride was what I discovered on their website after I registered myself and Brenda.

are ebikes allowed?
No. There are many circumstances where Ebikes and human-powered bikes can safely share space, but a steep and winding climb like RTH is not one of them. Ride the Hurricane is not a one-day pleasure ride. It is a hill climb with a Strava segment challenge that participants train to accomplish. We obtain the permit and pay cost recovery for the ride so that cyclists making the extreme effort to ride up the mountain can have the rare experience of not having to worry about sharing the road with faster, more powerful vehicles. There are many pleasure rides where Ebikes are a great fit but this is not one of them. Please do not compromise the experience that the registered cyclists have trained so hard to do.

Unlike two of the rides I am reviewing, this is actually NOT a race. There’s an unofficial/officialish Strava segment, and it has a very accessible start from Port Angeles. The person who wrote this FAQ clearly has a simplistic and low viewpoint on e-bikes. I will state that the volunteers on the route were very friendly and supportive and did not reflect this condescending attitude about e-bikes on a very wide, open and not as steep as they think it is road. Other events that are races allow for all kinds of riders and take a much more informed approach on how all riders can enjoy the beauty and a challenge commiserate to their abilities.

Tour de Blast

This is another one of those “home” rides for me, but even more so than RTH. Longview is the closest city of any size to the town I grew up in, unless you include Astoria, which was much smaller back then. Longview Rotary puts this on and does an amazing job of it, especially for a number of them who aren’t riders. Who woulda thunk? They really take care of you on this ride. The food is great and unusual. You can get from halibut to chinese food, to hot dogs on this ride along with the usual pastries, bars and trail mix. The volunteers are all very cheery and happy to see you, and they even have a fire pit at Elk Rock, not far from the current end of the longest route.

Longview Rotary takes safety seriously. There are sag wagons and moto support all along the route. Unlike most of the other climbs, there’s a definite descent on the way “up” and an ascent on the way “down”. The road back is a little long like RAMROD these days, but you get to see a slice of real rural Washington, complete with a Motocross track!

Mt. Baker Hill Climb

Mt. Baker Hill Climb was probably the most welcoming and beautiful ride out of all four. Unlike the other rides with volcanic peaks, you get TWO peaks for one. The ride actually goes between Shuksan and Kulshan (Baker), with alpine lakes on the way, much like RAMROD. How this ride differs from the others is that it’s an ACTUAL race. There are timing chips and people win awards at the top. It’s also a ride for anyone wishing to do it, regardless of locomotion. They do it with 3 divisions, each starting at separate times. The “Competitive” group starts last and has hosted former racers like Phil Gaimon. There’s a “race curious” “Recreational” group that starts 2nd, and “Social” that starts first. All e-bikes are social and the social event is not timed. A timing chip is given for everyone for safety reasons. They keep a count at each stop to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe.

The food is fairly standard event fare with bars, bananas, and also chocolate and gummy bears (which are technically race grub.).

There were lots of vistas of the Nooksack River, waterfalls, moss and trees.

The rocks were unique, like these, and it felt like a primordial forest, then became awe inspiring.

RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier the Other Direction)

RAMROD is the grand epic ride; the stuff of foolishness or strength depending on who you ask. It was the longest ride I’ve ever done in one day, and the tallest, beating out the Col d’Aspin/Tourmalet double I did in 2023.

The first part of the ride was a nice warmup, in the dark. Funny how that reflects the light that climbers have summiting Rainier. The way up the first climb, Cayuse Pass, was mostly wooded but started to yield some rocky tops. It was kind of fun to know descending to the left would take you towards Yakima, giving that “top of the world” feel. However, we were not at the top of the ride, let alone the world.

After Cayuse there were more rocks and tunnels after the descent and ascended towards Inspiration Point.

The end of the ride was a long slog through rolling terrain, busy roads and lots of farmland. We pulled #1 the last 20 or so miles to the finish until I got distracted by a skeleton on a bicycle.

7 Hills of Kirkland

This ride is something of an eastside Passport 2 Pain. It’s less relentless with more distance between fewer climbs, and there’s really only one “theme” climb, Winery Hill. Still, it has its share of gradients much like Passport 2 Pain. Like Passport, the staff and organizers are amiable, welcoming and don’t take themselves too seriously…maybe not comical like Passport, but really good people. They also do it for a good cause, usually homelessness, sponsored by Kirkland Kiwanis.

The fun thing is many may often pass these climbs in their commute, they’re so local, and the aforementioned Winery Hill has a bagpiper greeting riders who’ve surmounted the steep grade of this climb instead of bailing and going to one of the wineries.

This finish has a mini festival talking about various public programs or small businesses. Of course, the real draw is the strawberry shortcake.

The tiers

Alright, we’ve gone over my experiences with these climbs, so here are my rankings. In case you are unfamiliar with them, here’s an explanation of tier lists.

Starting with “S”, I have one S-tier event, and that is Mt. Baker Hill Climb. I really enjoyed that and so did Brenda. It was beautiful, had a great atmosphere, was well organized, challenging, and had adequate food. The festival atmosphere was great and welcoming in all stages, despite the great challenge.

In A tier I put Passport 2 Pain, RAMROD and Tour de Blast. I am ranking these for their full potential, so considered Tour de Blast in its full glory up to Johnstone Ridge. Passport 2 Pain is likely the most fun ride I’ve ever been on, and 2nd in challenge here next to RAMROD. Snacks were great, and had a wide variety as much were supplied by individual climb sponsors. The sandwiches were great and only one of two events that hand made them for you. With 4 “tiers” in itself, it had something for everyone.

Tour de Blast is what happens when you have many non-cyclists care about putting on a great cycling event. You get non-traditional food like pastries, halibut and even Chinese food. You get constant support in motos, vans and such. I never felt alone. You also get curious and enthusiastic volunteers and have conversations that expand beyond the usual “what pressure you runnin'” chatter. The sights are breathtaking, with educational opportunities about the impact of volcanoes.

Some of you may be wondering why RAMROD isn’t S tier. Don’t get me wrong, RAMROD is the most challenging ride on this list, and 2nd in beauty. However, it’s not the most accessible ride. It DOES have handmade sandwiches which is great, and chocolate croissants (which were somewhat hard).

I gave 7 Hills a “B” rating. As much as I like it, it can’t compete with the others in terms of sheer climbing and awe-inspiring sights. It’s a great, inclusive ride and for some the familiarity is nice, but not quite A tier.

Now to Ride the Hurricane. To be honest, it’s not the most challenging, or most beautiful ride when compared with the splendor of Mt. Baker, RAMROD, and the masochistic humor of Passport 2 Pain. That alone would rate it as a B tier, but the “wannabe exclusive nature” the organizers try to promote is insulting to many of us who don’t fit into the neat category of this cycling elitism. At worst it’s prohibitive. This ride is probably the closest to a significant population center, yet the organizers treat this ride as if it’s “not for them” or “mere mortals” which is laughable considering it’s the least challenging of the four rides I reviewed. It’s not all bad. The volunteers were enthusiastic and the opposite of what the organizers seem to be wanting to project. They were welcoming. The truffles are just top notch, and my wife absolutely loved the fresh espresso before the tunnels. The tacos at the end weren’t bad either and I loved the drummers.

I hope you found this useful or at least entertaining. Next year I hope to maybe add Whistler Gran Fondo, but we’ll see. We’re headed back to France!