ARLINGTON — The upcoming McClinchy Mile bicycle ride is sending people on a route the 30-year-old annual event hasn’t taken before.
In the past, riders have followed routes starting in Arlington and heading toward Stanwood or Granite Falls. This year, the event is being changed to the McClinchy Mile Oso Strong Ride, going from Arlington to Darrington on Highway 530. The goal is to raise money for a local trail project and remember the 43 people killed by the deadly March 22 mudslide, according to the BIKES Club of Snohomish County.
The route takes riders through the slide area. It’s an eye- opening and sobering experience, club President Kristin Kinnamon said. She recently tested the route. She’s driven through the area before, but being on a bicycle was different. The devastation seemed closer, and signs of new life were more visible, she said.
“You experience the silence, but you also see the greenery and the growth,” Kinnamon said. “It looks a lot different than it did six months ago.”
The McClinchy Mile has been a yearly event since the 1980s and is the BIKES Club’s biggest fundraiser. This year, the group is working with the Centennial Trail Coalition to raise money for repairing and rebuilding parts of the Whitehorse Trail, which stretches about 28 miles from Arlington to Darrington.
The ride is scheduled for March 15, with bicyclists leaving Haller Middle School in Arlington starting at 8 a.m. They can ride to Darrington or turn around at a fishing hole near Oso. Rhodes River Ranch Restaurant offers a mid-day food stop, and the event wraps up around 4 p.m., Kinnamon said.
Registration is open and costs $30 until March 9, going up to $35 the week of the event. Organizers expect at least 300 people, though the turnout is hard to anticipate with the new route and unpredictable weather.
“Usually you have to think a little bit before you go riding in March,” Kinnamon said.
The BIKES Club plans to make the Oso Strong Ride a one-time event, she said. In 2016, the group intends to go back to the McClinchy Mile fundraiser that’s been in place for decades. There have been routes along Jordan Road, Pioneer Highway and out to Menzel Lake and Lake Roesiger roads, all starting from Arlington. The McClinchy also has been hosted in Monroe.
An altered route seemed appropriate for a memorial ride this year, Kinnamon said.
“But we’re not trying to take away from any of the community’s events,” she said.
She expects people to be respectful on the route, especially through the slide area.
“You’re riding through and you’re just struck by everything,” she said. “We’re not specifically asking people to be silent in that area, but I don’t think we have to.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
Registration
To register for the McClinchy Mile Oso Strong Ride, go to www.bikesclub.org/mcclinchy or www.active.com.
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