Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day
2025
RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day) is the Pacific Northwest’s premier one-day ultra-marathon cycling event. It combines the incomparable scenery of Mount Rainier National Park with a challenging course featuring 10,000 feet of climbing over 150 miles. Join us for another great edition of this classic ride!
Registration will Open
RAMROD News
Date, Lottery and Route Update
Posted March 22nd, 2025
Hi Riders,
Date Confirmed
RAMROD 2025 is confirmed for Thursday, July 31. We are returning to the traditional date of the last Thursday in July after last year’s event in September. This year, we are offering a different route, going in the clockwise direction and through Skate Creek.
2025 is an unusual year due to major construction along Hwy 123 between Cayuse Pass and US 12. This stretch of road will be completely closed to all traffic during September. Therefore, we will be using the Skate Creek bypass route in July.
This year, the RAMROD bike route again starts in Enumclaw and immediately heads right on to Hwy 410 to tackle the most challenging climb up to Cayuse Pass. Once you conquer Cayuse Pass, you will descend on Hwy 123 towards Packwood and the route takes you into the Skate Creek bypass route. After passing through Skate Creek, the route will be similar to last year from Ashford back to the starting point in Enumclaw.
RAMROD 2026 will include Stevens Canyon and will aim to continue our traditional date in July.
Lottery
We have made some internal housekeeping changes this year. We have a new website, new RTS Facebook page, and are using Haku as our registration system. Thank you for your patience with these changes.
The Lottery application will get assigned by March 25.
If there is remaining space, we will keep registration open until the ride is completely full. We don’t know when that will be, so if you haven’t applied for the Lottery yet, now is the time.
Safety
Over the past year, we have been talking with our riders about the 2024 route. The RAMROD team is exploring several options to improve the 2025 course. The exact course with turns and stops isn’t finalized yet, as we will adapt to road conditions, local events, and safety measures.
One of the areas we are seeking to improve is the stretch between Elbe and the finish. We are working on better communication with the driving public in the area, better signage, prior notice to the public of our event, and exploring greater use of side roads and bike paths to decrease our interaction with traffic.
Rest assured that our organizing team of experienced cyclists will continue to work hard to maintain our tradition of a well-managed event. If you have not already registered, please support us and keep our RAMROD tradition going. You can expect further course announcements in the coming months as we refine our plans for 2025.
George, RAMROD Director
Schedule And Route Update
Posted February 5th, 2025
RAMROD 2025 is being scheduled for July 31, 2025. We will be riding in a clockwise direction from Enumclaw. We will probably NOT be able to access the Stevens Canyon corridor this year so we are planning to use the Skate Creek bypass. We anticipate returning to the Stevens Canyon corridor in 2026.
At this point the course is still in the early planning stages and nothing is final other than the date.
For those not already aware, the 2024 course was held in early September and we were allowed access to the Stevens Canyon corridor. We proceeded in a clockwise direction for the first time, all previous RAMRODS were run counterclockwise.
The 2024 course was a compromise negotiated for that year after we were unable to gain access to Stevens Canyon roads in July using our traditional course.
The unique problem we have for 2025 is due to a construction project on SR 123 between Cayuse Pass and the Stevens Canyon road. We are informed that this stretch of road will be completely closed to all traffic during the month of September. We have identified no feasible alternate route so we simply cannot have RAMROD as we have known it in September.
We have asked the National Park to allow us access to Stevens Canyon when the roads would be open but were told the Park will not grant a permit that involves Stevens Canyon access prior to September. We have asked them to reconsider this position but at this point we have to assume permission will not be granted to move the Stevens Canyon option to earlier in the year.
Skate Creek bypass has been identified as the most reasonable alternative for 2025 if we can’t do Stevens Canyon. By doing Skate Creek clockwise we avoid some of the dangers inherent in the prior Skate Creek bypass routes, which were run counterclockwise.
We will not have to cross traffic on US 12. We will also encounter typical rough patches on Skate Creek Road going uphill, which will be at slower speed with less risk.
Throughout the 41 years RAMROD has been in operation we have from time to time had to deal with road construction issues. The construction planned for 2025 is substantial and limits what we can do. We want to maintain the RAMROD tradition and encourage our riders to participate again this year with whatever course we are able to present.
Registration opens in March; please sign up and help us continue our great tradition as the premier endurance cycling event in the Pacific Northwest.
We will begin our planning process for 2025 shortly and will have updates as more information becomes available.
George, RAMROD Director
November 2024 Update
We are in the process of completely reorganizing RAMROD’s official web presence. Bear with us as we get things put together. We are an organization run by volunteers. Last year we had to scramble on short notice as the date was moved from July to September and the course was completely changed.
RAMROD 2024 went well despite the late change in course and the date moved from July to September. We had positive feedback from Park officials concerning the ride and the Park officials thought the revised, reverse course was not disruptive to Park operations. Most of our riders were happy with the new course. We got some good feedback and will be working on some ways the ride can be improved.
This web site will be the location going forward for official information about RAMROD. We will be posting updates regularly to keep our community of riders and volunteers informed.
Please be aware that our ability to present RAMROD is dependent on permits including permits from the National Park. The terms and conditions for permits can change from year to year and we may not know what will be required of us until later in the year. In addition, the mountain environment can be harsh and adverse road conditions can result which may require a course modification.
The information we provide is based on our best estimate of what we will be able to do in 2025. We cannot and do not guarantee a specific date or specific course.
First bit of news, there WILL be a RAMROD 2025. We anticipate returning to the National Park including the southern roads and we will be doing this again in the reverse course, same as 2024.
We will also be seeking to move the event into July or August, at this point it is too early to know what the Park will permit. We hope to have more information shortly after the holidays.
Registration is being planned for March as usual. If there are more applications than our permitted limit, a lottery will determine registrations. Further information on RAMROD registration will be posted here in February.
It seems we barely finish one RAMROD when planning starts on the next year. Our team is already actively involved in preparations for RAMROD 2025.
As a rider your job is to get out there and ride your bike.
Happy Holidays everyone!!!!
George, RAMROD Director