Bicyclists can register for the free Earthworks Tour Inaugural Ride that starts in Kent.
The half-day ride starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 2 at the Herbert Bayer Earthworks in Kent, 742 E. Titus St.
Bicyclists can register at www.KentArts.org/earthworks.
The Kent Arts Commission organized the bicycle tour. The tour connects four iconic landscapes in the Green River Valley that are all internationally recognized, but not well known locally. Three were designed by artists and the fourth is a nature preserve. They are the Herbert Bayer Earthwork, the Robert Morris Earthwork in SeaTac, Lorna Jordan’s Waterworks Gardens in Renton and the Green River Natural Resources Area in Kent.
The Earthworks Tour provides options for three different levels of riders: Easy, Intermediate and Advanced. The Easy Ride, recommended for families, is a mostly flat, 8-mile loop with a short incline at the start and finish. The Intermediate loop is 20 miles long and also mostly flat. The Advanced Ride includes a steep hill climb that adds 3 miles. All of the roadways and trails along the tour are paved. Bicyclists should plan to dismount and walk through each earthwork, and bike racks will be provided.
Bicyclists can connect to the Earthworks Tour via the nearby Interurban Trail, connect via transit at nearby Kent Station or drive to the starting point at the Herbert Bayer Earthwork. Free overflow parking will be available across the street at the Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St.
The Earthworks Tour Inaugural Ride is co-produced by Cascade Bicycle Club. This family friendly event will include art installations, art activities and artist designed prototypes. The artist Johnnie Olivan will join the ride with the Family Bus Bike, which seats three adults and two small children. Other temporary artists’ projects will be announced later this spring.
As part of the Inaugural Ride celebration, the permanent environmental art installation Filaments by The Inkwell Collective will open. Filaments will be modernist in its simplicity, yet contemporary in its approach to communicating and gathering ideas via real and virtual means. During the Inaugural Ride, look for the 65 bright orange directional poles along the route, pointing you in the right direction and providing stories to enhance your experience.
Following the Inaugural Ride on June 2, the Earthworks Tour will be a permanent bicycle route that will remain open to the public for self-guided tours.
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