After 7 years without Cycle the Wave, Cascade plans June ride for women and nonbinary folks

Revel Revolution logo, from the Cascade event listing.

For years, the WAVE (Women Against Violence Everywhere") Foundation asked men to sit out their annual Cycle the Wave ride and instead help with fundraising and volunteer support for the event's women and nonbinary riders. The ride appealed to the women and nonbinary population that might show up at Flying Wheels and feel intimidated by all the guys," said Gina Kavesh, former Executive Director of the WAVE Foundation and current Co-President of the Cascade Bicycle Club Board of Directors. There were a lot of women who did the wave ride, and that was the only ride they would do."

After years of plateaued growth, the Wave Foundation called it quits after the 2018 event. It was a great ride and a great organization, but the challenge was it was a small organization," said Kavesh. Volunteers put in a lot of hours to put on the ride but it wasn't seeing much annual growth, leading to burnout. Yet since the final big Cycle the WAVE ride, nothing has quite come along to fill the void it left.

Enter the inaugural Revel Revolution Women and Nonbinary ride, which Cascade announced this week. Registration is open for the June 29 ride, which will start and end at Bellevue College and follow much of the old Cycle the WAVE route around Lake Sammamish. Except now they will be able to use King County's completed East Lake Sammamish Trail, which was still held up in litigation during the Cycle the WAVE years. There will be 27-mile and 15-mile route options. Registration starts at $45.

Kavesh has been acting as an advisor for the ride, but stressed that Revel Revolution is not taking on the WAVE history" and is a whole new Cascade event. It follows much of the WAVE route, but there will be differences. It also is not a fundraiser for work against domestic violence like Cycle the WAVE was.

Like Cycle the WAVE, Revel Revolution is only for women and nonbinary riders. Men and allies are encouraged to volunteer. Bicycling has traditionally been a male-dominated sport," Cascade wrote in their event description. Our mission is to increase inclusion among folks who have been left out in the past. To fulfill our mission and welcome more people to biking, we offer education classes and rides specifically targeted to women and nonbinary people."