Seattle area cycling

I've never been to the Pacific Northwest... I was signed up to do STP
this year, then couldn't get on the plane; I was flying standby and
everything was overbooked. Anyway, live and learn.

I'm considering making another trip to Seattle before the summer's out
and am looking for some rides in the area. I'm looking for rides of up
to a hundred miles. I enjoy hills but since I'm from Illinois, I don't
get any mountain experience. I'm a roadie & don't own an MTB.

So, does anyone have any good routes around the Seattle area? How late
in the year can I usually come before I end up with all-day rains?

Thanks in advance,

Larry

=v= Bikesummer is in Seattle this year:

http://www.bikesummer.org/2004/

It's different from previous Bikesummers in that it seems to
be mostly about recreational rides (and commercial sponsors,
including automobiles), which would seem to suit what you're
looking for.
_Jym_

"Larry Schuldt" wrote in message
...

So, does anyone have any good routes around the Seattle area? How late
in the year can I usually come before I end up with all-day rains?

Thanks in advance,

Larry

Here is a handy directory of Northwest cycling events:

http://www.jimcarson.com/archives/000131.shtml

For self-supported riding, I like to ride around Lake Washington. Take the Burk
Gillman Trail North to the end and pick up the Lake Samammish trail. That's
around 25 flat miles depending on where you start. After that, you can take West
Lake Samammish Parkway, head west Parallel to I-90, then take the Lake
Washington Trail south to Renton. From there take Lake Washington Boulevard
north back to town. The total is about 60 miles with 2500 feet of climbing.

The first part of the STP is good. You could go from the start line to Spannaway
and back, 80 flat miles with a fairly tough hill in the middle. There are many
other routes on low traffic rural roads near Seattle starting around Carnation,
Snoqualmie, Maple Valley, or on Bainbridge or Vashon Islands.

Usually September is very nice around Seattle, but October is typically cold and
wet. Have fun.

"Larry Schuldt" wrote in message
...
I've never been to the Pacific Northwest... I was signed up to do STP
this year, then couldn't get on the plane; I was flying standby and
everything was overbooked. Anyway, live and learn.

I'm considering making another trip to Seattle before the summer's out
and am looking for some rides in the area. I'm looking for rides of up
to a hundred miles. I enjoy hills but since I'm from Illinois, I don't
get any mountain experience. I'm a roadie & don't own an MTB.

So, does anyone have any good routes around the Seattle area? How late
in the year can I usually come before I end up with all-day rains?

Thanks in advance,

Larry

Our summer is usually late. weather is usually dry mid july until late Sept.
torrential rain is very rare. if you have a decent jacket all year it's
relatively mild temp-wise. winds and rain pick up in October but nothing
like on the east coast.

My personal fave in the city is Mercer Island. You can cross the
I-90 bridge on a bike path either from the east side or from seattle. Follow
the path across the lid then take E mercer way to the bottom then loop back
up on W mercer way (or the other way around). Once on the street it's a
really nice rolling hill terrain with little traffic. Then back up on the
lid for another loop. I think its about 10 miles around (never measured). Go
around as many times as you can!
There are also some great places to ride out on Kitsap peninsula and
Bainbridge Island (across Puget Sound from Seattle). You can take a bike on
the ferry for the walk-on fee. The highways out there are mostly two lane
and there are blind curves. The shoulders come and go because the state has
no money to fix the roads.
The Burke-Gilman trail is very popular (it goes from Ballard to Lake city
where it becomes the Sammamish river trail) but much more hazardous IMO than
the streets because of unpredictable amblers and baby strollers (and all
those side by side riders) and the like. They have a posted speed limit for
bikes of 15 MPH (wtf?)! There are also many blind driveways between UW and
Lake City. Once past Lake City this trail is very nice and open all the way
to Redmond. The trail ends at an outdoor velodrome at Marymoor park. From
there you can ride around Lake Sammamish if you have a map. There is also a
trail called Interurban in the south end which follows the Duwamish river
but the last time i rode it it ended in an industrial area and I had to go
over rough terrain to get out of there (rode to Puyallup).
I hope this stuff helps. I would also like to hear about more good places to
ride around here if anyone knows...I hate to advertise seattle (usually we
just tell people "yes it rains ALL the time") but on this post ok... the
more bikers up here the better!
alan

Thanks to all of you for your posts. I'll probably shoot for a
mid-September trip!

Regards,
larry

Larry,

You have a ton of choices, and if you're look for hills, you can certainly
find some.

I'll deny this if you repeat it, but Seattle rarely has all-day rains. We
get a fair amount of rain at night, and we are the poster child for the
overcast day and the slow drizzle, but it really doesn't rain that much.
September is typically beautiful, and last year we had a very nice early
October, but I wouldn't count on it.

Riding around Lake Washington is a nice trip - you get a ton of scenery in
about 57 miles, and it's easy to extend if you want some more distance. If
you want 100 miles, the Flying Wheels route
(http://www.cascade.org/EandR/flying/index.cfm) features lots of hills.
There's also the "Headwaters Century" in September
(http://www.twbc.org/headw.htm)''

Those are the "sane" ones. There are less sane ones for the more
adventuresome.

--
Eric Gunnerson

Visit the C# product team at http://www.csharp.net
Eric's blog is at http://weblogs.asp.net/ericgu/

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"Larry Schuldt" wrote in message
...
I've never been to the Pacific Northwest... I was signed up to do STP
this year, then couldn't get on the plane; I was flying standby and
everything was overbooked. Anyway, live and learn.

I'm considering making another trip to Seattle before the summer's out
and am looking for some rides in the area. I'm looking for rides of up
to a hundred miles. I enjoy hills but since I'm from Illinois, I don't
get any mountain experience. I'm a roadie & don't own an MTB.

So, does anyone have any good routes around the Seattle area? How late
in the year can I usually come before I end up with all-day rains?

Thanks in advance,

Larry

Larry Schuldt wrote in message . ..
I've never been to the Pacific Northwest... I was signed up to do STP
this year, then couldn't get on the plane; I was flying standby and
everything was overbooked. Anyway, live and learn.

Too bad, it was a great STP. I'll post the trip report soon.

I'm considering making another trip to Seattle before the summer's out
and am looking for some rides in the area. I'm looking for rides of up
to a hundred miles. I enjoy hills but since I'm from Illinois, I don't
get any mountain experience. I'm a roadie & don't own an MTB.

You may want to consider the RAPSody (Ride Around Puget Sound) bicycle
ride being held August 28-29, 2004.

The ride fee is $75 until July 23 and then $85 until registration
closes on August 13. You can download a registration flyer or
register online through Active.com by going to
http://www.rapsodyride.org.

This new 2-day ride (with 1-day option) starts and ends in Tacoma.
There is free overnight parking at the Tacoma Dome Station parking
structure. The route is approximately 165 miles and has 9,500 feet
elevation gain. The route goes through University Place, Dupont,
Olympia, Shelton (the overnight stop), Allyn, Belfair, Pt. Orchard,
and Vashon Island. This will be a much more scenic ride (IMO) than STP
is.

The ride fee includes rest stops, mechanical and sag support, luggage
transport, camping and showers at the Shelton High School, souvenir
socks, and ferry fare.

Visit the website for the route, profile, registration, packet pickup
locations, logistics, sponsors, T-shirt, and other ride info. If you
have questions, send them to or call
206-577-6999.

The five bike clubs hosting RAPSody are B.I.K.E.S. of Everett, Capital
Bicycle Club, Seattle Bicycle Club, Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club,
and West Sound Cycling Club. All proceeds from the ride will be
donated to the Bicycle Alliance of Washington (BAW) in order to
support statewide bicycle advocacy.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm

In article ,
says...
Larry Schuldt wrote in message . ..
I've never been to the Pacific Northwest... I was signed up to do STP
this year, then couldn't get on the plane; I was flying standby and
everything was overbooked. Anyway, live and learn.

Too bad, it was a great STP. I'll post the trip report soon.

Know anything about an injury accident on West Valley in Pacific, at the
south end of King County? We live a couple of blocks off the STP route,
and I had a bad feeling when the town first aid unit screamed off to West
Valley on Saturday morning. Driving up West Valley half an hour later, I
saw several cyclists stopped, and one with a neck brace beside the aid
unit. Hope that was just a precaution.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Bicycle Touring Books List:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/tourbooks.html