# Seattle rides?



## nor_cal_rider (Dec 18, 2006)

Anyone around Seattle want to point me towards a nice 25-40 mile ride for this coming Saturday? I'm driving up for the LAF Challenge, and would like to get out for a light ride to spin my legs a bit after spending all day Friday driving.

Let me know....

Bruce in Redding, CA


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

nor_cal_rider said:


> Anyone around Seattle want to point me towards a nice 25-40 mile ride for this coming Saturday? I'm driving up for the LAF Challenge, and would like to get out for a light ride to spin my legs a bit after spending all day Friday driving.
> 
> Let me know....
> 
> Bruce in Redding, CA



Depends upon where your start point is. Seattle and surrounds is huge. Absolutely huge. And "taking a spin around Seattle" by bike may not be so pleasant.

A "nice" ride would be to pack up and drive across Lake Wa to the eastside somewhere, like Redmond which is a short drive from Seattle proper. Or, take the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island (hilly!).

I suggest you PM Argentius, Bigbill, or even Waldo as they have knowledge of the area and are helpful people. 

Try to leave some time on Saturday to see some of the sights in Seattle. I suggest the waterfront/Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square. All are within walking distance of eachother and/or there's a trolly that runs continuously from the waterfront to the square and back. Well worth the time to experience Seattle flavor. Quite enjoyable.

Have fun and good luck on the ride!

Hopefully some of those more local than I, will chime in here to help you out. But definitely give folks an idea of where you're staying so they can best direct you.


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## nor_cal_rider (Dec 18, 2006)

Thanx OEH....

I'll be staying in downtown Seattle - just 1/2 mile south of the Space Needle (was easiest for the event on Sunday). But I do have my truck an am willing to drive a little to get outside the city (makes me REALLY appreciate rural living and OTD rides).


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## kreger (Mar 10, 2004)

there are some good rides here

http://www.cascade.org/eandr/activities_calendar.cfm

if you want to go big with double weekend rides one of the absolutely best rides of the year will be saturday. tour de blast, a bit south of seattle. its 82 miles with 3 great climb and ~7000 feet of climbing. its an amazing ride, great support and spectacular views of the blast zone


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## MisterAngular (Feb 6, 2007)

You doing the Tour de Blast? I've got my finger on the trigger (ie, registration button) here... trying to arm twist coworker/riding buddies into going along. Perfect way to test out the Quarq Cinqo that's enroute to me this very minute. Precious watts. Precioussssssss.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

I live down in T-town (that's Tacoma) about 40 miles south of Seattle. Saturday's supposed to be a beautiful day, whatever ride you get in, I'm sure it will be a good one.

I might take a little spin across the Tacoma Narrows bridge, around gig harbor, etc. That's probably too much of a drive from Seattle, but, as OEH says -- the Sound metro area is huge, but pretty awesome. Welcome, and enjoy!


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## Basalt33 (Mar 12, 2009)

Leave your car at the hotel and bike down to the waterfront and catch the Bainbridge Ferry on your bike. I used to livein Seattle and would do this all the time!!! It's awesome!! Once you get off the ferry in Bainbridge, you can follow the "Chilly Hilly" route. I'm willing to bet that the local Bike Shop in Bainbridge has a map of the route. I used to do it from memory so I'm afraid that I don't have a map of it handy. Two other options are Mercer Island- A little urban riding through the International District, over the bridge and around Mercer, or drive over to the eastside near Bellevue and do the Flying Wheels loop- Kreger noted the link in his earlier post. Either way, enjoy!!


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## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

There's also the water taxi to Vashon Island. It's one of my favorite rides with lots of rolling roads and very few cars (I might even end up doing it on Saturday). A basic loop is around 30mi, but can be extended to about 50. You can take the water taxi from downtown, or go to West Seattle to leave/go from the Fauntleroy ferry (water taxi has limited schedule).

You can find a number of routes, along with cue sheets / maps for the Vashon ride, plus lots of other rides here: http://www.seattlebicycleclub.org/members/maps/islands.html


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

You could do the Mercer Island loop. I'm not sure how long it is but it is a pretty nice ride. You could also head towards the U-District and either get on the Burke Gilman trail or the Interurban trail that isn't too much farther from there. Unfortunately I don't know that many rides in that area since I don't really wander onto that side of Lake Washington too often. If you wanted to come towards Redmond I could even show you some routes and ride along with you.


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