Also there's the Cougar Zoo Road heh-heh-heh bring a compact crank and at least 28 tooth cog.

Sounds like a potential really great local race. I am disappointed about the date choice however. It looks like Chelan is also scheduled that weekend. There probably are barely more than a dozen tris all year around here. Why can't we space them out? (Rhetorical question)

Oh, man, I had forgotten about that road. I've only ridden it once. That climb can't be categorized as anything but 'for real'.

Let's be honest. If you want to cycle, Ballard sucks. Great beer, food and all that but its a PITA to get out of on a bike. cycling from Eastside is 100% better than Seattle.

Oh, man, I had forgotten about that road. I've only ridden it once. That climb can't be categorized as anything but 'for real'.

I often ride part of the Lake Washington loop. Basically you can go from Marymoor Park in Redmond, up the Sammamish Trail, connect to the Burke Gilman. Then U district to the Lake Washington loop, work your way down to I-90, across Mercer, then back up Lake Sammamish. It's a good 50 mile loop with a reasonable mix of bike lanes and paved bike trails.

https://www.strava.com/activities/628098324

For someone moving here, check out the Strava heatmaps and that'll give you plenty of guidance.


Also there are quite a few gravel trails if you set your bike up for them. You can ride out east to Fall City and then go north on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail which runs parallel to 202 / 203, and is much much safer. At a certain point on 203, the shoulder completely disappears and with a lot of big semis going 50+, I will not ride that stretch anymore.

Anyhow that gets you up to Duvall, and then you can connect back in on Novelty Hill Road which is another fun climb, taking you back to Avondale and back into Redmond.

Yep it is 1332 feet vertical in 2.9 miles, from Newport to the antennas. Most of the climbing is in the first half so it is even steeper than it looks from those numbers. One switchback kicks up to over 20 degrees.