Hello All,
I’ll be in Seattle from March 29 - April 1st. Looking forward to seeing the sights. Suggestions? Local races, etc. etc.
I bow before the collective wisdom of Slowtwitch.
B.
Will you have a car? Taking your bike? Do a search I asked similar questions last August.
Lots of good riding. Lots of bike races that time (check the calendar in a month or so). Lakes are too frigid (by local standards) for tri’s though. You might catch one of Bob Green’s duathlons around Olympia (he had one on April 1st weekend last year). Too early for the indoor tri (www.trifreak.com). Might be some 10K’s as well.
Ride a ferry. Seriously, if you take a ride on one of the many ferries to Bremerton, Bainbridge or Vashon Island, you will get a beautiful view of the city and Puget Sound and it’s a fun thing to do. You can either walk or drive on.
“Ride a ferry…” and bring your bike. Lots of serious riders come out to the nearby islands on the weekends to get on open roads with less traffic.
Seriously, you have to give us locals a hand on what you are looking for. Let me know if you are looking for runs or rides and if you will have a car. Also will you actually be in Seattle or out in the burbs?
March/April is **very **early for the tri season out here. Traditionally the first race is not until June. However, there is plenty of biking routes and running trails to take advantage of and a couple of local tri shops.
But here are some things to start with
This is a good calendar for local Running Races WWW.ontherunevents.com
The USATF site has a ton of bike and run routes; http://www.usatf.org/routes/search/
The convention that I’m coming in for is in the State Convention Center and I can stay in the Downtown area, but I always find that boring (look kids another cookie-cutter mall/store just like the one in NYC - where I’m from) so I’m willing to stay in a hotel that is reasonably accessible (20 minutes or so) to the convention center by public transportation. I always like to go with as ‘local’ a visit as possible. It’s not likely that I’ll be bringing my bike but I’m not opposed to running a sat/sun race if one is going on. I do want to take a ferry out to one of the surrounding islands and I won’t have a car.
I basically know nothing (so far) about Seattle and am looking to visiting.
Any and all advice is appreciated…
Brian
Pike Place Market is a must see. It’s touristy, but locals patronize it as well. The array of produce and seafood is amazing, and the quirky shops are fun. The original Starbucks is there and a fabulous Russian bakery, Pirosheky sp?.
If you are interested in Seattle history, the underground tour is pretty cool and cheap. It starts from Pioneer Square (approx. 8-10 blocks from downtown) and takes maybe 90 minutes to get through it. I’ve gone twice with visiting friends in the last few years and I’ve enjoyed it.
If you stay downtown, it’s easy to run down along the waterfront and you can do repeaters up the Harbor steps.
Seattle is a cool place!
Stay downtown (or downtown-ish) unless you are renting a car. Our public transportation is nearly worthless, and difficult to navigate for an out-of-towner.
Lots to see and do, but very weather dependent at that time of year. Some things (like the Ferry idea) are great on a clear day, but if things are socked in could easily become an hour or so of looking at fog. I took my mother on a “spectacular” ferry ride that wound up being about as entertaining as standing in the corner of a grey room for an hour.
I would suggest a good weather/grey weather/crappy weather set of lists…
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