I’m going to be in Seattle Monday 7/27 to Friday 8/7 and I’m looking for some good group rides or recommended routs in the Seattle area.
Ideally, I’m looking for 3+ hours group ride on Sat and Sun
I don’t know of many group rides in Seatlle, I’m sure they exist but most real roadies are “teamed up” and ride with their team, which is not open to outsiders. Speedy Reedy used to have a weekend group ride from their store, but not sure that is still happening. Mercer Island is a classic place to ride and you could link up with some folks no problem. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve if you want to ride with me.
Where are you staying?
My favorite ride right now is out to Carnation/Fall City and back through Issaquah Fall City road and back to I-90.
Seattle’s Cascade bike club has an open group ride just about every day:
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/Activities_Calendar.cfm?query=cascadefreedailyride
Chris.
Wednesday’s Bends is a pretty good afternoon group ride through Cascade Bike Club. Lots of hills, so as much suffering as you want. There are some longer rides on the weekends too. See the link in Chris’ post above. Some good Seattle area cue sheets here: http://www.seattlebiketours.org/members/library.html
Generally, heading around Lake Washington or heading east is your best bet for uninterrupted riding. West Seattle can be good too though.
One additional note about a common route - Lake Sammamish out by Issaquah (south end of the lake) / Redmond (north end). The east side of the lake (East Lake Sammamish Parkway) is usually a really nice ride due to the presence of bike lanes / wide shoulder. However there is still roadwork & some other construction going on just north of Inglewood Hill Road (roughly halfway) and as a result there is a 1/2 mile stretch on both sides of the road that is pretty much impassable by bike. There is an unpaved trail just to the west and down towards the lake, which isn’t great for road bikes, and steep climbs up to the Sammamish Plateau just to the east, so as a result I’d avoid East lake Sammamish (at least as a way to get from Issaquah to Marymoor Park in Redmond) until the construction is finished.
Where are you staying?
My favorite ride right now is out to Carnation/Fall City and back through Issaquah Fall City road and back to I-90.
thanks for the link and all the info!
I will be staying near downtown Seattle, near the Space Needle.
How easy is it to get to these rides from there w/o a car?
What level of rider are you? Can you hang with a group of pretty serious racers?
.
What level of rider are you? Can you hang with a group of pretty serious racers?
.
I’m a cat 4 on the road and a 2:20 oly tri guy.
I don’t consider myself a strong rider but I’m coming from road racing backgroud so I can survive a cat3/4 group ride.
Looks like Cascade Cycling cluck have some good rides - 54 miles leaving from GasWorks Park on Sat (Brisky but with 1 hour lunch stop,) and 70-75 miles Myrtle Edwards Park (Super strenuous)
Does anyone have experience with these rides?
they are all pretty easy from downtown. gas works is just north of the city. would take you 20 minutes +/- to get there, assuming you hit it right the first time. it’s right off the burke gilman trail so you should be able to hit it no problem. some of the east side rides would be hard for you to get to/navigate unless you have a nose like a bloodhound. i-90 is accessible from downtown, via jackson, but it is a hilly trip.