Specific Commuting Route

[kfergos]

Hi northwest ladies! I have finally moved to the Seattle area from Massachusetts. For the next 10 months or so I will need to commute from the Juanita area to near the King Street Station in Seattle. I would really appreciate any suggested routes. I will be trying two today: One (19 miles) south through Bellevue across I-90 and then another (20 miles) back north through Seattle across the Montlake Bridge to the Burke-Gilman Trail. Any tips on roads to ride or avoid?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[jobob]

Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice your new locale on your Plus3 routes (goes and takes a peek). Yep, there you are. Welcome to the West Coast!

[kfergos]

Thanks! I'd forgotten what more than about 3 days of rain felt like, but it's all coming back to me now. Time to break out the rain pants!

[Biciclista]

the Burke Gilman trail will get you all the way to Gasworks park. from there you will be on roads, several will work. I'm sure Eden will have more info for you.
or if you want to go for the pretty route, you can ride to Ballard and then follow the trails on the waterfront - this will take you to south of downtown.

[Biciclista]

it's actually wetter than normal here, with above average rain for the month and year. the storms of the last week were unusual too.

[Eden]

Hmmmm a couple things I can think of...

I think the Bellevue - I-90 route may be a bit more hill and traffic friendly than the west side. The I-90 route also eliminates the need to get through downtown, which while not impossible or dangerous can be really slow...
The Burke starts to wear on most people who use it often because its bumpy, has a lot of cross streets and can be crowded in nicer weather. Of course you can avoid most of the BG and cut some of the milage by going through Lake City (it does mean climbing a big hill though) The basic route is Lake City way to 35th to Ravenna which turns into 25th, but if it interests you I can be much more specific.

If you are up on the hill off Juanita Drive then there's no avoiding it, but if you are just in the area, then Waynita is an easier climb.

It won't work for the Xtracycle, but with a regular length bike you can take a bus across 520 if you are in a hurry. It can be a challenge to get a spot at rush hour though as most of the buses have 2, 3 at most rack spots. Metro is giving free lifts on deadhead buses from only the last stop before to the first stop after the bridge. I think they may even be allowing bikes on the bus to fit more riders too, but as far as I know there isn't exactly a regular schedule so it can be a bit dicey to wait there.

[kfergos]

Hmmmm a couple things I can think of...

I think the Bellevue - I-90 route may be a bit more hill and traffic friendly than the west side. The I-90 route also eliminates the need to get through downtown, which while not impossible or dangerous can be really slow...
The Burke starts to wear on most people who use it often because its bumpy, has a lot of cross streets and can be crowded in nicer weather. Of course you can avoid most of the BG and cut some of the milage by going through Lake City (it does mean climbing a big hill though) The basic route is Lake City way to 35th to Ravenna which turns into 25th, but if it interests you I can be much more specific.

If you are up on the hill off Juanita Drive then there's no avoiding it, but if you are just in the area, then Waynita is an easier climb.

It won't work for the Xtracycle, but with a regular length bike you can take a bus across 520 if you are in a hurry. It can be a challenge to get a spot at rush hour though as most of the buses have 2, 3 at most rack spots. Metro is giving free lifts on deadhead buses from only the last stop before to the first stop after the bridge. I think they may even be allowing bikes on the bus to fit more riders too, but as far as I know there isn't exactly a regular schedule so it can be a bit dicey to wait there.

Thanks for the input so far!

Yesterday afternoon, about the time it stopped raining (hooray!), I tried out a loop combining two possible commutes. here are the GPS tracks from them (they end at an intersection near where I'm staying, for security):
1. BG and through Seattle: http://www.plus3network.com/routes/route/110852
2. I-90 and through Bellevue: http://www.plus3network.com/routes/route/110851

I agree the BG route is irritatingly bumpy (I rode on it to Fremont the other day on my Xtracycle and I was ready to kill somebody by the end), plus all the cross-streets and ped traffic, not to mention increased bike traffic in nicer months, make me wonder if this is really the golden bullet so many people seem to make it out to be. I can't imagine riding that in the pitch-dark, for example, because of all the invisible rooty bumps and surprise driveways. Plus I really, really don't like the way the trail has bicyclists crossing on crosswalks. I would be interested in trying out alternative on-road routes to the BG, if you have good ones. Anyway, it seemed like it was a steady grade from when I got on MLK Jr. Way all the way to the UW. Generally the route didn't seem overly hilly. Traffic-wise I did it like 3:00 or so, so not prime driving time. I could see all the stoplights really slowing a person down.

The Bellevue/I-90 route seemed OK, but I'd worry about going across the bridge on a windy or stormy day. It was pretty gusty even yesterday, when it was relatively calm. There were a couple hills of note, the Market Street hill in Kirkland and the Bellevue Way hill going up by 520, but otherwise even in Seattle and on the bridge it seemed remarkably flat and doable for Western Washington. Just not sure how bad traffic would be in Bellevue, but presumably not worse than Seattle during rush hour. I have heard there have been muggings in the I-90 tunnel, which makes me somewhat more wary of riding that route by myself at odd hours of the day and night.

Question: Buses and bikes. I've heard that your bike can get pretty badly damaged when you put it on a bus, mainly from other people shoving their bikes against yours really roughly. I had one person tell me that every time she put her bike on a bus, she had to get it (the bike, not the bus ) repaired afterward. Aside from my Xtracycle, which probably isn't going to work with buses ever, all I have is my ti Seven, and I'm really reluctant to expose that to any kind of even potential damage. Is that a valid concern with buses? I'm looking at a 20-mile trip each way and that's long enough I'd want to be able to do partial bike/bus commutes, but I really don't want to damage my Seven.

[Eden]

I don't put my bike on the bus all that often, but the times I have the bike has been fine. One of my fenders lost the battle once though... the wind ripped 1/2 of it right off.

As far as crossing I-90 goes it can be unpleasant in the wind, but it is seldom truly hair raising. I can say this from experience. I crossed it in a storm with gusts to 35 once.... that was no fun, but I survived it without blowing away.

I live near Martin Luther King way - I actually prefer to avoid it... it has a seriously dangerous bike lane and if you choose to not use it, you get a lot of abuse from drivers. Unfortunately most of the alternatives are to use neighborhood streets, which for me, since I live up here is fine. By the time I get this close I'm generally not in any kind of hurry, but if you are really trying to get somewhere back streets are not so great.

An alternate route that may be more pleasant would be up Jackson, left onto 12th. Right onto E. Union, Left onto 19th - straight into Interlaken Park. At the bottom of the hill there is a choice - there is very steep hill (down in this direction) or you can go onto a MUP - it is unlit and a little isolated, but it is a short distance, I've never heard of any problems there and I've commuted through there for 2 dark winters without feeling unsafe. It does however require a good light, since back there it will be all you have to see with. The MUP ends on E Interlake Blvd. From there left onto 23rd, almost immediate right onto Boyer Ave E, almost immediate left onto 25th Ave E - the route across Montlake is the same as the one you've already mapped out. The direction you would be going is actually ideal though - in the morning it should be light by the time you are there, unless you are going out very, very early and in the evening you can just go down the hill and avoid the dark trail all together.

If you choose to go down the hill you can turn right onto Boyer, or you can go straight, then it gets a bit funky - the street dead ends, there's a church on the left, go through their parking lot (you can get through even if the gate is closed) and you will come out onto E Lynn Street - keep left on the arterial and it will change names to 19th Ave E, W. Montlake Place E, then E Roanoak St, but all you have to do is go straight.... it is much less confusing than it sounds, that will come out onto Montlake Blvd - you can take the back route, but I usually choose to just cross the bridge over the highway with the rest of traffic then merge onto the sidewalk before the metal decking of the Montlake bridge.

To avoid most of the BG - get off the Burke at 25th Ave NE, follow 25th nearly all of the way to Lake City Way NE (it will turn into Ravenna Ave NE), just before Lake City Way stay to the right which will still be Ravenna Ave NE, keep going straight - there's a little cut through the center barrier at 98th to allow bikes through - turn right at the High School (I think it is NE 110th st, but it could be 105th..), turn left onto 35th Ave NE, stay on 35th (stay right at the Y) until it comes to a T intersection, turn left onto NE 145th, almost immediately turn right onto Lake City Way NE/Bothell Way NE, at the bottom of the hill pick the BG trail back up just before Logboom Park, for a short distance to Waynita.

If this all way too confusing, I only work Monday and Wednesday. I'd be happy to meet you and show you some of the local tricks and shortcuts on most any Tuesday or Thursday (but not this one - my Dad's birthday) I volunteer 1/2 day on Fridays, afternoons (after 1pm) are open for me.

[missjulied]

Question: Buses and bikes. I've heard that your bike can get pretty badly damaged when you put it on a bus, mainly from other people shoving their bikes against yours really roughly. I had one person tell me that every time she put her bike on a bus, she had to get it (the bike, not the bus ) repaired afterward. Aside from my Xtracycle, which probably isn't going to work with buses ever, all I have is my ti Seven, and I'm really reluctant to expose that to any kind of even potential damage. Is that a valid concern with buses? I'm looking at a 20-mile trip each way and that's long enough I'd want to be able to do partial bike/bus commutes, but I really don't want to damage my Seven.

My husband commutes from Seattle to Kirkland, and puts his bike on the bus across 520 twice a day with no damage that I've heard of. His is, however, a pretty beefy frame. But ti is tough, right?

[kfergos]

My husband commutes from Seattle to Kirkland, and puts his bike on the bus across 520 twice a day with no damage that I've heard of. His is, however, a pretty beefy frame. But ti is tough, right?

Ti is tough, but I have mostly Ultegra components that I don't really want to have to replace/constantly tweak... However, I may have to give it a try, because it would be super handy to be able to bus back and forth if necessary.

[Aggie_Ama]

it's actually wetter than normal here, with above average rain for the month and year. the storms of the last week were unusual too.

We brought that from Texas when we visited the first weekend of the month! We got hailed on while out walking about on 11/5. We thought it was hysterical because everyone kept telling us they don't have thunderstorms but there were several during our visit. We didn't mind, we visited your fancy REI and got rain coats.