Number 2 on my list of rides to take a new rider or someone from out of town to show off our beautiful city. This post is gonna be a long one because I took so many great pics. Too many views, so my ride took a little longer than expected because I kept having to stop and get my camera out.
This one is the popular Lake Washington loop through arboretum and back through town on Eastlake which is about 16 miles. I started at my home on Beacon Hill as usual and rode to the I-90 trail. You can see the iconic pic from Jose Rizal bridge but I didn’t go across it, I headed right and headed along the Sound to Mountains trail (I-90 trail).
Getting out of the tunnel I head a half a block back up the hill and follow the Lake Washington Loop signs North through some scenic streets with very little traffic until you hit Lake Washington Drive. But even then, it usually isn’t too bad. I did this on a Sunday morning so I was able to get on the sidewalk for part of the trip. Sometimes there are a lot of people walking so you need to stay on the road, but even then the cars usually give bikes room.
I like to go up the hill and ride through the Arboretum. It can be a little confusing because the official Lake Washington Loop signage doesn’t go through the park. First climb up the windy road up the hill on Lake Washington Blvd and DON’T go on McGilvira.
At the top of the hill, don’t follow signs to the loop. Stay on Lake Washington Blvd and follow signs to the arboretum.
The arboretum is great any time of the year and I do it just as much in the fall, winter and spring instead of just the prime summer riding months. Some serious speed bikers just stay on the road but I like to take the trail or the upper road trail if there aren’t too many people around. You have to go slower but sometimes you need to go biking to see nature instead of blowing past it.
After crossing the bridge, the route has changed a bit and it will continue to change with all the construction going on. Just head North and follow the signs to UW when you see them. They are working on a lid over the highway and eventually I trust this is going to be really nice.
From here, I get on the Burke Gilman trail to start heading home. I usually come back on the Westlake trail but that is a different scenic ride. So today I came back on Eastlake and through South Lake Union. I didn’t take the best route for this. You really need to turn off the Burke a couple blocks before so you can get on the bridge instead of going under it. If you go under it, you just need to cut back up the hill after you go a bit after the bridge… It really should be signed better. Some day they are going to make Eastlake a Rapid Ride bus route with some bus only lanes. I think they have decided that there isn’t enough room for bike lanes so I am guessing we will be riding on the bus lanes. For now, you need to ride in the door zone of the parking shoulder except there are some bike lanes on the bridge and some other sections.
From here, it gets confusing to get through South Lake Union. There are new bike lanes in places on Westlake and 7th and 9th and 4th or you can go all the way up to the ones on 2nd. The place is changing so fast that I like to take diff routes every time and I don’t have a favorite way right now. Just stay away from the trolley tracks. The tourists all find their way to take pictures of the Amazon Spheres (Bezo’s balls) and stand right in the middle of the bike path. I just ride through dinging my bike bell like crazy.
I eventually rode South through town until I came to the ID. I rode through Chinatown on King Street and that took 12th Ave across the Jose Rizal Bridge back to Beacon Hill and my home.
If you haven’t tried the Lake/Arboretum/Eastlake/SLU loop yet, you need to try it. Total distance about 16 miles. Leave some extra time to get some good pics. Next ride will be Fremont, Gasworks and the Westlake trail.