Pacific Northwest - Bellingham, Birch Bay, Blaine, Lyndon areas ?

I've seen at least a couple of people here are in Bellingham. I've applied for a job in Blaine and if I get it a big concern for me will be riding possibilities. So, are there enough good roads/routes in the area to keep a die-hard road cyclist happy?

Im very new to road rideing, so take the for what it is:

Yes! I cant speak for Blaine, but Bellingham has a big cycling community. Lots of orginized rides in the spring and summer. So many bikes downtown on sat it's hard to find a place to lock up. Lots of hilly terrain in the county. I know there is a saturday morning loop that starts in bellingham runs up to blaine ,around ferndale and back to town. I havn't ridden with that group but I understand they are very nice and host a range of skill levels.

the mountain bikeing is also quite fine round these parts, although its muddy nine months out of the year....

The ride Trickery is referring to is The Donut Ride. When I was going a while back, it was a ~7AM start on Saturdays from Kulshan Cycles in B'ham. Their website is located here (http://www.kulshancycles.com/) and is, unfortunately, one of those Flash-driven monsters, so I can't link you right to the page where it's listed.

As far as the roads around Whatcom go, there're plenty of great rides. Avoid Hannegan and Birch Bay-Lynden roads (highest accident numbers, albeit on some of the longest county roads).

There are some good rides on the Seattle touring club's website (http://www.seattlebiketours.org/members/maps/whatcom.html), though they start from Bellingham. They provide some good ideas at least. The riding here is great!

SoonerBent,

There's plenty of riding around Whatcom County to keep you entertained. Flattish around Birch Bay/Blaine/Lynden and increasing hills as you go east. As stated by others, lots of cyclists around here. I don't care for group rides, but they attract good participation and mostly friendly folks. I think the cycling here is likely to be more interesting than what I saw of the terrain around Oklahoma City when I visited there last September (until you get a good distance out of the city).

Thanks all. The web sites were especially good. Bellingham looks to be about 20 miles from Blaine and OKC is so spread out it's nothing to drive 20 miles to meet for a group ride. Looking at the pics on the club and LBS sites I didn't see one recumbent so that might be interesting. Anyway I have to get the job first. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Actually, Kulshan has a listing for Saturday recumbent rides.
"This monthly ride leaves from our shop ever 2nd Saturday of the month at 10:00AM for a social ride looping out to the airport and back along the waterfront. All bikes and riders welcome. Some add on a few miles at either end. Snack when back. Robert Parker knows more if you need it... rmp4724@az.com or 671-6910."

Also, Fairhaven Bike and Mountain Sports (http://fairhavenbike.com/page.cfm?pageID=35) lists some more group rides and a couple of the same ones (from the looks of it).

Excellent! I'm hoping more and more that I get this job. The area looks beautiful, I love the ocean, cycling, snow skiing and have a couple of good old friends who live inb the area so NW Washington looks like heaven on earth.