Pacific Northwest - Charity ride cautions esp in Woodinville, WA

When you register for a charity or group ride be sure to check the route. Do the roads include a shoulder or bike lane? Are there blind curves? Is there any traffic control for the event?

I say this because there are several charity and event rides that route riders along Paradise Lake Road near Woodinville, WA. In the case of the recent Tour de Cure (for diabetes I believe), the roads were so narrow, we saw several near-misses with oncoming and following traffic. Thousands of bikes flooded that narrow road and tied traffic up in both directions. No ride support at all

Choose your charity ride carefully!

Paradise Lake Rd. is pretty low traffic, but you're right... there's not much of a shoulder to speak of, and when you have 1000 riders instead of 2 or 3, it can rapidly become an issue with drivers who may not have been aware that the event was going to take place on their usual route.

I, and other captains of the TdC teams will be meeting with the Tour Directors in the next few weeks to discuss what went well, what did not, and things that can help for next year. This was the first year for the new directoral team, and I've got a few notes to bring to the table at our upcoming meeting.

Along with:
- route selection
- route announcement to local communities
- route marking (the turn at 236th and 133rd was mismarked!)
- rest stop open/close times (some riders felt rushed by the closing times at later stops on the 75/100 route)


Please list any suggestions for discussion topics in this thread, and I can bring them up to the directors at the upcoming meeting and keep an open discourse between Tour staff and the larger contingent of riders than just my own company team.

Tents back to the grass! Especially if it gets warm. Start/finish was too narrow and crowded too. Also, was the 20 mile route rerouted from last year? I saw a few riders who were supposed to have been on the 20 but may have changed their minds. They didnt seem happy on woodinville-duvall. And the little neck medallions! We love those lol.

Additionally, beer garden. Didn't some of the early emails mention one? The last few miles the thought of a cold beer was driving me, get to the finish and nothing...

That's a really great idea. Because there's no room, that 45-50mph traffic comes up fast and close, tries to swerve into the oncoming traffic to pass bikes. Oncoming traffic vis is poor.I am sure there are other charity rides are facing similar issues! A fatality would be ungood.


Paradise Lake Rd. is pretty low traffic, but you're right... there's not much of a shoulder to speak of, and when you have 1000 riders instead of 2 or 3, it can rapidly become an issue with drivers who may not have been aware that the event was going to take place on their usual route.

I, and other captains of the TdC teams will be meeting with the Tour Directors in the next few weeks to discuss what went well, what did not, and things that can help for next year. This was the first year for the new directoral team, and I've got a few notes to bring to the table at our upcoming meeting.

Along with:
- route selection
- route announcement to local communities
- route marking (the turn at 236th and 133rd was mismarked!)
- rest stop open/close times (some riders felt rushed by the closing times at later stops on the 75/100 route)


Please list any suggestions for discussion topics in this thread, and I can bring them up to the directors at the upcoming meeting and keep an open discourse between Tour staff and the larger contingent of riders than just my own company team.

Ride suggestions

* Remind tour directors that not everyone is at "Tour de" skill level when it comes to dealing with traffic.
* At busy crossings such as 522, have volunteers stationed at each side of the light to block riders from blowng lights
* Signage along the roads at places to reroute traffic esp. helpful for hauler trucks, campers, and wide loads
* Ask riders to wear high vis clothing - guess not everyone does that.
* Have the 'watering hole' on right side of road so bikes don't have to swing out in front of 45mph traffic. Some riders find it difficult to judge oncoming car speeds

For tours considering Paradise Lake, take 156th Ave (nice stopping place, air and food at gas stations) to Bostian Road to cross 522 continue on 524. Wide shoulders and less traffic the whole way.

Great thread, everyone. I can't contribute---just wanted to say thanks for your efforts!:thumb:

For tours considering Paradise Lake, take 156th Ave (nice stopping place, air and food at gas stations) to Bostian Road to cross 522 continue on 524. Wide shoulders and less traffic the whole way.

Err, I live off 156th and ride it several times/week on my commute to/from work. The shoulders on that road are not exactly what I would call wide. In fact, northbound in most places they do not exist, unless you call six inches to the right of the fog line a shoulder. Southbound there is a shoulder when you cross the Snohomish/King County line. It's rarely swept and usually full of so much "stuff" that I do my best to ride in the lane when I can.

But 156th generally has better sight lines than Paradise Lake road which makes for cars going around bikers marginally safer. IMHO, neither road is suitable for routing thousands of bikers up on an organized ride.

Follow-up: It looks like some ride leaders are already re-routing traffic off of Paradise Lake.

Today's Ride to Conquer Cancer routed traffic Southbound instead of north with caution signs at the 520 Intersections. Instead, all traffic moved B]South[/B] on to Bostian Road.