Pacific Northwest - STP - seattle ferry to starting line at UW - best route?

hi guys,

my friends and i are thinking of taking the bremerton ferry to seattle the morning of the STP and
riding our bikes to the start line. i'm looking at a map, but was wondering what you guys think is
the best route. i don't guess there will be too much traffic at 5 am on a saturday, but i am wary of
seattle's one way roads, steep hills etc...

any ideas? pls share. we are thinking of doing a dry run on monday july 5th.

thanks,
marcie

You'll probably have to ride a small hill from Alaskan Way, but this route might be good:


Turn left at Alaskan Way.
Turn right toward Western Ave.
Turn left at Western Ave.
Turn right at Blanchard St.
Turn left at 7th Ave.
Continue north onto Dexter Ave and follow it all the way to Westlake.
Cross the Fremont Bridge then turn right (east) onto 34th St.
Continue a couple blocks to Stone Way, then merge on to the Burke-Gilman trail
on the southeast corner of the intersection.
From that point, the trail will basically take you all the way to the start line near
the stadium.

Total distance is about 6.5 miles going this route.

Agree with the above.

You will want to get off the trail at UW before Pacific and Montlake, because the starting point is near Hec Edmundson pavilion.

There is a map of the Burke Gilman Trail available here: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/BurkeGilman/bgtrail.htm

Another possibility is to just come over on the ferry, and join the ride 'in progress' on Lake Washington Blvd.

You'd get off the ferry, make your way to Jackson Street.
- Jackson to 6th
- 6th to Dearborn
- Dearborn to Hiawatha
- Where Hiawatha ends, catch the I90 bike trail.
- After you pass through the bike tunnel, get off the trail onto Irving, go up to Lake Washington Blvd.
- Take Lake Washington Blvd. down through Colman Park, and join the ride enroute.

You will want to get off the trail at UW before Pacific and Montlake, because the starting point is near Hec Edmundson pavilion.


I think it would be best to stay on the trail past Pacific and Montlake. You'll be able to cross Montlake on one of the overpasses North of Hec-Ed, which will put you right at the start line without the hassle of dealing with crossing the flow of riders already started on the route (one-day starts at 4:45 AM). You will have to carry your bike down a flight of stairs if you use one of those two overpasses. You can also exit the trail by turning right on Pend Oreille Rd (past both overpasses on campus, stop sign on the trail for crossing the road), go through the traffic light, then turn right into the north entrance of the Montlake parking lot.

At the starting line it is a staggered start. I didn't have a problem crossing the flow of riders last year