Athanasius

Tomorrow I'm going to bike down to Alki in the morning from up in Shoreline. I'm planning on going via Ballard and Magnolia, and the King County bike map wants to dump me onto Alaskan Way until I hit the West Seattle bridge. As I have never biked Alaskan Way, what is the road condition like? Is this the best route? I've only been biking a couple weeks - so I am trying to keep off the busier roads and steeper hills...

Thanks!

BengeBoy 

Short answer: Yes way.

I've only done that a couple of times, but you do get on Alaskan Way and it turns into Marginal Way until it's time to head west toward West Seattle. There is a bikelane on Marginal Way, so while there is a fair amount of traffic it feels safe. [EDIT: since I wrote this, I checked the city of Seattle bike map -- it says the bike lane is only on the East side of Marginal Way, for Northbound traffic. So Marginal Way works best going north; one of the other streets headed South may be better. ] Another time I biked along one of the other streets (maybe 6th? I don't remember) and I think Marginal Way is better. Pavement quality along Spokane is questionable; I remember a fair amount of debris and glass along the shoulder as well.

BTW, the first time I headed to West Seattle I got a little lost figuring out how to get on the bike path across the bridge. The city of Seattle bike map is semi-helpful, so it might be worthwhile to make sure you have a really clear copy of that map or some other guide with you. As you're headed West on Spokane, you just have to be watchful of the place where you cross the road to find the bike path that takes you over the bridge. Then, when you get over the bridge, you need to pick your way across some complex intersections to stay on the path that takes you over to Harbor Ave.

Athanasius

Benge - thanks, especially for the heads up on the confusing bike lane. I'll be packing my bike map, so hopefully I won't get totally lost! I'll check the Thompson to see if it has it marked out as well to see if there are any landmarks I can keep an eye out for.

BengeBoy 

Let us know how the ride went!

I see from your other posts you're just starting out on riding. Hopefully you've found a site called bikely.com that lists lots of rides that people have put together in this area. It also allows you to map out rides you are thinking about taking so you can figure out the mileage in advance.

Another good source for ride ideas is the "route maps library" at the website of the Seattle Bicycle Touring Club.

And, also, check out the event schedule for the Cascade Bicycle Club. The Chilly Hilly is coming up on Feb. 24. It's a hilly ride on Bainbridge Island, about 33 miles. A couple of the hills are indeed challenging but you can skip them if you are a good map reader and make the ride much more doable. If you don't feel quite ready for the Chilly Hilly in February (or if the weather is lousy), it's still a terrific ride to do in the summer.

Athanasius

Thanks Benge - the ride went well. I started up in Shoreline, went down through Ballard, over the Locks, up the hill and through Magnolia, down the Pier 81(?) bike path and then along the waterfront before going over the West Seattle.

At first I wondered if I was going to be able to do it because the weather downright sucked. I was trying out my new bib shorts (comfy, but could use some more padding) and I now know I need to buy some leg warmers (!), but the rain didn't pick up too much and by the time I got to Magnolia it was mostly dry.

Alaskan Way was totally fine, lots of big trucks - but they were moving slow and were good about giving plenty of room.

The toughest part of the ride was going around West Seattle to Alki. The headwind was strong and my manly parts were telling me that they were totally done with the ride.

This was by far the longest ride I've ever done at roughly 23 miles (don't laugh folks) and I was pleased that aside from the backside/tackle issues, I felt like I could have probably made the loop back to Shoreline and lived (barely). I plan to do a ride to Olympia in the next 2 months and I am working my way up to it. I've just got to find something to do about the discomfort.

I'd actually be interested in the Chilly Hilly and would see it as a good goal. However, I've got a couple of things already scheduled for the 24th - so it just won't work out. I will probably go do something around Bainbridge in March/April.

Thanks for the link to the Seattle Bicycle Touring Club. Lots of good information there, and tons of ride ideas! I love all the options for rolling & flat routes around the Sound. I'm definitely going to do their Oak Harbor - Victoria ride with my wife.

I am hoping that I can work up to a Seattle-San Francisco ride within the next year. However, that means time off and buying a Touring rig (the 520 looks like my perfect bike). We'll see what happens.

Wow, sorry for the long post.

BengeBoy 

Glad the ride worked!

No laughing from me about the distance. When I first started riding, I found that each 20-mile increment was a milestone. My first 20 mile ride, my first 40 mile ride, my first 60 mile ride, etc. -- as I kept getting fitter I also kept finding things that worked fine on shorter rides didn't work so well on longer rides. In addition to getting fitter, you're likely going to find that you may want to fiddle with seat height, handlebar position, your saddle, and even the kinds of shoes, gloves and shorts you wear. You don't need it all, but some of this stuff really does make you more comfortable on longer rides.

(You're right about the weather...I got caught out in the rain after dark and slogged home from the gym in a dark, chilly downpour...)

Have fun!