A more urban ride would be nice, too:
You can start this loop anywhere, but one version is:
- Start in Seward Park, go up Lake Washington all the way through Madison Park, across the bridge to Burke Gilman trail
- Burke Gilman west through Fremont and Ballard to the Locks. Walk your bike across the locks.
- Up to Discovery Park, do the loop on Magnolia Blvd. around Magnolia
- Down Thorn**** Ave in Magnolioa to catch bike path and head back to downtown to Myrtle Edwards Park
- Visit Olympic Sculpture Garden
- Through downtown along the waterfront, through Pioneer Square, through International District, up the bike path to top of Mt. Baker tunnel, down the hill back to Lake Washington Blvd.
If this is not clear, let me know and I'll map it out on veloroutes.org for you.
I've always thought this would be a cool route for a visiting cycling enthusiast 'cause you can catch a number of interesting bike shops on the way:
- Il Vecchio and that triathlon shop in Leschi
- Recycled Cycles on Boat st.
- Quick detour up to R&E cycles to look at custom Rodriguez
- Back to Burk Gilman, go to Fremont, see FreeRange Cycles
- While in Ballard see that new folding bike/electric bike shop (Folding Bikes West?)
- When back in downtown Seattle visit Elliott Bay Cycles.
Anyone who likes classic bikes would get a kick out of Il Vecchio and Elliott Bay.