daihard 

I finally got to ride the southwest part of the Lake Washington Loop, from the Montlake Bridge onto Furman, along the coast, and onto the I-90 trail.

Quite honestly, I'm not impressed. The views were great, but the roads were horrible. I realize that most of the loop consists of general-purpose lanes rather than MUPs, which tend to be much better paved. However, given that it's such a popular cycling route, I expected the pavement to be smoother. Does anyone else feel the same? Or should I just go with wider tires?

toddles

I know the loop well. Basically it's a hodge podge of trail, bike path, and road riding. In most cases they just threw up signs. Yeah it's not ideal but who cares?? It's 100% the view. I ride 700x32s and don't even give it a second thought. But if you think that's bad, try the Duwamish or Interurban North Trails to help temper your inflated expectations.

daihard 

I guess it was my fault to not have known the loop was 100% the view. I have no idea where Duwamish is, but I ride on the Interurban North all the time and like it a lot. Honestly, the part of the loop I rode today was worse than my commute routes (i.e. Roosevelt, Green Lake, Ravenna, Dexter and Eastlake). I don't consider it an inflated expectation.

toddles

That's cool. I'm just questioning where you think the Interurban North is better. But I suppose there is room for argument there. The Duwamish Trail starts underneath the West Seattle bridge and travels along the Duwamish river before disintegrating into South Park hell and then turning into the Green River Trail -- if you can find it. I think we'd absolutely agree this surface sucks.

daihard 

I'll have to try Duwamish, if only to see how bad the pavement is. Thanks for your civil reply.

toddles

I'm one of the few people I know who advocate for south end improvements. I think starting with the Duwamish Trail and substantially upgrading it and actually have a bonafide connector to the Green River Trail instead of zigzaging the back streets of South Park -- industrial nightmare -- should be a top priority. I also think they need to extend the end of the Interurban South trail into Tacoma. I don't understand why we don't have a legitamate bike trail between the two largest cities. As far as the Lake Washington Trail is concerned, it's really the Burke-Gilman Trail and the bike paths on Lake Washington Blvd Ne in Kirkland and Lake Washington Blvd S in Seward Park. The rest of it is signs on roadways, and with a little luck, some of those roadways will have bike paths.

So now that we're on the subject, yes, I agree with you. In particular, I think the trail from Mercer Island to Coal Creek Parkway blows. It's one of the reasons I own 32s.