Mercer Island start and end?
 

We are spending a week with friends on Mercer island. They do not ride.
We would like to do some rides starting and ending on the island. Is it possible to leave MI, ride west across I-90, do a counterclockwise loop along South Lake WA and return to Mercer Island? Accessing the bike lanes by I-90 looks a little complicated.
Other suggestions? What about Bainbridge Island, or any of the other San Juan Islands? We have heard they are beautiful
Thanks in advance

Of course it's possible, and it's a nice ride. From MI, head to the park and ride, go east on the sidewalk until you find the trail (right next to the I-90 tunnel entrance). You'll come out by the Lid (a park with tennis courts) and if you stay on the trail, you'll hit the bridge and wind up in Seattle. Follow Lakeshore Blvd down to Seward Park, keep heading south through Renton, back up through Bellevue, and from there it's pretty obvious, I can't list out all the street and MUP names and turns, but you'll be on a street and you'll want to go left onto a trail when you see the bridge overhead. It's very easy, and a nice ride.

Yes, yes, and yes.

One of the more popular routes in the city is the loop around MI itself. It's not that long but most of it is low traffic for the city and good pavement.

Depending on what you want out of your ride and whether you want to car shuttle or ride from your MI base the islands are mostly some great riding. Bainbridge is probably the easiest to get to, ferry terminal downtown. Vashon ferry leaves West Seattle. Whidbey a little north and the San Juans a couple of hours north. There are plenty of smaller islands that I've never been to that are accessed by a variety of county, city or private ferries like Anderson and Guemes that you could explore. I've only ridden a few of the more popular ones and they were all hilly and have rougher country roads (think chipseal). I've never ridden Lopez but it is supposed to be mostly flat and is very popular for mellow bike rides. Orcas is my favorite because it has a real country feel and once the ferry traffic clears it is fairly peaceful plus it has a great climb with even better views with Mt. Constitution.

This book is a good start:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...taineers-Books)

and there are lots of threads on this MB like this one with ride suggestions and info.


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...out-of-seattle

Please stop by our shop when you're here if we can help in any way. We're on 77th Ave just a few blocks South of the freeway.

Our shop rides regularly do the South Lake Washington Loop, and we also ride East to head up Cougar and/or Squawk mountains, or around Lake Sammamish.

Graham

Do the south lake loop clockwise to keep the lake on your right. Much safer as it cuts way down on the cross traffic. There are signs most of the way but if you get confused just wait 60 seconds and more bikes will come along for you to follow.

Should you need any cycling related items or service Veloce Velo on Mercer Island is a superb bike shop! I am only affiliated with this shop via the owner Graham Hunter who is a good friend and dedicated LBS owner!!

I used to love doing those rides. I knew all the roads back in the 80s when I lived there, but when I went back I didn't recognize MI or Bellevue or Redmond. The I-90 corridor was already changing when I left, but it is nothing like I remember. You used to be able to ride some back roads on north MI to go across, but if they still exist I couldn't find them when I was there 2 years ago. It was also pouring down rain at the time and all I really wanted was to get back to my hotel on Capital Hill. Such fond memories of Seattle weather...

A lot of words in here and no maps. Here is a ride my teammate did today which is exactly what you want. I would recommend doing the loop clockwise (as executed in the map below) vs counter clockwise as you described.

http://app.strava.com/rides/14931197

+1

This is great advice. I live on Mercer Island and I do the route this way all the time -- start off from Mercer Island, do the ride clockwise around the south end of the lake. Much nicer; especially when you get past the Renton Airport and you are riding along the southern end of the lake. It is just a *little* confusing the first time you do the ride because there are a couple of turns that might confuse you a bit, but you can find other folks to follow as you go.