Dave Treadwell's Space: Routes

Commuting Route Updates

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:24:12 GMT

One of the fun things about exercise commuting is exploring different routes--see #3 from this post. Last summer, I shared a number of the commuting routes that I use. Since then, I've discovered a few additional route options that I now use frequently. Most notably, these are the Old Redmond Road route to the Yarrow Point and Evergreen Point bus stations and a cut-through behind the UW Medical Center when going from the Montlake bus station to Queen Anne.

I've updated my run routes blog postings to include these routes as well as some updated maps from the very cool MapMyTri web site:

Also, once in a while I will run the whole way home over I-90 using this 18.1-mile route.

Run Routes: Montlake to Queen Anne

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:09:33 GMT

When I want a short west side run, I take the 545 or the 256 to the Denny & Stewart stop and run the ~2 miles home from there. When I want a longer run, to get on any random bus across the 520 bridge, or to avoid traffic on I-5 and downtown, I get off at the Montlake stop and run from there. There are a lot of good, diverse route possibilities for getting to Queen Anne from Montlake.

3rd Ave W via UW Medical Center [map]

This route has recently replaced the Burke Gilman Trail route (below) as my preferred way to get from the Montlake bus stop to my home. I find running through the UW Medical Center and along Boat Street to be more pleasant than the BG Trail because it is less crowded and there are fewer busy intersecitons to cross. The Lake Union views are also nice. Directions:

From the Montlake freeway station, head north on Montlake Blvd.
Cross to the west side of Montlake Blvd at the light at E Shelby Street just before the Montlake Bride and continue north across the bridge.
Just after the bridge, turn left (west) at the pedestrian trail gate and head through the UW Medical Center.
The road merges with Boat Street; continue straight under the University Bridge and onto NE Northlake Way
I like to get on the trail-like section of the parking area on the north side of NE Northlake until it conveniently hooks up with the Burke Gilman Trail a little before Fremont.
At Fremont Ave N, turn left (south) and go across the Fremont Bridge.
Take the first right (west) after the bridge onto Florentia St.
At 3rd Ave W, turn left (south) and head up Queen Anne hill.

3rd Ave W via Burke Gilman Trail [map]

Probably my most common route, I take this when I want a decent run and a good warm down on the top of the hill. Much of it is on the Burke-Gilman trail, which is usually good for running. The 3rd Ave W hill climb up Queen Anne hill is steady and a good workout. Directions:

From the Montlake freeway station, head north on Montlake Blvd NE over the Montlake Bridge.
At the first light after the bridge, go left (west) on NE Pacific St.
Hook up with the Burke-Gilman trail around here; there are several possibilities to do this as the trail runs parallel the north side of the road.
Stay on the BG into Fremont.
At Fremont Ave N, turn left (south) and go across the Fremont Bridge.
Take the first right (west) after the bridge onto Florentia St.
At 3rd Ave W, turn left (south) and head up Queen Anne hill.

Westlake [map]

This is a good variety route, as I find the scenery interesting. Climbing the southeast part of Queen Anne hill is somewhat annoying, since there is a lot of up and down. Therefore, this is more commonly a route I use from QA to Montlake, not the other way around. Directions:

Follow the directions for one of the above routes to get to the Fremont Bridge.
After the bridge, turn left (east) on Westlake Ave N.
I typically go through the sidewalks and parking lots east of the main road.
At Galer St, take the pedestrian bridge west over Westlake Ave N.
Keep going due west and over the pedestrian bridge that crosses Aurora Ave and onto Queen Anne hill.

South Lake Union via Capitol Hill [map]

When I just want to get home reasonably quickly, this is the route I take. It involves a decent hill climb over Capitol Hill. Directions:

From the Montlake freeway station, head south on 24th Ave E and cross over 520. Depending on the lights, it may be easier and quicker to go through the eastbound bus station than using the lights.
Cut behind the gas station onto W Montlake Pl E heading southwest.
Follow the road as it becomes 19th Ave E and then turns right at E Lynn St.
Continue straight across Boyer Ave, then up the hill on Delmar Dr E which turns into E Roanoke St.
After crossing over I-5, turn left (south) onto Boylston Ave E.
At E Boston St, turn right (west).
At Eastlake Ave E, turn left (south).
At the intersection with Fairview Ave E, veer right (southwest) onto Fairview.

South Lake Union with Capitol Hill Bypass [map]

This is the lazy route from Montlake to QA. It is quite similar to the Capitol Hill route, except it goes a little further by skipping the climb over Capitol Hill. Directions:

Follow the route above to the intersection of E Lynn St and Boyer Ave E. Turn right (northwest) onto Boyer.
Follow Boyer as it turns into Fuhrman Ave E.
At Eastlake Ave E, turn left (south). Follow the directions above from Eastlake.

15th Ave W [map]

For adding a couple of extra miles to the run, this is a solid route. The scenery on the BG before 15th Ave W is industrial and interesting to me. There is a little less climbing than the 3rd Ave W route. Directions:

Follow the one of the 3rd Ave W routes to the Burke-Gilman trail.
Stay on the BG all the way to the Ballard Bridge/15th Ave W.
Take the stairs up to the Ballard Bridge and head south.
At Gilman Dr W, turn left (southeast) and head up Queen Anne hill.

Summary

*Route*	*Distance*	*I do this route when I want to...*
3rd Ave W via UW	5.7 miles	...run longer and have a good warm down.
3rd Ave W via BG	5.9 miles	...run on the BG for a while.
Westlake	5.3 miles	...enjoy the scenery along Westlake.
Capitol Hill	4.0 miles	...get home quickly and do a hill climb.
Capitol Hill Bypass	4.8 miles	...have an easy, reasonably direct run home.
15th Ave W	7.8 miles	...do an extended west side run.

Run Routes: RedWest to Yarrow Point and Evergreen Point

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:47:14 GMT

It wasn't initially obvious to me that there were decent running routes to the Yarrow Point and Evergreen Point bus stations, but it turns out that there do exist pretty darn good ways to get there. While I use these routes mostly just for running, they are also viable for bike/bus. I wouldn't recommend Bridlecrest Trail for a road bike with standard 23mm tires, but a mountain or cyclocross bike would be fine on it.

Bridlecrest Trail [map]

I started run commuting on the 520 trail, but since I discovered this route, it is the one I take nearly always. This route is especially good from RedWest, since it starts basically right there. The route is sufficiently good that I suspect it would be better to take this from Microsoft's main campus than using the 520 trail, despite the extra distance involved in running up to RedWest. A lot of the route is on dirt trails, which is nice for running. There are a few spots of the trails where there are very steep sections. There are a variety of alternatives west of I-405, such as Alex Wetmore's route through Watershed Park or taking NE 60th Street all the way to Lake Washington Blvd. Directions:

From the 520 trail behind RedWest, get on NE 60th St heading west.
The road ends, but continue straight on Bridlecrest Trail.
Just keep going due west, crossing 148th Ave NE, 140th Ave NE, 132nd Ave NE.
The trail ends at 132nd Ave NE, but just keep going west on NE 60th St.
The road ends at 116th Ave NE, but keep going straight across the pedestrian bridge over I-405. Take the spiral ramp and continue west on NE 60th St.
When the road ends just after 104th Ave NE, look for a little trail. Take it across the railroad tracks, and continue west on NE 60th St.
At Lakeview Dr, turn left (south). OPTIONAL: continue straight to Lake Washington Blvd NE and get some water in Houghton Park.
Take this as it merges into Lake Washington Blvd NE. Continue south.
At the light just before 520, turn right (west) on NE Points Dr.
Take this up the hill. This area can be very dark during winter nights, as there are few street lights.
There's a car blockade at the top of the hill, but pedestrians and bikes can get through easily.
Keep going straight to 92nd Ave NE. There, you can either take the stairs down to the Yarrow Point bus station, or else continue on the paved trail that follows 520 to get to the Evergreen Point bus station [map] to tack on an additional 1.2 miles.
OPTIONAL: if you go to the Evergreen Point station, you can add in a nice workout detour by heading north on Hunts Point Rd. The road is flat, smooth, shady, and great for intervals. Wave to SteveB if you see him coming home in his Range Rover.

Old Redmond Road [map]

When it is dark or wet, the Bridlecrest Trail route does not work well. When dark, is hard to see rocks and the like on the trail because the trail lacks artificial lighting that streets and sidewalks have. When wet, it is really muddy. This detour uses Old Redmond Road to avoid the trail sections, then hooks up with the NE 60th St on the above route at 132nd Ave. Directions:

From the 520 trail behind RedWest, get on NE 60th St heading west.
When the road ends, turn right (north) on 162nd Ave NE.
At the road end, turn left (west) at NE 68th St.
Immediately turn right (north) at 152nd Ave NE.
Turn left (west) on Old Redmond Road.
Stay on Old Redmond Road until a left turn at 132nd Ave NE.
At NE 60th St, turn right (west) and continue with the route directions above.

520 Trail [map]

This route basically parallels 520. It is an adequate route, although the 520 trail and Northup are not great places to run or bike: there's often a lot of vehicle exhaust, the scenery is pretty boring, and the traffic on Northup can be rough. There is, however, some real satisfaction to be had in running or biking past hundreds cars when 520 is backed up east of I-405. Directions:

Get on the 520 trail heading west.
Stay on the 520 trail until it ends at NE 24th St. Cross the street and turn left (west).
Follow NE 24th St down the hill, then turn right (west) on Northup Way. Parts of this section lack a sidewalk or decent shoulder, so be cautious.
At Lake Washington Blvd, continue straight onto NE Points Dr.
Follow the directions above from NE Points Dr to the 520 bus stops.

Summary

*Route*	*Distance*	*I take this route when I want to...*
Bridlecrest Trail	5.5 miles	...run in decent conditions.
Old Redmond Rd	6.2 miles	...avoid 520 when it is dark or wet.
520 Trail	6.2 miles	...do bike/bus, run home in the dark, or feel smug while running faster than the cars virtually parked on 520.

Bike Commuting Routes: Crossing Mercer Island

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:42:56 GMT

Although it may seem clear how to get across Mercer Island when crossing Lake Washington, there are actually a number of different options. It doesn't make too much of a difference which of these you take, except for doing "the Horseshoe" which is quite a bit longer.

Full Trail Route This is the simple and obvious way across Mercer Island. It is mostly on bike trails and sidewalks. While it is the shortest distance way across the island, I rarely take it because the alternatives are only a little longer, and I find the alternatives to be better riding.

My Default Route [map]

Usually I take this alternative because I find it to be a good balance of time/distance with good, high-speed riding. Directions:

Cross the I-90 bridge, stay on the trail and up the hill.
Cross W Mercer Way at the stop sign, continue on the hill past the tennis courts and the baseball diamond.
After going down hill, exit the trail to the left to turn on to SE 22nd St heading east.
Follow this around to 78th Ave SE and take a hard right (south). Watch for the gravel on the road.
Turn left (east) where forced onto SE 24th St.
Turn right (south) where forced onto 84th Ave SE.
You'll basically follow this road as it curves around, changes name a few times, all the way back to the I-90 trail to get onto the East Channel Bridge.

Trail Bypass [map]

If you want to stay on roads and off bike paths as much as possible, this is a good route. Most of the hard-core cyclists I know seem to prefer this route. It is a little longer than my default, but also a little less hilly. Directions:

Cross the I-90 bridge, staying on the trail up the hill.
At W Mercer St, go left (north).
Follow the road around as it turns left (east) into N Mercer Way.
At SE 22nd St, hook up with the route described above.

Hill Bypass [map]

If you're feeling especially lazy, you can use this route to flatten out the ride across Mercer Island. In exchange for that flattening, you'll have to deal with more sidewalks, stop signs, lights and bike trails. Directions:

Proceed as in "My Default Route" to the baseball diamond. Instead of following the trail left at the baseball diamond, go right (west) of the diamond.
Continue on this paved trail to the intersection at 76th Ave SE. Go left (north) over I-90.
Just after the freeway, turn right (east) on N Mercer Way.
Either stay on the default bike trail across the island, else go left (east) on SE 26th St then right (south) on 84th Ave SE to hook up with the above routes.

The Horseshoe [map]

This is not an efficient commuting route, but it is one of the best places near Seattle for hard bike training. The 11-mile detour has no stop signs, no stop lights, some moderate hills, and some cool twisties for practicing handling. You'll see lots of bike teams on this route in the mornings. It is a great place for intervals up to about twenty minutes. Directions:

Cross I-90 and up the hill on the path.
At W Mercer Way, turn right (south).
Follow this road all the way around the island. It is pretty obvious.
You'll meet back up with the trail just before the East Channel Bridge.

Summary

*Route*	*Distance*	*I ride this route when I want to...*
Full Trail	2.6 miles?	...well I don't ride this route.
Default	2.8 miles	...get across the island and don't have other things motivating me to do something different.
Trail bypass	3.0 miles	...ride hard and stay on roads.
Hill bypass	2.8 miles	...get across the island with minimum effort.
Horseshoe	11 miles	...train hard and with extra distance.

Bike Commuting Routes: Queen Anne to I-90

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:42:38 GMT

Since most of my bike commuting is across the I-90 bridge, I've become pretty knowledgeable about how to get between Queen Anne and the I-90 bridge. Here are the most common routes that I use.

Second Avenue [map]

This route is the winner in time and shortest distance, but it has the downside of going right through downtown Seattle. When I leave my house at 6AM, this means that I have to deal with a lot of traffic lights, but there isn't much traffic at that hour. Second Avenue is southbound only, and it has a decent bike lane on the left side. One issue with a left-side bike lane is that car drivers do not expect bikes there, so I have to be exceptionally vigilant about drivers turning in front of me. Because Second Avenue is southbound, I only do this route when going to I-90, never the other way around. Directions:

Go south on Second Avenue south of Denny Way.
Go through the city in the left-side bike lane. Be cautious.
Left (east) on S. Jackson St.
Go up the hill, then right (south) on 12th Ave S.
Left (east) on S. Dearborn St.
At the light on Rainier Ave, go straight.
At the first light after Rainier Ave, turn right (south) on Hiawatha Pl S.
Keep your eyes open a couple of blocks later for the I-90 trail entrance on the right side of the road.
Take the I-90 trail up the hill, through the bike tunnel, and to the bridge.

Lake Washington Blvd via Capitol Hill [map]

At over two and a half miles longer than taking Second Avenue, this route costs time and distance, but it is more pleasant riding. There are fewer stops, so it is also a better workout in most respects. This goes over the north part of Capitol Hill; if you want to trade extra distance for flatness, see the option below. Directions:

At the south end of Lake Union, get on Fairview Ave E heading north.
At the light, merge onto Eastlake Ave E heading north.
At the light at E Boston St., turn right (east) and hammer up the steep hill.
Turn left (north) at the light on Boylston Ave E.
At the light at E Roanoke St, turn right (east) and cross over I-5.
The road turns into Delmar Dr E, cruise down to where it turns into E Lynn St. OPTIONAL: go through Interlaken Park by turning right onto E Interlaken Blvd as the downhill starts. This adds time and distance, but is it a nice place to ride casually.
Turn right (southeast) onto Boyer Ave E.
Turn right (south) onto 24th Ave E.
Here's a key trick: IMMEDIATELY turn left (east) into what looks like some driveways. Go down the sidewalk and connect with 26th Ave E. Turn right (south).
Follow this road as it meanders on the west side of the Arboretum.
Cross E Madison St, then head east on E Republican St.
Turn right (south) at the stop sign on 32nd Ave E.
At the next stop sign, turn left (east) on E Harrison St.
Go up the hill, then turn right (south) on Lake Washington Blvd.
Enjoy the views.
Just before you hit Leschi, look for the signs to the I-90 trail. Turn right (southwest). If you see a Starbucks, you have gone too far--either turn around or proceed to I-90 and walk up the stairs to the bridge.
Follow this windy road up the hill. Turn right (west) at the one stop sign, then veer left. This road takes you to the bridge.

Lake Washington Blvd with Capitol Hill Bypass [map]

This is basically the same as the above route, except that you get to skip going over Capitol Hill at the expense of adding about a mile. If you're taking Lake Washington Blvd routes starting from a more northern location, you will likely go this way. Directions:

Head north on Eastlake Ave E.
Just before the University Bridge, turn right (southeast) on Furman Ave E.
This turns into Boyer, which you take to 24th Ave E and follow the above directions from there.

Lake Washington Blvd via the Arboretum [map]

For a couple of reasons, I only do this route when I am going home. First, Lake Washington Blvd through the Arboretum is fairly busy, and it has a decent uphill when heading south. Because of this hill I can pretty easily keep up with traffic when going north, but I have no chance of going 30MPH when going up the hill southbound. Next, because I live several hundred feet up Queen Anne hill, I like to have a warm-down instead of stopping at my house after a zone-4/5 climb. This route allows me to go up Queen Anne hill on the north side, then do a couple of easy miles on the top of the hill while I get to my place on the south slope. This route is more than two miles longer for me than the Capitol Hill route. Since I only go this way when going home, I'll provide directions in that direction:

From I-90, follow the route above in reverse direction to get onto Lake Washington Blvd. Follow Lake Washington Blvd across E Madison St and through the Arboretum. Have fun riding fast downhill through the Arboretum.
Turn left (west) at the north end of the Arboretum, and continue following the road.
The "Lake Washington Bike Loop" signs point you to turn right and cross 520 on a pedestrian bridge, but I prefer to go to 24th Ave E, turn right, then cross the Montlake Bridge.
At the first light after the bridge, turn left (west) on NE Pacific St.
Hook up with the Burke-Gilman Trail somewhere around here. It is to the right (north) of the road. There are lots of places to connect with it.
Follow the BG into Fremont, then get on N 34th St heading west. If it is a crowed time for the BG, I stay on the streets that parallel the BG.
At Fremont Ave N, turn left (south) to cross the Fremont Bridge. OPTIONAL: if the Fremont Bridge is up, consider turning right (north) here and using the Aurora Bridge. On three occasions, I have seen the Fremont Bridge get stuck open, causing long delays, and the Aurora Bridge saved me.
After the Fremont Bridge, take the first right (west) on W Florentia St.
That goes to 3rd Ave W. Turn left (south) and do the hill climb up QA.

Lake Washington Blvd via University Bridge [map]

This is another route I use only while going home. It is basically the combination of the "Lake Washington with Capitol Hill Bypass" route to get to the University Bridge, then use the Arboretum route above starting on the BG trail to get to 3rd Ave W to go up Queen Anne hill. Combine the directions described above to use this route.

Summary

*Route*	*Distance to I-90*	*I ride this route when I want to...*
2nd Avenue	5.0 miles	...get to work quickly.
Lk Washington via Capitol Hill	7.5 miles	...balance time with having a more pleasant ride.
Lk Washington via Interlaken Park	8.0 miles	...have a quiet, slower ride.
Lk Washington via Capitol Hill bypass	8.4 miles	...avoid climbing over Capitol Hill at the expense of riding more distance.
Lk Washington via Arboretum	11.5 miles	...have a good ride, a warm down, and ride fast through the Arboretum.
Lk Washington via University Bridge	11.6 miles	...have a warm down and a casual ride.

Bike Commuting Routes: I-90 to 520 Trail

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:41:39 GMT

When people with a little cycling experience hear that I often ride my bike to work, they commonly ask "how do you get from I-90 to Microsoft?" Since the shortest bike commutes from Seattle to Microsoft involve taking the I-90 bridge, this is key.

The obvious roads for this, like Bellevue Way, 148th Ave NE, etc., are terrible places to ride a bike: they lack a bike lane and impatient drivers do all sorts of things to express their annoyance at someone who has the nerve to bike there. Some militant cyclists tell me that they like to take those roads anyway, but I much prefer to avoid the confrontations and have a much more peaceful commute.

Fortunately, the roads network is sufficiently rich that there are several alternatives. Below are some of the ones I use. Note that this list is by no means comprehensive: there are many other alternatives! If you have a route from I-90 to RedWest that you think bests all of these, I'd love to hear about it.

A couple of notes on routes directions conventions:

I have tried to provide complete textual directions for each of the routes I list. In most cases, however, most of the steps will be obvious if you are at all familiar with the area. There are typically just one or two "key steps" in each route; I have put these key steps in bold so that you can just pay attention to those if you want to skip all the details.
In most cases, I will provide a link to a Live Local collection that shows the route. This is probably more useful than the textual directions in most cases. In a couple of cases, the routes have too many steps for Live Local to store the complete route, so some end a bit prematurely--but they hopefully have enough info for you to get the gist of the route. Check out the multiple views offered by Live Local, such as the 3D view and the hybrid view.

Wilburton Neighborhood [map]

Props to Dan Sommerfield for showing me this route. It is the least trafficked route I know of for this part of the commute, going through the quiet Wilburton neighborhood. It does have a few more hills and stop signs than other routes, but I'll take that in order to get the rarely used roads. The route is fairly complex, so you are likely to get lost the first couple of times you try it. Don't worry, the learning curve is worth it, and you will find your way reasonably quickly if you do get lost. Directions:

Take the bike path east channel bridge on I-90
Shortly after the end of the bridge, take a U-turn and follow the trail south back under I-90.
Continue on the trail through the Mercer Slough to 118th Ave NE.
Turn left (north) on 118th Ave NE. This is a pretty good road with a bike lane.
At SE 8th St, turn right (east).
Continue straight on SE 8th St under I-405 and across the Lake Hills Connector. The road becomes SE 7th St.
At the first stop sign, turn left (north) on 128th Ave SE. Go up the hill.
Turn right (east) on Main St.
Turn left (north) on 129th Ave NE.
Turn right (east) on NE 1st St.
Turn left (northeast) on 130th Ave NE.
Turn right (east) on NE 3rd St.
Turn left (north) on 131st Ave NE.
Turn right (east) on NE 8th St. This is a big, busy street, but you're on it for literally only a few yards.
Immediately turn left (north) on 132nd Ave NE. Cross Bel-Red Road.
Turn left (west) on NE 20th St. This is another big, busy road, but the distance is again short, and you take take the sidewalk if you want.
Turn right (north) on 130th Ave NE.
Just after going under 520, you'll see a left turn that takes you onto the 520 trail.

116th Ave NE [map]

This was my preferred route until Dan showed me how to get through the Wilburton neighborhood. There is more traffic hassle than the Wilburton route, especially on NE 8th St. This traffic tends to make me hammer hard on those streets so that I can keep up with the cars and keep myself safe. The combined effects of that harder riding and a slightly more direct route with fewer stop signs means that this route is usually a little faster than Wilburton. Directions:

Follow the directions above to get to SE 8th St heading east.
As you go under I-405, get into the left turn lane as if you were going to get on the I-405 north ramp.
Turn left (north), but don't go on the highway (duh). Instead, take the little paved bike path just before the highway ramp and go up the hill.
This path takes you to 116th Ave NE. Cross the street and head north. If you want, you can ride on the sidewalk for a bit and cross at a light.
At NE 8th St, turn right (east).
Here, you have the one serious challenge on this commute: you need to cross three lanes of sometimes fast-moving traffic to get into the left turn lane for NE 10th Place. Prepare for hammertime.
At Barrier Motors, turn left (north) onto NE 10th Pl.
Take the first left (north) onto 120th Ave NE.
Take 120th Ave NE until it ends at Northup Way--you'll see 520. Turn left (west).
Almost immediately, turn left (east) on NE 24th St.
Huff up the hill to the 520 trail entrance.

116th Ave NE with Traffic Bypass [map]

This is quite similar to the 116th Ave NE route, except that you get to skip most of the bad traffic spots in exchange for doing a hard hill climb and dealing with a potentially long traffic light on NE 8th St. I take this option when I am riding in peak commute hours. Directions:

Follow the directions above to the path up to 116th Ave NE heading north.
At the first light, turn right (east) on SE 1st St.
Shift to your shortest gear (you hopefully have something shorter than 39x23!) and pound up the steep hill across the railroad tracks.
The road becomes NE 1st St, then it veers left to become 120th Ave NE. Have fun turning the potential energy (altitude) you just gained into kinetic energy (speed).
Use the pedestrian crosswalk and the light to get across NE 8th St.
If it is not during business hours, you might cut through the Barrier Motors parking lot and turn right (east) on NE 10th Pl. If it is during business hours, be respectful and go around Barrier Motors via the sidewalks.
Proceed as above, turning left (north) onto 120th Ave NE.

Other Options

There are numerous other options that I occasionally try out. For me, I don't find any of them better for consistent usage than the above, but YMMV. I won't detail these, but I'm sure you can figure them out by spending a little time in Live Local and by trying them out. Bikely is a decent resource for finding bike routes in general.

164th Ave NE [map]. This may be better than my routes if you're going to Microsoft's main campus. For RedWest, it is somewhat longer and slower than the routes I use.
108th Ave NE. Just after the East Channel Bridge, head north on 108th Ave NE and work through Bellevue. This has lots of traffic.
Various routes through east Bellevue and Medina. These are nice if you want a bit of a scenic detour. There are various ways through the neighborhoods east of Bellevue, then you'll probably want 84th Ave NE through Medina, then over to Points Drive and Northup Way to connect with the 520 trail.

Summary

*Route*	*Distance*	*I ride this route when I want to...*
Wilburton	6.1 miles	...have a good, relatively traffic-free ride and don't mind the extra time.
116th Ave NE	5.9 miles	...go fast, either to get somewhere fast or for training.
116th w/bypass	6.0 miles	...climb a hill, or have an alternative from Wilburton when traffic is bad.

Lake Washington Bike Commuting: The Major Route Options

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:07:36 GMT

I live in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood, and I work at Microsoft's RedWest campus in Redmond. That means that, in order to bike to or from work, I have three major options: go north over the lake, take I-90 across the lake, or go south below the lake.

Here are my assessments of the routes. The ranges in distance and time result from minor route differences and variance in how hard I pedal.

Route	Time Range	Distance Range	Comments
North Lake	1:18 to 1:40	28 to 30 miles	Mostly, this is the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River trails. It is simple, flat and easy. It is unlikely that you will get lost on this route. Trail conditions in Lake Forest Park are very poor, but that will hopefully be addressed soon. There are lots of annoying stop signs and road crossings between UW and Woodinville. There's a annoying but rarely enforced speed limit of 15MPH in most places, and just 10MPH in some places (heck I run faster than that in hard workouts). This is a decent route at non-peak times, but I never do it on sunny afternoons or weekends: there are far too many unpredictable strollers, rollerbladers, training wheels, wheelsuckers, speed traps, etc. I have no problem with people using the trail like that, but collectively they slow things down considerably.
I-90	1:00 to 1:30	19 to 26 miles	This goes across the bike lanes on I-90 and across Mercer Island. This route is the shortest in distance and usually in time. There are some moderate hills, and careful route selection is essential to avoid bad traffic roads. This is my most common route.
South Lake	1:43 to 2:20	35 to 42 miles	Goes south, through Renton and below Lake Washington. The roads are mostly pretty good for cycling, and this is a great route when I want to go a little further and get in more of a workout. There are several "clean" sections where I can do short intervals of three to eight minutes. Lake Washington Blvd. between Seward Park and I-90 is especially good for hard, short intervals, although at ~3 miles not enough for longer intervals.

I take I-90 about 70% of the time, with the remaining 30% roughly split between the north and south routes.