This week 00751 Bremerton-Elma-Rainier-Seattle was reactivated after being rerouted in Puyallup for the closed Milwaukee Ave bridge.
A new route by Mark Thomas was added, 04119 Mann Up, 201 km, based on the recent Spring 200k brevet.
The North Cascades Highway is fully plowed. This looks like the weekend this year to bike the passes before the road is opened to cars. WSDOT post. Apologies for not having 857 Marblemount-Mazama-Marblemount ready to ride…there’s always next year!
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01306 Maltby-Granite Falls, 103 km, was added thanks to Jeff Loomis’ work.
Mark Thomas created a new route, 04104 End of Mann, 110 km.
Another new route, 04106 Tulip Tangle, 200 km, was also approved. Enjoy wandering about the Skagit tulip fields while wondering whether your gps is keeping you on route.
Factoria bike flyover and new SE 36th bike trail
The news about cycling on SE 36th east of the bike flyover is not good. At the east end of the new trail you must turn onto SE 36th to continue east. Due to construction of the rest of the trail, the road has been narrowed, eliminating the old bike lanes. A better alternative is to detour to SE Eastgate Way on the north side of I-90. After the new bike flyover, take the spur down to the traffic light, loop under I-90 on the sidewalk alongside Richards Rd, then turn east on SE Eastgate Way. These maps show options if you are headed east, or north/northeast. They are linked on the SIR RwGPS Library home page.
Online maps of the bike flyover and new trail are in flux. Last week I reported that in RwGPS, the new trail was plotted on the RWGPS map. Then the trail disappeared from the map. Now it is back. The trail is also plotted on the OSM map. (But not the OSM Cycle map.) The flyover and trail are not routable on either map at present.
West Seattle News
Starting Saturday April 10, the Spokane St Bridge aka Lower Bridge will be open on weekends to all traffic until 8 AM in the morning. Provided half of West Seattle is not enticed to drive to Snoqualmie Falls for breakfast mimosas, this should help West Seattle randos drive to far-flung morning starts. SDOT Blog (scroll down).
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Mark, Greg, Rose and Jan pre-rode the Spring 200K last week. Here is Mark’s ride report. Enjoy!
The SIR Spring 200k route, The End of Mann, offers a scenic and relatively gentle reintroduction to brevets after our extended pandemic hiatus. With only 1430m (4700ft) of climbing, the route is less hilly than most brevets, but features some really nice scenery.
The first quarter of the route has the substantial climb from Woodinville up to Maltby, but is otherwise quite gentle, with roughly half on gentle multiuse trails (Sammamish River Trail and Centennial Trail).
The climb rewards with some nice views of the hills and mountains to the north and east, including Mount Baker in the distance.
After leaving the trail, a short section of busy road leads to some really nice quiet riding west of Granite Falls, including a pretty stretch along the Stillaguamish River.
The town of Granite Falls, about 1/3 of the way through the ride, offers a few options for refueling, including a couple of gas station convenience stores and coffee stands. (Please wear a mask). River, lake, and mountain views dot the nice rural riding from Granite Falls to Sultan via Lake Roesiger.
Don’t forget to say hi to the locals.
The halfway point of the ride, Sultan offers the last services opportunity for 55km. A convenience store on the left just before you reach US-2 provides an opportunity for ice cream bars on the curb in classic randonneur style.
Please note that the least stressful way through Sultan is to stay on the north side of US-2, using sidewalk (and a bit of shoulder) to reach the pedestrian bridge across the Sultan River. That lovely new bike/pedestrian facility avoids the very bicycle-unfriendly US-2 bridge. After Sultan, the route crosses the Skykomish River and heads out to the end of the pavement on Mann Road, where some overly friendly SIR volunteers will be stationed. The quiet stretch out Mann Road has some nice views of the Cascades foothills and a few curious cycling fans.
After the control, Mann and Ben Howard roads take you over to the Snoqualmie Valley with just a few short, but leg-busting climbs to keep you focused. SIR-familiar farming roads in the valley bring you to Carnation.
If you are comfortable going into a coffee shop, I highly recommend patronizing Sandy’s Espresso on the left at Commercial Street. Sandy and her friendly staff are long-time supporters of SIR rides and the nicest folks in town. The shop has nice (newly expanded!) outdoor seating allowing comfortable distancing.
A quiet flat stretch along the river with views of Mount Si leads to the route’s last significant climbing stretch from the Snoqualmie Valley near Fall City up to the Sammamish Plateau. I won’t lie, Issaquah-Fall City Road hurt me. But soon enough, the route descends to Lake Sammamish and Marymoor Park for a flat finish up the Sammamish River Trail. Please take the trail section slowly and respect the slower users out having fun.
Really hope to see many of you out there. And maybe to share a beer in the large, distancing-friendly outdoor garden of Good Brewing near the finish.
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If you have not yet registered for Seattle Randonneurs “End of Mann” 200km brevet on April 10, there’s still time. And you don’t want to miss it.
A group of us pre-rode the brevet course last weekend, and we all think you’ll enjoy this ride. It follows a generally clockwise loop north from Woodinville to Granite Falls and then back south towards Sultan and Fall City before coming back to the start.
Taking in some familiar roads along with a few that we have not ridden in several years, the course passes by rivers, lakes, horse farms, and valleys with mountain views, as well as through a few small towns so that you can replenish your supplies along the way. Keep your eyes open for eagles, llamas, horses, cows, ducks. You might even see a long-horned steer if you are lucky. Because this is our first brevet in a long time, it’s not too hilly (although it would not be a brevet without a few bumps here and there.)
Almost all of the course follows quiet roads or trails. There is one stretch of busy road after leaving the Centennial Trail along 84th Street NE for 3 miles. The road has a wide shoulder, but please be very careful at the end of this stretch when turning left across the road onto 147th Avenue NE due to oncoming traffic. Your reward after this stretch is one of the most beautiful parts of the course.
Here are a couple of reminders/suggestions for the ride:
Finally, please observe good social distancing behavior: Wear a mask at the start, finish and all controls, and don’t congregate closely; keep some distance from other riders on the road; bring some hand sanitizer; be self-supporting to the extent you can.
Bonne route!
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Jeff Loomis put 02249 Rome to Blaine and Back, 100 km, back in commission.
A couple of new routes are in the works. Hopefully I can announce them next week.
In other news:
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Anthony Medina designed a new route in the vicinity of Poulsbo: 04086 Missiles, Torpedoes, and Vikings, 103 km.
At Anthony’s suggestion a control was added to 00998 Whidbey Coast at the Keystone ferry terminal to provide a convenient start for west Sounders.
The east end of the Cedar River Trail is closed until May 10.
Trail Alert: Cedar River Trail closed south of Dorre Don Natural Area (govdelivery.com)
Affected routes include 00401 Leschi-Auburn-Leschi and Southern Exposure and 01076 Southern Exposure. It is straightforward to detour on SE 248th St, work through the subdivision, to Maple Valley Highway and get back on the trail in Maple Valley.
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Mark Thomas created a new route, 04078 Snakebit, 208 km. Escape from the urban eastside to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Rattlesnake Lake.
Ronald Long joined Baked Goods 100 and Centennial Trail 100 to create – can you guess – 04073 Baked Goods and Centennial Trail, 201 km. This is a low elevation route good for winter riding. Fans of Snohomish Bakery take note: it visits the bakery three times!
Route 03788 Preston Trail Mix, 100 km, was reactivated.
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Graham Ross updated 01124 Portland-Olympia, 200 km. Since this is a popular route, I am working on having the Olympia-Portland version created as a new route.
Jeff Loomis updated two routes:
Pining for summer? Here are routes you can dream about:
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Four routes were added this week:
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This week #02176 Eastside Loops, 101 km, was added.
#04037 Alki-Auburn Flat Cruise got a slight remapping for the new alignment of Frager Rd. Thanks to Jeff Loomis for noticing this problem.
Green Valley Road will be fully closed several weekdays in February, March, and April for repairs to the Patton Bridge. When open, the bridge will be restricted to one lane. There may be unanticipated closures. For full details and current status see the project website. Routes affected include:
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