After being unemployed for about a year, I found a good job on the East side near the Eastgate P&R. I live up near Shoreline.
What is a good route to get from the U-dist (or Fremont) side of the cut to the I-90 bridge ?
I care about safety and directness in that order. The times I've ridden, I have taken the University bridge and then cut SE on Boyer to Lake Washington Blvd. That is an okay route, but the bike I built for commuting when I worked in SLU is a little porky for taking the lane and riding at something approaching the speed limit. I'm probably going to switch to a road bike even if it means hauling shit on my back.
Any suggestions for alternate routes or is this my best bet ?
Thanks !
caustic meatloaf
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 12:38 pm
Joined: 06 Dec 2010Posts: 1235537Location: a hammy melange...
IMHO, what if you try going via the free 520 bus cross to yarrow point, and then ride along the shoreline to 90 and cut in there?
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gsbarnes
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:36 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
The problem with the Eastside route is downtown Bellevue. I dunno, maybe they've gotten better. Worth a shot.
Try Montlake Bridge to Lake Washington loop, but when they have you turn left just south of Madison, stay on MLK like, forever. Well, until the I 90 lid. I've never had trouble on MLK north of Rainier, but YMMV.
If that's too much for you, here's the low traffic, hug the contours route on the east side of Madrona. This requires practice to not miss the turns, particularly near Madrona Drive.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6935764&rf=1
Note the cut through just north of Yesler is through the playground at Leschi Elementary. You'll probably have to go around when school is in session.
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Protein Man
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:04 am
Joined: 15 May 2007Posts: 56Location: N. Seattle
caustic meatloaf wrote:
IMHO, what if you try going via the free 520 bus cross to yarrow point, and then ride along the shoreline to 90 and cut in there?
I don't want to depend on the timing of the bus and I do want to ride the whole way since I'm becoming a lard ass not commuting almost daily like I did when I worked in SLU.
LOL @ your avatar pic... I that the Bianchi frame I left on the back porch? Did you get the post out?
caustic meatloaf
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:06 am
Joined: 06 Dec 2010Posts: 1235537Location: a hammy melange...
Protein Man wrote:
caustic meatloaf wrote:
IMHO, what if you try going via the free 520 bus cross to yarrow point, and then ride along the shoreline to 90 and cut in there?
I don't want to depend on the timing of the bus and I do want to ride the whole way since I'm becoming a lard ass not commuting almost daily like I did when I worked in SLU.
LOL @ your avatar pic... I that the Bianchi frame I left on the back porch? Did you get the post out?
LOL, I couldn't get that post out, and I had it soack in PB Blaster for a week, and clamped the post in a bench vise while torquing the frame with a prybar. Ended up ripping the expose piece of post off the rest that's still in the frame.
Gave it away to Jeff, and he sold it I think for $10.
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tictoc
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:05 pm
Joined: 08 Jul 2009Posts: 765Location: Right here, Right Now!
Greg's gmap route is probably the smartest, but alot of route finding.
MLK south of Madison to Union is a solid climb and can be hairy during commuting hours- no shoulder. But once you get south of Union the road gets wider.
My preference would be to climb up through Interlaken, then take 19th (and some turns) to the I-90 lid.
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Protein Man
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:57 am
Joined: 15 May 2007Posts: 56Location: N. Seattle
Thank you all.
I will work on memorizing that gmail route and give it a try.
Alex
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:22 am
Joined: 18 May 2006Posts: 3128Location: Roosevelt
I like the official bike route, but sometimes do Greg's MLK shortcut when I'm feeling lazy.
I just started working in downtown Bellevue and live near the U District. I find the 271 to be a pretty awesome bus. It comes so often that I don't need to think about the schedule, and it gets me to work in a timely manner. I bus in and ride home (usually bussing across 520).
ride bikes
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 12:59 pm
Joined: 12 Oct 2012Posts: 1493Location: Pundercover
Chipping in my 2 cents since I live in Fremont but work in Redmond (and while I rarely ride all the way to work and just bus from Montlake in the morning, I often ride all the way home via I-90).
Basically follow the Lk. Wash. Loop route from the Montlake bridge south to Madison - it's well-signed and avoids the madness that is Lk. Wash. Blvd. during rush hour. Hang the left onto Harrison and then either follow Barnes' suggested route or drop back down to Leschi via Lk. Wash. Blvd (there's a sneaky route from Harrison & 37th that angles down E John and cuts through Viretta Park if you want to avoid the stop sign @ 39th & Lk. Wash. Blvd. as well as the tiny uphill after Denny-Blaine Park - not any faster though).
After you pass Madrona Park & the T-Dock, you have 2 choices to get to I-90: turn right on Lk. Wash. Blvd. and climb up to Frink Park and follow it to the turn-off for the I-90 trail or continue on Lakeside and ride up through Coleman Park to the same turn-off (I prefer the latter because the climbing is more gradual, there's usually free ice tea / lemonade in the open grassy area on the first "switchback" and you don't have to worry about getting leveled by someone hauling ass down Frink Pl where it intersects Lk. Wash. Blvd. on a blind corner).
Once you're on the I-90 trail it's straightforward, just follow it all the way across Mercer Island, under I-90 after crossing the East Channel Bridge and through the Mercer Slough. When the trail intersects with 118th Ave SE, hang a right and follow it just beneath the freeway to the crosswalk where you'll make a left at the marked crosswalk and continue following it to the EB offramp for Richards Road. Here, go due east onto SE 36th St, grind the hill up to the overpass @ 142nd Pl SE which crosses I-90 and dumps you out at the Eastgate P&R.
On the return trip, you might find it faster to bomb down Eastgate Way on the north side of I-90 from the P&R to Richards Road then hang a left and get on the trail beneath I-90 (it then crosses the same EB offramp and continues back towards MI as before). Depending on where you live in Shoreline, it may make more sense to ride through the pedestrian tunnel and down to the ID via Prefontaine -> Dearborn (right past the Bikery) and north from there via 2nd/4th, Dexter/Westlake, Fremont/Stone.
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ksep
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 11:10 am
Joined: 27 Jan 2007Posts: 1879Location: Westlake
ride bikes wrote:
After you pass Madrona Park & the T-Dock, you have 2 3 choices to get to I-90:
Also these stairs with a runnel you can push your bike up.
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gsbarnes
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:21 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
If you're gonna drop down to LWB, I always just take a short steep route at the last minute. Parkland Pl or Dearborn. 2 blocks uphill max, then you're home free.
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