Joined: 12 Jan 2006Posts: 475Location: U-district/Ravenna
I'm just probing our waters to see if any of you happen to know a good, mostly safe route to Monroe from Seattle. I don't mind taking the Burke up to Woodinville, so possibly a route from there. My gramps lives up there and he just bought his first bike in over 6 decades (all messengers pay homage as necessary) and I'm thinking that I should start riding with him as soon as I recover.
Anyone know the routes through Snohomish County?
derrickito
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:52 am
now with 50 percent more EVILJoined: 22 Jul 2005Posts: 10566
Alastair wrote:
(all messengers pay homage as necessary)
hilarious!
as for a route through woodinville, the most direct (although on a busy highway).. would be to hop onto 522 after it stops being a freeway and turns into a 2 lane highway. that road goes straight to monroe. it's a little bit of a busy crazy highway up over the hill out of woodinville. mapquest a little town called "Maltby" right north east of woodinville on 522. if you can hop on 522 in maltby, it should be easy going from there, although a bit high speed scary
im sure there are other better routes, but that is one of em
Alastair
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:00 pm
Joined: 12 Jan 2006Posts: 475Location: U-district/Ravenna
522 is undergoing a lot of construction as they attempt to widen it. All the way from Woodinville to Monroe the speed (assuming there's low traffic, which is not always the case) is around 60 all the way in. With the construction there's no shoulders or room for cyclists. I'm more looking for back/country roads that'll get me there. Riding highway works, but it's a lot like riding Aurora for miles by yourself. Not a lot of fun or safety.
martin
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:49 pm
Joined: 30 Jan 2006Posts: 712
Alastair wrote:
522 is undergoing a lot of construction as they attempt to widen it. All the way from Woodinville to Monroe the speed (assuming there's low traffic, which is not always the case) is around 60 all the way in. With the construction there's no shoulders or room for cyclists. I'm more looking for back/country roads that'll get me there. Riding highway works, but it's a lot like riding Aurora for miles by yourself. Not a lot of fun or safety.
I can do it in my sleep...but can't tell you the roads.
From the trail, cut up into Bothell and head right until you get to Beardsly. Take that across the freeway and a left before you go up the hill (at a light - Seattle Times building on your right). Take that North a bit until the T and take a Left. Take a right at the next Stop sign (Korean Church). Follow that up the hill to the light, take a right and your immediate left at the next left. That road jogs a ways north to Seattle hill.
Oh hell - let me get on wayfaring.com. It's a great ride - no major traffic and no killer hills. It's about 40 or so miles to Monroe. Maybe a little more.
MikeOD
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:49 pm
Joined: 04 Feb 2006Posts: 545
Diane and I rode to Lake Roesiger via Marymoor and Monroe yesterday. Some of the roads had no shoulder and more traffic than I would have liked (well, I'd like zero), but this route was pretty good:
- From the east side of Marymoor, 176th ave north.
- Right at 70th
- cross 202, go through gravel lot
- Left on 180th
- Left on NE Union Hill Rd (wide shoulder)
- Right on Avondale (bike lane)
- Right on Novelty Hill Rd (long climb w/decent shoulder heading up if I remember correctly. Heading down is steep, twisty, shady with little or no shoulder, a guard rail on the right guarding a dropoff into the forest, and moderate to heavy traffic. The pavement is good though, so a confident, aggressive (and crazy) rider with gears and good brakes could probably take the lane and keep pace with traffic. We took it slow on the side and it was a bit nerve wracking being passed so much.)
- Left on Snoqualmie Valley Rd (popular bike route it seems, nice scenery, low to moderate traffic, no shoulder)
- Right on Crescent Lake Road (bridge crosses the Snoqualmie river, nice country road, flower and blackberry farms)
- Left onto 203 into Monroe (wide shoulder)
One option to consider is taking Union Hill Rd instead of Novelty Hill Rd. Except for a short section, the King County bike map says Union Hill has less traffic, but I haven't ridden it.
Or if you want to head north from Bothel to Snohomish and then down to Monroe I can give you a route for that - we came home that way.
Snohomish County bike map: 425/353-RIDE
joeball
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:57 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
Jace has a job now but if anyone else has the time to gmap pedometer these routes i'd be much obliged.
martin
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:03 pm
Joined: 30 Jan 2006Posts: 712
joeball wrote:
Jace has a job now but if anyone else has the time to gmap pedometer these routes i'd be much obliged.
That's the way we go. It's ~50k so not too far. Safe roads with plenty of shoudler. There's a couple stretches with pickup trucks...but that's about it.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Monroe
Going up Union or Novelty is some climbing. There's an easier way to go the Carnation valley route by going up Hollywood, down to Avondale, left, then right and up the back side of Trilogy before dropping out on top of Novelty.
martin
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:04 pm
Joined: 30 Jan 2006Posts: 712
martin wrote:
joeball wrote:
Jace has a job now but if anyone else has the time to gmap pedometer these routes i'd be much obliged.
That's the way we go. It's ~50k so not too far. Safe roads with plenty of shoudler. There's a couple stretches with pickup trucks...but that's about it.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Monroe
Going up Union or Novelty is some climbing. There's an easier way to go the Carnation valley route by going up Hollywood, down to Avondale, left, then right and up the back side of Trilogy before dropping out on top of Novelty.
Oh - and if it's AT ALL wet - be REALLY careful coming down that squirrely bit down Seattle Hill. People tend to eat shit there a lot an end up in the blackberry bushes.
Alastair
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:51 pm
Joined: 12 Jan 2006Posts: 475Location: U-district/Ravenna
Hills I don't mind, these both sound like decent routes, as long as I'm avoiding the major highways for the most part. As soon as I'm healed, I'll probably be doing this around once a month.
gsbarnes
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:47 am
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
martin wrote:
That's the way we go. It's ~50k so not too far. Safe roads with plenty of shoudler. There's a couple stretches with pickup trucks...but that's about it.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Monroe
I took a Cascade ride to Snohomish in June, and this is pretty much exactly the route they took (as far as Snohomish, of course). Well, the weather was so good they turned left at the Snohomish River and added a side trip to the Lowell neighborhood in Everett, but other than that, exactly the same. Safe all the way, shoulders where you need it. A great ride.
We returned via Broadway out of Snohomish (a long steady climb), into Maltby, and then followed 522 for the most part, without getting on the actual highway. So I guess that's a third possible route. See it here, from Snohomish to Wilmot Gateway Park, which is on the Sammamish River Trail: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=366719. It gets a little hairy near Maltby where you take 524 for a fraction of a mile, but otherwise okay for a change. There's probably an extra unnecessary hill near the Woodinville-Duvall Road, which makes the Seattle Hill route better. Since Monroe is on the other side of the Snohomish River, I assume you can't avoid the hillclimb out of the Snohomish River Valley.
martin
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:54 am
Joined: 30 Jan 2006Posts: 712
gsbarnes wrote:
I took a Cascade ride to Snohomish in June, and this is pretty much exactly the route they took (as far as Snohomish, of course). Well, the weather was so good they turned left at the Snohomish River and added a side trip to the Lowell neighborhood in Everett, but other than that, exactly the same. Safe all the way, shoulders where you need it. A great ride.
We returned via Broadway out of Snohomish (a long steady climb), into Maltby, and then followed 522 for the most part, without getting on the actual highway. So I guess that's a third possible route. See it here, from Snohomish to Wilmot Gateway Park, which is on the Sammamish River Trail: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=366719. It gets a little hairy near Maltby where you take 524 for a fraction of a mile, but otherwise okay for a change. There's probably an extra unnecessary hill near the Woodinville-Duvall Road, which makes the Seattle Hill route better. Since Monroe is on the other side of the Snohomish River, I assume you can't avoid the hillclimb out of the Snohomish River Valley.
We do the Lowell bit as well (turning 2 lefts after coming down Seattle Hill). A nice diversion along the side of the valley. Coming back there's a number of ways - we usually come back up by that golf coarse and dump out by Malty before rolling down across the freeway and take the frontage road back into woodinville.
If .83ers want to do a 80 mile weekend ride I'd be down - it's probably one of my favorite rides when it's sunny.
langston
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:07 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
martin wrote:
If .83ers want to do a 80 mile weekend ride I'd be down - it's probably one of my favorite rides when it's sunny.
This is one of my favorite areas to ride as well. I'm an Everett/Mukilteo kid and spent many a day riding out in the Snohomish river valley. It will have to be in Septmeber before I get a free weekend to go riding like this but I'm definatly down.
SeditiousCanary
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:13 am
sorry, can't make it!Joined: 26 Jan 2006Posts: 2315Location: Fremont Troll
martin wrote:
If .83ers want to do a 80 mile weekend ride I'd be down - it's probably one of my favorite rides when it's sunny.
I'm in too. I'd love it if the wife came too, but this distance is on the high side for me and probably more than she could do without some practice.
langston
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:23 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 5547Location: Columbia City
SeditiousCanary wrote:
martin wrote:
If .83ers want to do a 80 mile weekend ride I'd be down - it's probably one of my favorite rides when it's sunny.
I'm in too. I'd love it if the wife came too, but this distance is on the high side for me and probably more than she could do without some practice.
It's really easy to commute up there on a bus (two to a bus) shaving off a significant amount of mileage if you just want to go on a river cruise.
gsbarnes
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:28 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
SeditiousCanary wrote:
martin wrote:
If .83ers want to do a 80 mile weekend ride I'd be down - it's probably one of my favorite rides when it's sunny.
I'm in too. I'd love it if the wife came too, but this distance is on the high side for me and probably more than she could do without some practice.
When I did it, I rode about 60 miles from my house in Wedgwood to Snohomish and back, with the Lowell loop. I guess with Monroe added on you might get up to 80, but I think there are a lot of options to make it around 40 or even less. It was advertised as 40-45 miles from Tracy Owen (Logboom) park to Snohomish without the Lowell loop, and you can always just hang out in Snohomish at a nice cafe while everyone else does some extra miles.
Anyway, I'm up for a weekend ride, and I'm guessing my wife would be, too, once she finishes the Danskin triathlon this Sunday. We've got 2 kids, though, so standard 'if our schedule allow it' caveats apply. We'd have to get a babysitter; I can pull one of the kids up the hills, but I'm not going to make my wife do it.
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