Queen Anne/Magnolia/Discovery Hills (Moderate)

Let's ride a 21.3-mile route from Gas Works Park at a Moderate pace (14-16 mph average)! 

This loop will go up and down Magnolia and Queen Anne hills, and include the bonus challenge of the light house hill in Discovery Park. From Gasworks, we'll cross the Fremont Bridge and head south along the west side of Lake Union, then climb up Taylor Street on the east side of Queen Anne. After traversing the top of the hill, we’ll drop down to the waterfront and head north past the train yards, then cut back to the southwest up Gilman. The route goes along that west edge of Magnolia before dropping into Discovery Park. Dropping is what we’ll do more off when we go down to the lighthouse. The climb back up is a good challenge, and we'll regroup at the top to catch our breath, then wind back out of the park and make our way back to Gasworks via the canal trail.

Let's meet at the middle of the Gas Works parking lot area. Portable toilets available at the start. Please be ready to ride at 9:30 a.m. We will start with a required safety briefing, and roll out when that's done. All riders must attend the safety briefing to participate. And don't forget—helmets are required!

We will climb and descend hills at our own pace, but regroup at the tops and bottoms of hills. Additional restrooms are also available along the waterfront at mile 7.9 and in the park at mile 13.3 if we need them.

Pace: Riders should be able to sustain the appropriate pace which is 14-16 on the flats with no wind (except when we are on bike trails when we will adhere to the 15 mph maximum). This may mean faster than 16mph going downhill or on the flats with a tail wind, and slower going uphill or into a head wind. If maintaining the pace is difficult for a rider, we will do our best to accommodate, but in an extreme case, the rider may have to continue the ride on their own.

Mechanicals issues: Riders should know how to change a flat, or deal with other minor mechanical issues and carry appropriate tools. Riders must have a backup plan if roadside repairs are not sufficient. Riders should have a charged cell phone to call for a pick-up or other means to find their way home. 

Navigation and Cue Sheets: It's important to have navigation in event of separation due to flats or other situations. Please download the route file onto your phone or GPS device for navigation, or you can print out and bring a cue sheet.  Cue sheets are not available at the start.

Bring a spare tube and tools to fix a flat, just in case. And it's that time of year again—please have full fenders if the roads are wet, or you may be asked to ride at the rear of the group.

Note: If weather conditions meet the weather cancellation criterion listed above or if there are unforeseen hazardous riding conditions or other unexpected events, the Ride Leader will cancel the ride and all registered riders will be sent a notification email. If the ride is cancelled at least two hours before the start, Ride Leader(s) will not be at the start location. Please check before leaving for the ride. Hope to see you there!