Ride & Conquer NE Seattle hills! 🚵 (with an optional visit to a holiday lights display) (Moderate)

Let's meet at Matthews Beach Park in front of the bathhouse (exact location is in the "Ride Details" section at the top of this page). Be there, ready to go at the time listed above. We will start with a required safety briefing, and roll out when that's done. All riders must attend the safety briefing to participate.

Let's get some additional elevation in for the year by climbing some epic hills in NE Seattle while enjoying views of Lake Washington. We will also visit some hidden gems of NE Seattle along the way and finish the ride by completing a loop around Laurelhurst.

If there's interest, we can also extend the ride after that to visit a holiday lights display (location will be secret for now, but we will ride together and see if we can find some interesting things on the way😉).

Please note this is a one-way ride, but several options exist to get you back to the start. More details further below.

Getting to the Start 🎯

• Driving: The park is located about a mile north of Magnuson Park and the Cascade Bicycle Club headquarters along Sand Point Way NE. There is a parking lot.
• Bike access: The park's located right besides the Burke-Gilman Trail.
• Transit: King Country Metro #75 buses run every 10-15 minutes along Sand Point Way NE. The park is a 5 minute walk from the bus stop.

Restrooms are available at the start and at the food stop at mile 16.

Ride Details 🏙️

Route:

We start by climbing out of Matthews Park into the neighborhood of Wedgwood. Then we will ride down to the Burke-Gilman trail to prepare to climb the three major streets opposite Magnuson Park that go up to the neighborhood of View Ridge (NE 75th, 70th and 65th streets). We will also check out the Wedgwood Rock/Erratic and Green Lake Reservoir while conquering some smaller hills along the way. If the day is sufficiently clear, we will take some time to enjoy views of Lake Washington at the top of hills.

After climbing (most of) 65th street, we will stop at PCC Community Markets for a quick food / restroom stop at mile 16 and then end the ride by looping around Laurelhurst.

The ride will finish just outside Laurelhurst at the Center for Urban Horticulture. If there's interest, we can continue the ride to check out some holiday lights display. If you like some suspense, the Ride Leader can keep the location a secret. But feel free to ask the RL before or during the ride if the location and/or RWGPS link is needed beforehand.

For those who would like to get back to the start after finishing Laurelhurst, there are two options:

1. Ride back: The Burke-Gilman trail is less than half a mile away. The trail will take you back to Matthews Beach Park (distance is 3.5 miles).
2. Take the bus: The aforementioned bus #75 passes close by and runs every 12 minutes at the time when we will finish the ride. It's a 12 minute bus ride to the park. If you are not accustomed to taking transit, check the "Links" section on the right side of this listing for helpful resources, or feel free to ask the Ride Leader any questions before / on the day of the ride. The 1-Line light rail also has a stop close by at the University of Washington (and several other buses) if you don't need to go back to the start.

For those who would like to check out the holiday lights display, there are also the same two options:

1. Ride: We can ride another 7 miles to get to the location. It's a climb but more gradual than anything we would have done so far.
2. Take the bus: For those who are done with the climbs but would still like to check out the display, they can choose to catch bus #75. It takes a bit of an indirect route, so it would reach the location right around the time that people on the bikes would be reaching.

We will spend around 30 minutes checking out the display. The Ride Leader will officially be done with riding for the day after this and will be catching bus #40/44 to get back home. But he will be happy to take transit with you back to the start point if you would like some guidance (or show you the options to either bike/transit back on your own).

Pace: We will keep within the posted pace range (14-16 mph) on the flats. While we will climb and descend hills at our own pace, and we will regroup frequently, please note that this is a hilly ride so it likely requires more effort than the average "moderate" ride. We'll also limit our speed on any multi-use paths to the legal maximum (usually 15 MPH, occasionally 10 MPH).

Safety 🦺

Bring a spare tube and tools to fix a flat, just in case. Other things to bring: phone; ID; cash and/or credit card; ORCA card; water and a small snack. Please have full fenders if the roads are wet, or you may be asked to ride at the rear of the group.

A working white headlight and red rear tail light (steady mode preferred) are required to participate. The last portion of the ride in Laurelhurst will likely be in relatively dark conditions.

Note: If weather conditions meet the weather cancellation criterion listed in the Weather Status 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. Due to the nature of the ride, it might be canceled even if it rained only earlier in the day.

We hope you can join us!