2su

I'm moving from Chicago to Seattle in a few weeks. Plan to commute from North Seattle (North Park) to Everett... any recommendations on routes? I was thinking about Aurora Ave/99 for the bulk of the commute. I googled bike trails but it looked like a pain in the a$$...
What are your thoughts?

woodway

Welcome to Seattle. You'll like winter commuting here better than Chicago. Get used to riding hills, however

Where in Everett are you going to?

Seattle Forrest

That's a 30 mile commute each way. I would recommend thinking about putting your bike on the bus and taking I-5 part of the way.

Aurora is not appropriate for long distance cycling. People treat it as an alternate route for the freeway, drive too fast, and the street is known for its crime. You'll be leaving from north of the section with the prostitutes and hotels, but somewhat near the pawn shops and tow lots. Mainly, though, it's the people driving erratically, doing 50 to catch the next green that make it such an awful road to ride on.

This is a bit out of the way, but I'd consider taking Northgate to Lake City Way (which also can be hairy, but from here there are bus lanes you can have to yourself), and then 61st/Locust. This far north is where my knowledge ends, though.

Welcome to Seattle, though! I work about a mile away, and would be happy to buy you a coffee. They'll make you sign a contract at the city limits, promising that you'll drink a lot of the stuff...

Kojak

I wouldn't ride on Aurora even as a last resort. At the very least, it's an unpleasant road to drive on. From a cyclist standpoint, it's a nasty unforgiving stretch of strip malls (lots of driveways) and 40-50 mph traffic.

This would be a good place to start.

https://www.cbcef.org/bike-materials.html

I also have a friend who commutes to Boeing Everett everyday from Seattle, I'll ask him about his route. He's a bit mental, and may try some things that a normal person wouldn't, but I'll ask anyway. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and an extremely accomplished cyclist, but he's pretty much down for anything, and as confident as I am on my bike, I don't throw caution to the wind so easily.

justin70

I google mapped the ride from North Park to Everett myself (using the bike route option), and while it does look a bit confusing on the computer screen, my guess is that after you've ridden the route once it will be a piece of cake. I think google maps is slightly biased towards "bike routes" so you will probably find parallel arterials that are higher traffic but perfectly suitable and more direct.

I also recommend steering entirely clear of Aurora...Seattle is a bicycle friendly place, but not on that road.

CheeToS

You can have a free, gigantic Seattle bike map sent to you by filling out this form: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bikemapform.htm

Timothy

I commute from south of Seattle and never ride in those areas, but I do use these maps

https://www.kingcounty.gov/transporta...Bicycling.aspx
https://www.commtrans.org/FAQs/Bikes.cfm#BikeMaps

Hope it helps

Kojak

Here's a link that my friend sent me.

https://poplarware.com/biketrails/2007/interurban-wa/

As I suspected, he takes Aurora (Hwy. 99). He's also a Cat.1 road racer and can sustain 27-30mph without trying too hard. So, give it a try if you must, but I don't think I would.

destikon

I used to live in the neighborhood your talking about (Northgate) and I can't imagine riding to Everett. That's a long LONG ride in a car. Try looking into Mt. Lake Terrace if you want a descent community a little closer to Everett. Or even Edmonds.

2su

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

It'll be roughly 30 miles round trip... I currently due 15-20mi on my daily commutes, averaging ~25mph w/o much of a sweat on a single speed. I'm sure I can squeeze in another 10 miles w/o much more discomfort on a geared bike.

My biggest concerns are safety and hills. I'm used to traveling on flat, super congested streets with much slower traffic, don't know how I'd react with hills and cars buzzing me at 50mph.

Kojak

Sounds like the interurban trail is the way to go. My friend tells me that there are some points along the way that can be a bit confusing (not well marked) and you may want to scout it out before you are relying on it to get you efficiently from point A to B. The trail is a series of connected roads and trails that are bicycle friendly. I think that with Jennifer's map (the link that I attached) you could put together a cue sheet to take along. If you look at the profile, the trail ranges between 60 - 160 feet in altitude (the trail is on an old trolly line) so remarkably in a city of hills, this is as flat a ride as you will encounter in the Seattle area.

wunderkind

Google says you can get from North Park to Everett in 28mins.... 50mins with traffic. On the I5's speed limit. Better HTFU

Kojak

Google says that the 17.5 mile trip is 1hr 42min by bicycle. Mr. (or Ms.) Google needs to ride his/her bike a little more often.

Sounds like the OP is a fairly strong cyclist, and even taking into account navigating stop signs and lights, the ride shouldn't take more than an hour each way.... unless you want it to. Drop down into Edmonds and take the water route home. The water route is very hilly however and will be a grind on a single speed, I'd take the the shifty bike.

2su

Thanks again. I'll prob start with the interurban... do some weekend rides until I'm comfortable. Can't wait to live in Seattle and tackle the longer commute.... and miss the chicago winters.

Seattle Forrest

Seattle winters are nothing to remember fondly, either ... this is supposed to be a cold one we're coming into. Of course, two years ago there was snow on the ground for more than a day, and the city shut down, so by Chicago standards, it's not too bad.

Do you have a GPS that can be mounted to the handlebars?

wunderkind

Dr. Google doesn't use primitive contraption. Dr. Google hovers above the earth orbit. Little Googlets travel the globe to map out streets on rental Chevys. Nano-Googles scour the interweb to ibring it all together for us. Praise be to Google!!!


Does Seattle still have the Monorail? It's all very Simpsons to me.

Kojak

Yes, the monorail exists and is probably the very monorail that the Simpsons were lampooning. But, I like it because my son likes it, and that's enough for me. I'm also a bit nostalgic about it as I initially rode on it as a pipsqueak at the Worlds Fair.

I've heard the predictions about our impending miserable winter... and it may happen, but in most years there are maybe 3-5 days in the winter where it's just not that much fun to ride. Most years, you'll get wet, but if you have the right gear you'll almost never be really cold, especially compared to Chicago/Midwest winters.