Seven Hills of Kirkland

The Seven Hills of Kirkland has become an annual ride every Memorial Day. In talking with other cyclists, this is either an "I love it" or "I hate it" kind of ride. The short route covers 40 miles and seven hills in and around Kirkland. The metric century is 58 miles and adds about 4 more hills. The full century (100 miles) extends out to Carnation, Duvall, and Monroe and adds even more hillwork. Although I usually take on the century, this year I chose to ride the metric century with riding partners Jay, Jim, and David.

We started out around 8 a.m. and made quick work of the first set of hills around Juanita, Kenmore and Bothell. The weather was cloudy and cool. I called it Goldilocks weather... just right. Our first rest stop was around 20 or so miles at an LDS church in Kirkland. We stopped very briefly there before taking on the challenging Winery Hill.

Winery Hill is notable for the Scottish bagpiper at the top of the climb playing encouraging notes to beckon the cyclists onward. As we reached the top of the hill, the rain began. Fortunately it was brief.

We stopped a bit longer at the LDS church and partook of the best chocolate chip cookies we've had. Then it was time to head east toward Redmond and off the shorter 7 Hills route for the longer metric century. The rain began again and I pulled over to don my bright yellow jacket. The jacket didn't stay on for long as once we reached the top of Novelty Hill, I was warm enough and the rain had stopped again. There are days like that as a cyclist... clothes on, clothes off.

At Union Hill, we reached the fork in the road. Century riders turned left and Metric Century riders turned right. I was actually glad to turn right. I knew I'd be home and in the shower before the 100 mile riders even reached the finish line!

Our final rest stop was at an Episcopal church in Redmond. This gave us one more chance to refuel with moist chocolate brownies and to refill our water bottles. Then we were off to rejoin the 7 Hills route and make our last climb of the day.

As we reached the Bridle Trails neighborhood, we were now in the last 6 miles of the ride--and it was all downhill! Returning to Kirkland, we rode under the 7 Hills of Kirkland banner, and turned into the Kirkland Marina to be greeted by the best strawberry shortcake, hot coffee, and a place to sit and rest before heading back to the car. I looked at my watch. Yep, if I was on the 100 mile route, not only would I still be riding, but I'd be out there for at least two more hours. I wasn't complaining about my early finish... not at all. Think I'll take another bite of shortcake!

Riders: Jim, David, Jay, Bob
Dist: 58.8
Time: 4:24
Avg: 13.3
Max: 39.3

Phantom Lake: Don't Forget Your Cycling Shoes

Our Saturday morning ride began with our group of cyclists disrobing. Well, not entirely. But, as the sun climbed higher the temperature in the parking lot got warmer. And together we realized that the extra jacket, or tights, or arm warmers weren't needed today! It was a moment of rejoicing since so many of our Spring riding days thus far had felt like winter. Jim, David, Kurt, and I had gathered when Gary pulled up ready to ride. This was only his third ride since having knee surgery. We were glad to have him back.

As we prepared to ride, Kurt came over to our group to say we'll be riding without him. He had left his cycling shoes at home. The leather moccasins he was wearing weren't gonna work by any stretch. I encouraged him to get his shoes and meet up with us in Bellevue. Our route would take us south through Kirkland and down 140th through Bellevue to Phantom Lake near the Eastgate area of southeast Bellevue.

After our devotions and prayer, we hit the road. Today was going to be a shorter ride since Monday, Memorial Day, was the 7 Hills of Kirkland ride and is a ride that's loaded with climbing and around 60 miles. This also motivated me to try a new route through Kirkland since we'd be riding along our usual Market Street route on Monday. From Juanita, We took 116th east to 405, rode under 405 and turned south on 124th. And from there, I discovered my new favorite road--80th. This quiet, tree-lined avenue parallels the busy 85th just to its south. On this beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, this was a wonderfully breezy slight descent. We turned right onto 140th which would take us all the way into Bellevue. The sun streamed through the treetops as we rode in and out of the shade.

Around NE 24th, I got a phone call from Kurt. He now had his cycling shoes and was going to try to catch up with us. After a few more minutes of riding, he called again. He had rode in the opposite direction, away from us. Realized he wasn't going to catch us and called it a day. I'll bet he remembers his shoes next time.

As we neared Bellevue Community College, we turned east onto SE 22nd Street. On this corner is now Eastside Christian School. This school was formerly Eastside Free Methodist Church where my wife grew up and where we were married 15 years ago. Next, we passed Robinswood Park and then began to round Phantom Lake. A crazy-fast descent down SE 24th took us along the southern edge of the lake and then we circled to the north through this quiet sunny residential area. Our route back along 156th took us past another notable church in my life--Cross of Christ Lutheran. This is where I first heard the gospel and fully understood it and decided to follow Christ. And of all places, it was during a friend's father's funeral. That was 19 years ago.

After riding through Crossroads Mall, we decided to make a stop at Performance Bike and do a little shopping. Jim bought himself some new cycling shades--the kind with interchangeable lenses. The yellow lenses will make even the grayest Seattle day appear sunny. A must have in our region!

On our return stretch along 140th, we all heard what sounded like a gunshot. The loud blast didn't leave anyone lying on the pavement, but it did bring David to a stop. The explosion was the sound of 100psi leaving through a 3 inch gash in his tube. I commented on how quickly he replaced his tube--no tire levers needed, all by hand, and with the efficiency and speed of someone who has had a lot of practice. David nodded. Apparently he gets a lot of flats and is well-acquainted with this task!

As we returned to EFC and braked to a stop, I congratulated Gary for his good post-knee surgery riding. The sun was out today and it looks like summer is nearly here. I'm ready for more warm weather riding. And I'll be sure to bring my shoes.

Riders: Jim, David, Bob T., Bob H., Gary, Kurt (almost)
Dist: 29.3
Time: 2.09
Avg: 13.5
Max: 38.9
Total Ascent: 2022 ft
Max Elev: 468 ft

The Hidden Lakes of Woodinville

Our Saturday morning started off under grey skies and a light drizzle. Hard to believe we're into May and still experiencing weather that looks more like March. Jim Nelson led our devotional and prayer, which is our usual beginning to our Saturday rides. I enjoy our time gathered around our bikes in this informal and brief time of prayer before we ride. Many times, this short devo gets our conversation for the ride started. And many more times, our prayer has proven to be heard by Heaven when we return free of flats or mechanical problems.

After rolling down to the Sammamish River Trail, we reached Woodinville and made a quick stop at Bryant Sabandal's home. We don't typically stop at the home of missing riders to hassle them, but couldn't help ourselves today since our route when right past his street. He wished us well... in the rain... and about to climb the hardest hill of the day. I referred to it as "The Wall." This climb parallels NE 171st Street--a busy road east of Woodinville--and goes through the Reinwood neighborhood.

We huffed and puffed our way to the top and soon downhilled past Lake Leota, our first hidden lake of the day. Next, we passed Bassett Pond--not officially a lake, but a hidden body of water at least--and then turned into the Cottage Lake Beach Club passed Cottage Lake (our third lake for the day.)

A brief ride down busy Woodinville Duvall Road took us to W. Snoqualmie Valley Road where we turned north. This stretch of road is popular with cyclists and takes you past dairy farms (advertising "aged cow manure") and rural homes overlooking the valley. After passing Crescent Lake (#4 if you're keeping track), we took High Bridge Road around to the northwest which offered a few more climbs until we turned south on Welch Rd. toward Lost Lake--also known as Devil's Lake (Lake #5).

Here we stopped for a rest break while we watched a dump truck and trailer navigate a hairpin turn, back up over a hill, and drive in reverse all while the driver talked on his cellphone. Impressive. Couldn't do that on a bike...

After Lost Lake, we rode west toward Echo Lake (Lake #6). This hidden neighborhood loops in a circle around the lake, which we did as well. Then rode north in the increasing drizzle toward Hwy. 522 and the remainder of our route. Most of this route so far was brand new territory for us. But, now we where coming into more familiar roads as we continued west toward Woodinville proper.

Our last lake of the day was Crystal Lake (#7). Crystal Lake sits at the end of a long, quiet stretch of roadway--past the "End of county maintained road" sign--where a lovely log-built community club sits and homes dot the banks of the shore. The rain increased as we finished our ride. When we reached downtown Woodinville, we were soaked.

Our ride covered plenty of new roads and neighborhoods, seven hidden lakes, not a single flat, but too much rain. We need to make sure we add that to our pre-ride prayers next time... "Lord, keep us dry... Amen."

Riders: Jim, Kristin, Brenda, Bruce, Jay, Bob

Green River Trail, Interurban Trail, oh... and a Couple of Parking Lots

There's an interesting phenomenon among cyclists on a sunny Saturday following several weekends of rain and even snow... they all turn out for a ride! This Saturday we had 20 cyclists show up at Eastside Foursquare Church for our morning ride to Renton, Tukwila, and Kent and back again. The day was beautiful if a little cold. We headed south through Kirkland and Bellevue stopping occasionally to corral all our riders. We picked up two more at the Bellevue Way Park and Ride and then headed to the Lake Washington Loop Bike Trail. Lots of riders out today which sometimes made it difficult to make sure we stayed with the right group and didn't start following a different group, or coax other riders into our group!


After a rest stop at Gene Coulon Beach, we weaved our way through Renton. This is where our group took on more of a collaborative leadership facet. Those more familiar with the south end helped us get through the crazy streets of Renton and make it to Tukwila. There, we worked our way south to the Green River Trail. One wrong turn took us into our first parking lot of the day, but we figured out where we needed to be and found the GRT shortly thereafter.
The Green River Trail winds more than 19 miles from Cecil Moses Park near Seattle’s south boundary to North Green River Park in south Kent near Auburn. Office buildings and suburban warehouse landscapes give way to open fields and hedgerows as the trail winds its way along the river.

When we reached Kent, we planned to turn east on 212th and return via the Interurban Trail. But before we could make the turn, Warren and another rider overshot the turn and continued on the GRT. We phoned him, told him to turn around, and then headed east to the Interurban. Upon reaching the Interurban Trail, someone in the back of the 20+ pack shouted to stop. I could see Warren on his phone about 100 yards away. Soon, my phone rang. It was Warren calling to make sure I had made the turn.
I had removed my yellow jacket and that must have thrown him. I waved to him and said, "Warren! I'm right here at the front of the pack!" I laughed, told him this was a "blog-worthy" move, and we continued on the Interurban. The Interurban Trail links Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, Algona, and Pacific along a near-straight 14 mile-long alignment following the historic Interurban Rail Line.

When we reached Tukwila again, we continued a bit further on the Interurban and soon found ourselves in a second parking lot near Fort Dent. I remarked later to another rider, "I lead like this--occasionally making wrong turns--so other riders will say, 'I could lead a ride... I could lead better than Bob!'" We backtracked to Grady Way and returned through Renton, stopping once more at Gene Coulon and then back through Bellevue and Kirkland, reaching Eastside Foursquare Church with 57 miles behind us.

Hey, I'll take a beautiful day of riding on trails like these even with a couple wrong turns. It sure beats staying home watching the snow!

Dist: 57.07
Time: 4:06:48
Avg: 13.8
Max: 33.8
Riders: 20 of them!

Our Own Paris-Roubaix... With Slightly Fewer Cobblestones

Created in 1896, Paris-Roubaix is a spring classic road race over the muddy cobbled roads of France. Known as the "Hell of The North" this is the most rugged of the spring classics as the racers make their way over 21 sections of "pave"--cobblestones--in typically horrible early spring weather. If the road conditions and teeth-rattling pave don't take you out, then one of the frequent crashes will. As we set out on this Saturday morning, our intent wasn't to duplicate the Paris-Roubaix experience, but to merely have a taste of it.

Leaving Eastside Foursquare Church's parking lot, Kristin, Jay, David, and I headed toward Woodinville and soon climbed over 124th to Avondale. At the corner on the other side, we encountered a training team of Group Health women riders in a pack of nearly 20 riding two across. While they were headed in the same direction as our group, we never caught them. Shortly after turning north toward W. Snoqualmie Valley Rd., I passed a new home and noticed a grandmotherly lady looking out her window toward the road. I gave a friendly wave and she waved back. Just checking out the morning cyclists, I guess.

The weather in the Snoqualmie valley was grey skies but dry. In the far distance to the east, I could still see snow on the Cascade foothills. I was glad it wasn't snowing today... or raining. The sun was even beginning to peek out as we began our climb over Ames Lake-Carnation Road and headed to Redmond.

Our ride on Rt. 202 brought us to the Red Brick Road, our Paris-Roubaix equivalent for the day. This historical road contains the longest stretch of exposed historic red brick highway in King County. Kristin said it best when we began to bounce over the bricks, "Thank the Lord for sports bras!"



After completing our red brick stretch, Kristin learned that our friend Brenda was in Redmond shopping for a new road bike at Gerk's Alpine Hut. We decided to try and meet up with her. We found her in the back parking lot about to take a test ride on... none other than a Specialized Roubaix! Nice work, Brenda. Glad you could keep your bike shopping consistent with the day's theme!

Dist: 46.31
Time: 3:31:18
Avg: 13.1
Max: 36.3
Max Elev: 554 ft.
Total Ascent: 2339 ft.
Riders: Kristin, Jay, David, Bob

Off to the Expo! But Stop for Bunnies...

It's Sunday morning and we're heading to the Bike Expo! I switched our usual Saturday morning bike ride to Sunday due to a conflict I had this past weekend on Saturday. So following the 9 a.m. service, four of us--Ken, Johnny, Jeannette, and myself--met in the EFC Parking Lot, shared a brief devotional, prayed, and hit the road. The weather was in the low 50s with an overcast sky, but the rain stayed away all day for us. As we reached Juanita, a fifth rider, Kimberly, met us and joined our train. I think Jeannette was pleased to have another gal riding with us, especially since they are friends.

We continued through Kirkland and into Carillon Point. I realized it was odd for me to be on a ride on a Sunday since I'm usually in church service. I discovered that there's a lot of Sunday morning walkers out at this time of day! After Carillon Point, we turned west and climbed the big hill that parallels I-520 and leads into Yarrow Point. I found that the hills today were not going to be kind to me. (I discovered later that I was just beginning to get a viral infection and should have been at home sleeping instead of hammering out this ride!) As we turned south through Medina, I saw more morning walkers and joggers. Upon rounding Meydenbauer Bay, I enjoyed the pretty view across the water of downtown Bellevue. Despite the overcast skies, it was an attractive view.

We rode through Old Bellevue and then turned south on Bellevue Way stopping at the Park and Ride just north of I-90 for a brief breather. The pace was good for everyone and so far, the ride and route were going well. We hit the paved and winding trail that connects to the I-90 bike trail and began our ride over Mercer Island. The Mercer Island Half Marathon happened earlier in the morning. While we didn't see any runners, we saw the road markings and signage for the race. Halfway across Mercer Island, Jeannette called for us to stop. We had just passed a funny sign announcing an upcoming "Rat Show." Who participates in a rat show, I'm not sure. But this sign prompted her to recall that she was caring for a friend's show rabbit and had not watered or fed said rabbit since Friday night.

Now, I've had to stop for riders in our bike groups for lots of various reasons: flats, chain problems, bathroom stops, food stops, clothing adjustments, and the like. But I have never had to stop in order to check on a bunny! Jeannette pulled out her cell phone and began making frantic calls to friends and family to find someone willing enough to check on the show-worthy rabbit. To make matters more challenging, she didn't have an exact address and had to describe the home's location. After a 20-minute break, she finally resolved the issue and we could pedal on. We learned later that the rabbit was safe and sound and still very much alive.

After Mercer Island, we crossed Lake Washington on I-90 and ventured into the I-90 bike tunnel. A few of our riders had never experienced the tunnel. That's always fun to take a rider someplace new. From there we went through the Rainier Valley, along Dearborn and the International District, to Safeco and Qwest Fields. Now it was just a short distance along Alaskan Way to the Expo at the Cruise Terminal 30. Plenty of people were walking from their cars to the Expo and a few were biking there. We parked in the bike parking area and ventured inside.

I enjoy the Bike Expo, but also find it to be a sizeable temptation. New bikes, new products, new rides and events, new accessories, all begging to go home with me. Last year, I brought a backpack. This year, I removed the temptation and left it at home. We surveyed all the exhibits, purchased lunch, enjoyed Ryan Leach and his crazy Mountain Bike Trials exhibition, and then departed around 3:30 p.m.

We shortened the route home by riding directly through Bellevue and bypassing the scenic Clyde Hill-Medina route. But, it was on the route home that I realized just how lousy I was feeling on the hills. I could pedal fine on the flats, but once I started climbing... I had no power. Fortunately, I was able to complete the ride and when we all returned to EFC, I was thanked for leading the ride and selecting the route. That's a good feeling, but the best feeling was being done... and knowing that the bunny was okay!

Time: 3.29.19
Dist: 43.48 mi.
Avg: 12.4
Max: 34.2
Temp: 55F
Total Ascent: 1885 ft.
Max Elev: 213 ft.
Riders: Bob, Johnny, Ken, Kimberly, Jeannette

Riding the Interurban

Where are all the regulars?

That's what I said to myself as I rolled up to the group of three cyclists in the parking lot at Eastside Foursquare Church on this Saturday morning. I knew they were new riders to our group. How did I know? First, they were parked in a different spot than where our group usually meets. Second, I didn't recognize any of them! Here we are, the first official Saturday morning ride of the year and none of our regular group of riders is here. Instead, three new people invited by Rick, who leads a spin class at a local health club. These were his students. And he didn't even show up to join them! I introduced myself and met each of them: Mike, Michelle, and Eva. They wondered where Rick was, too. So we called him and learned he had a family emergency. He was terribly apologetic.

So, what do you do with three new riders and none of your regulars? You go for a ride!

We headed down the hill from EFC to Kenmore and turned north. We chatted a little as we rode and I got to know a bit more about these three. It was Eva's birthday today. And her present to herself was the longest ride to date. She had only ridden short Burke-Gilman rides and never done a long one like this.

As we neared Lynnwood, we turned onto the Interurban Trail. The trail follows the route once used by the Interurban Trolley that ran between Ballard and Bellingham until 1939. In 1910, The Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway began electric passenger service. After the railway was abandoned in 1939, it was converted to a power line corridor. In the 1990s, the right-of-way was opened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Interurban Car 55 is a restored trolley from this route, and is located at Heritage Park, east of Interstate 5 on Poplar Way in Lynnwood next to The Wickers Building, which is now the Transportation Museum. This 11.8 mile trail extends through Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, unincorporated Snohomish County, Everett and Lynnwood.

We left the Interurban in Mill Creek / Silver Lake area and rode along 132nd to Seattle Hill Road. This corner has really been developed in the past few years. Now there's a drive-through Starbucks at the corner! From this point, we turned south and worked our way through some neighborhoods I hadn't previously explored. This route took us through Cathcart to Broadway and then we headed south toward Maltby and Woodinville to finish our ride along the Sammamish River Trail. You can view our route on Bikely.com.

Well, even without our regular riders, we had an enjoyable and dry, if cold, March 1st ride. Perhaps next week, we'll see some familiar faces. But, if not, I'll still be ready to add some more miles to my odometer... and meet some new people.

Dist: 37.03
Time: 2:46
Avg: 13.4
Max: 30
Total Ascent: 2123 ft
Max Elev: 591 ft.
Cloudy, dry
42 degrees
Riders: Bob H., Mike, Michelle, Eva