Ride Around Upper Half Lake Washington

For this route, I'm going to do a clockwise loop around the northern half of Lake Washington - starting with Burke Gilman trail entering from Pathways Park Playground (you can use the address 5251 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105), for a total distance of 26.5 miles with about 1080 feet of elevation gain. Meet at 7:00am, wheels rolling by 7:15am. I'm capping attendance at 10 as I don't feel comfortable leading a bigger ride on the open roads there. We will meet on our bikes at the parking lot of Pathways Park (spots are next to the rest room), and you should find me either wearing Seattle Triathlon Group or University of Michigan kit. There should be parking at the Pathways Park parking lot, especially at our starting time.

Route: We will meet at Pathways Park Playground, enter Burke Gilman and follow the upper Lake Washington Loop to eventually end at Metropolitan Market Sand Point. There is a restroom and food/supplies for purchase at Pathways Park or Metropolitan Market nearby the start/finish. There is a planned photo break at Junita Beach Park. We also have the option to refuel and use restrooms by Kirkland.

You may find more detailed route information here https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51063345

Pace and regrouping: I will be maintaining a 16.0 to 17 mph average pace, which translates into 16-21 mph on the flats and 8-10 mph uphill. We will regroup at the top of the uphill climbs, as well as easy-to-miss turns if the group is slightly split. This is a drop ride. This means the group may ride away from you if you run into difficulty maintaining the described pace; you could be riding portions solo as you make it back to the start/finish.

The total moving time will be about 1.5 hours. The total elapsed time should be closer to 2 hours to account for bathroom break and photo break.

Equipment and Safety: Helmets are required to ride. A saddle bag with emergency supplies (tubes, pump, multi-tools) is highly recommended. Rain (however unlikely) will cancel this ride. Bring your own nutrition you expect to need during the ride (you can also make last minute purchases at Met Market at the start/finish). Riders should be able to sustain the appropriate pace, know how to read a cue sheet, change a flat tire (and have the requisite equipment to do so) and have a positive attitude. Ride Leader will not stop long for flats or mechanical issues due to group safety.

In order to participate in any Seattle Triathlon Group event, you must sign our waiver. Waivers only need to be signed once per year or if your contact info has changed. As this is early season, if you participated in an event with us in 2025 you likely still have an active waiver from last year - you can login to your account at https://www.seattletri.org/dashboard to check. I will only be accepting electronic waivers - please complete the waiver ahead of time!