I have family up North, so I’ve taken my bike up there a few times since they started construction on the Burke-Gilman Trail. It’s less convenient than the trail; it’s not a bad ride but it’s hilly and curvy. Meandering through North Seattle and Lake Forest Park when it’s nice out is certainly fine. I imagine when it starts raining, I’ll be a bit less thrilled. I always appreciate a change of scenery, so for now it’s quite good. A few things I noticed, of course it’s all small sample size, and my experience:
- The cars are pretty good at giving room, and none have honked at me for the crime of being on the same street as them. This isn’t always the case for suburban streets, so it’s appreciated.
- People seem to be out more on the Seattle side of 145th than on the LFP side. A few LFP people walked their dogs, but more Seattle people were out. I don’t know if that’s actually a thing, or a coincidence.
- Some of the reroute signage is confusing. I’m not sure I went the way they were thinking behind the cemetery, but it worked, and part of being a bike person is being able to improvise.
- Even having lived in the area, I was surprised how much of the area I didn’t know.
I run into that as well. And you find cool things, like the other day I was riding past a big patch of black berries and saw that there were green beans growing in with the berries. WTF? Never seen that before. I picked a couple handfuls of the beans and cooked them with my dinner. They were yummy.
I’ve taken the BGT detour twice now. It’s pleasant enough but long–it adds 10-15 minutes to my already-long bike commute from Bothell to Lower Queen Anne. I’m beginning to think it would be easier to just take 522, at least heading north where it’s mostly downhill.
I agree with the sentiment about learning more about unfamiliar parts of otherwise familiar areas. As a native Seattleite and lifelong Washingtonian, I find that cycling consistently broadens and deepens my local understanding in a way nothing else does.