Portland to Seattle
This trip in 2023 was from Portland, Oregon to Bothell, Washington (just north of Seattle). The weather forecast for the week looked perfect for a bike ride. I loaded my small paniers with a few essentials and left home in Portland for the 226 mile ride north.
Map Link (leaves Blogger and connects to Komoot)
September 9
I hit the road at 7:45 am on a cool and clear morning and headed north toward the Columbia River crossing at the I-205 bridge. The bridge has a nice protected bike lane right down the center. With four lanes of rush hour traffic going 70 mph on both sides of me it was certainly an adrenaline rush. Once on the Washington side, the route with wide shoulders headed west through the eastern suburbs of Vancouver, Washington and then hooked into the Burnt Bridge cycle trail. Much of this trial wound through nice forested areas. Just before the I-5 freeway I turned north on Old Highway 99. This was generally a comfortable ride with shoulders until the town of Ridgefield. From there the shoulder disappeared completely and it was a tight ride with some traffic most of the way over rolling hills. I arrived at to my final destination for the day - Woodland, Washington at 12:45 after a ride of 35.4 miles. I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel which had a beautiful garden in back overlooking the Lewis River. There I relaxed with my lunch and waited for my room to be ready.
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September 10
The topography part of my navigation program indicated that today would likely involve some steep climbing. In the morning there would be no way north other than the I-5 freeway and one road that made an 800 foot climb over some massive hills. I knew it would be challenging so I left at 7 am and not far north of my starting point it began to climb. I worked hard and tried to remember that at least it was early in the day and not hot. It took me an hour of slow climbing to reach the top. It was without a doubt the longest and steepest ride I had done in all my cycling trips. After a coffee break in Kalama I resumed the more gentle ups and downs along old Highway 99 to the town of Kelso. There I had a level ride between the river and rail tracks for about 4 miles on the mostly paved Cowlitz River Trail. Earlier on the high ground I had passed many large fenced estates with beautiful mansions and views of the valley below. Now I was passing some very poor neighborhoods. I had seen this contrast on most of my bike rides around the U.S., but not so much in Europe, and I couldn't help thinking about the disparity of wealth in this country. I reached my destination of Castle Rock at 1:30 pm after a ride of 35 difficult miles.
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September 11
I was off at 7 am with perfect biking weather - overcast and in the 60s. I started the morning on a very pleasant paved bike way along the river. Then some up and down on back roads with sparse traffic. I stopped at 9 in the little town of Vader at a small homey café by the RR tracks. As I watched a couple of local old timers meeting for morning coffee, I reflected how great cycling is to take you to these little back road funky places. Most of the day was up and down hills on quiet back roads with narrow shoulders. I arrived at Centralia at 1:30 pm having cycled 37 miles.
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September 12
Leaving at 7:30 am, I wound through residential streets, left Centralia and headed north on state highway 507. The mostly shoulder-less highway was largely flat with a few hills. By 9 I reached the small town of Tenino and found the nice Sandstone Café for a full breakfast. As I walked out of the café, I encountered a cyclist on a fully-loaded bike - obviously on a long ride. I learned he had left Washington DC about 4 months ago, cycled across the country, and was now headed south to California before returning to DC along through the southern states. It certainly made my current ride seem like a walk in the park. The route now joined the Yelm-Tenino bike trail for a pleasant 16 mile ride on the paved trail. Then it turned back onto highway 507 where I rode a narrow shoulder for what seemed like endless miles with busy traffic including many trucks. The route continued and became highway 7. Just after Parkland I turned to the west and arrived at my hotel for the evening near the I-5 freeway after 51.4 miles.
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September 13
The route wound through SE Tacoma and past several homeless camps. I passed a large semi truck unloading what were probably illegal aliens. I stopped in the small town of Fife for breakfast. The route then joined the paved Interurban Bike Trail and eventually joined the Lake Washington Bike Trail along the east side of Lake Washington to my hotel near Factoria and Interstate 90. I arrived at 1:30 after a 42 mile ride.
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September 14
This is to be my last day of cycling and I planned a shorter than average 27 mile ride. I cycled north through the east side of Bellevue and then turned west across the Evergreen Point Floating bridge. The bridge has a wide protected bike lane all the way across. I had to smile as I raced past the bumper to pumper rush hour stalled traffic on the bridge. On the west side of the lake I soon arrived at the south side of the University of Washington campus. This brought back lots of fond memories of my days as a graduate student there. The route then went onto the Burke-Gilman Bike Trail heading north along the west side of the lake. I stopped by Magnusson Park where I met my friend Peter and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch reminiscing about the old days. After lunch I joined the trail again for the final 10 miles. About 2 miles before my final destination I had a flat tire. Fortunately I was able to fix it and was back on the road in about 35 minutes. The last couple of miles was a long uphill climb. I finally reached my hotel in Bothell about 3 pm.
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September 15
I had breakfast with my friend Kate in Bothell. Then I rode a mile to check out the bus stop I would use tomorrow for my ride to Everett. Nearby was a short local North Creek Bike Trail which wound through nice wetlands and ponds between the light industrial areas. It was a small oasis in the larger urban area. By 11 it was getting quite warm, so I spent the afternoon relaxing and reading.
September 16
I cycled about a half mile to a park and ride and caught the bus to near the Paine Field Airport where I picked up a minivan rental tossed the bike in the back, and made the 4 hour ride back to Portland. Overall, it was a great trip and I was glad I did it, but the many sections of highway with narrow or no shoulder and busy traffic convinced me that I would probably not do it again.
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