Brevets - Event View

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2022-03-05 Divas Populaire Pre-Ride Report by Mark Thomas:

The route starts from Diva Espresso with easy flat riding along the Burke Gilman / Sammamish River Trail and a short bit of Woodinville streets before hitting the first big climb of the ride at about 9 kilometers in. Probably the toughest climb of the ride – 2.5km at an average 7.5% grade. The route bounces along past Cottage Lake on Woodinville Duvall Road, which can be busy, but has pretty decent shoulders. Next is the climb to and over Old Woodinville Duvall Road (look for the information control) followed by a fast descent to the Snoqualmie River Valley. Part of this descent is back on Woodinville-Duvall Road with minimal shoulders, impatient drivers, and a traffic light at the bottom. Be careful.

The next part of the route is mostly flat riding in the Snoqualmie and Skykomish River valleys, punctuated by one nasty little climb on Ben Howard Road and a couple of smaller ones. Halfway into the ride you reach the town of Sultan after crossing the main rail line and US-2. We stopped at the next control location – the new Good Brewing place where Timber Monster used to be. The signage for the brewery is better from US-2 than it is from the route on Main Street. Just look to the left in the first block after the turn onto Main. Good Brewing is open in the mornings (7am on Saturday) and offers coffee, beer, and a nice menu of food. We opted for a burgers stop and were not disappointed. Friendly folks, good beer, and tater tots – what else could you want?

Leaving the control, the route uses the nearly new bike/ped bridge over the Sultan River. Rather than joining US-2, the calmest route is to use path and shoulder up to the next traffic light. Old Owen Road has another tough hill – about a kilometer at 8%+ average. After the climb, though, it's flat and downhill back to Monroe and the Skykomish River. The route uses a couple of back streets in Monroe and misses most support options, but there is a 7-11 about a block off course on E Main Street (just past the turn onto N Woods Street. Once the route joins WA-203 / Lewis Street, it does pass a park on the left that has water and bathrooms. Just past the park are two bridges with lousy pavement and no shoulder, so be cautious. Watch also for the rumble strips shortly after the second bridge.

Soon the route turns off 203 back onto Tualco Road in the reverse direction as outbound. After crossing the Snoqualmie River, the route turns right onto High Bridge Road (the outbound route is off to the left). A short climb is followed by some rolling terrain and then down to the Snohomish River valley farmlands. The next big climb starts right after Bob's Corn and Pumpkin farm and continues past several turns – onto Broadway, onto 172nd, and onto Interurban Boulevard. The top of the hill is at the WA-9 crossing. The route crosses 9 at an intersection with no traffic light, so be cautious and patient and wait for a good size gap. (All the drivers seem to be in a big hurry to get somewhere).

After WA-9, the route continues on Interurban Boulevard. There is a bit of tricky navigation after the turn onto busy 180th Street SE. Immediately after that turn, the route turns right again through some bollards. If you get to 59th Ave, you missed it. The final information control is shortly after that – right after turning south (left) onto 51st Ave SE (look for the speed limit sign). 51st Ave leasts to 196th Street / Jewell Avenue and one more slightly tricky bit of navigation. Jewell Street turns left and then just before it meets York Road it becomes a one-lane, one-way street in the opposite direction. Use the sidewalk if necessary to reach York Road and take caution turning left on York.

It's a nice downhill cruise the rest of the way. A short section of the North Creek trail is gravel and traffic can be a little busy through Bothell on the way to the trail. The finish is at Stoup Brewing, across the plaza from Diva Espresso. Stoup has a super annoying ordering system, but good beer and pizza. (Other food and drink as well, but I can't vouch for any of it).

Route and Cuesheet

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38691341 [FINAL]

Note: Printed cuesheets will not be available at the start. You may choose to print your own. To print the cuesheet from the route page, click the More button, then select Print Cuesheet.