Cycling in the Time of Covid

I wrote this post for my fellow Lakemont Cycling Club members. Lakemont is a nearby neighborhood just over the mountain from me. Of course it’s 2021, and we’ve had to make adjustments in the world of Covid….

I’ve been thinking a lot about biking as we round the corner on Winter. Though it’s snowing at the moment, I’ve decided the official start to my 2021 season will be April 1.

2020 generally sucked, and that goes double for cycling. No group rides and almost all organized events were cancelled. Might have been the worst season on record for us socially inclined human powered two-wheelin’ nuts, eh?

Somehow I made the best of it. I was all signed up for RAMROD and wanted to be ready just in case – we didn’t know until a few months into the Pandemic if events like RAMROD would roll or not. 

I had purchased a new bike – the “best bike I’ve ever ridden.” I will spare you the particulars, you’ll see it when we get back. Anyway, as April approached, I was already raring to go, even taking my maiden voyage on the new ride in a complete downpour – I was dying to escape the quarantine and cycling solo was a great option.

I created a goal for the 2020 season that had several benefits – it would offer me a tough enough route to give me a good base for RAMROD – if it was a go – and be manageable for lots of solo rides – in short: Safe, steep and scalable.

• Safe: Basically a loop around Cougar Mountain, relatively light traffic, plenty of good bike lanes, lots of neighborhood diversions.
• Steep: Riding solo, I hate long, flat rides – so boring! So this ride is just up and down with a relatively flat warmup and a flat-to-downhill finish (before the last climb).
• Scalable: You choose, 3 hills, 4 hills, 5 hills, 6 hills, or the dreaded 7 hills and even 7+ hills of Lakemont. Just keep going up and down Cougar Mountain until you get all the way around.

I’ll lay out the route, and then I’ll tell you how I’m planning to train for RAMROD in 2021 – assuming it’s a go – and next time around I’ll tell you about the off-season training I’m doing now to get ready for April.

The 7-Hills of Lakemont Route 

• You can start anywhere near Cougar Mtn. I live in Talus so I start here 🙂
• Down Talus Drive, left on 900, left on Newport (who the hell decided that 900S should have NO shoulder, otherwise you could change this ride up by reversing it – still an option on an early weekend morning in good light)
• Newport straight up to 164^th. I choose 164^th for my first hill because it’s curvy and not too even like Lakemont Blvd and not too hard like Montreux and Zoo (save those for later!)
• Ride up to Lakemont and turn right for the 3 hills ride, or left to add 1-3 more hills. I’ll choose left. 
• Pass Starbucks on your right and continue down Lakemont back to Newport, take a right. Enjoy the breezy downhill.
• Choose Montreux for a longer, flatter climb or Zoo Hill if you’re feeling like a big boy. I don’t recommend Zoo until you’re really in shape and riding under Summer conditions – it’s too dicey with any traffic, just not safe. Since you have to go up Zoo and then up Roller Coaster to Open Window, I consider this to be 2 hills!
• If I’m riding 7 hills, I do Zoo first, then take a break in Lewis Creek Park, then back down Lakemont and up Montreux. Montreux is a real ball-breaker, just as hard as Zoo really, but much safer, and you can wave to Larry as you crest the steepest part.
• Back to Lakemont Blvd, pass the Firehouse on your left, then down towards the golf course, then left onto 155^th Ave SE (as if you’re going to the golf course)
• A word about the Lakemont Blvd/Forest Drive 3-way intersection – Watch Out. For some reason as you’re coming down full speed, some yahoo always wants to ignore your right of way, sheesh!
• Now climbing into the Reserve (155^th Ave SE), pass the Golf Course entrance on your right, and take your next right onto SE 80^th. Crest the hill, take two rights, pop over the top of a little peak, then down over 2 speed bumps, and right onto SE 79^th, which I think of as China Creek Hill. Massive hill, couple more speed bumps, really steep at the bottom, don’t go crazy here! If you’re feeling strong, turn left instead of right on SE 79^th and continue all the way to the top, it’s a killer going over the top, but then winds back down to come out near the bottom of China Creek.
• At the China Creek stop sign, turn left and follow down to Coal Creek Pkwy. If I didn’t stop at Lewis Creek, I sometimes stop on Coal Creek next to Lake Boren for a quick snack.
• This next part of the ride is totally idyllic. If you’re an LCC rider, you know this route – basically follow Coal Creek to May Valley Road and take May Valley through all the little farms back to 900.
• Your last hill climb option is Licorice Fern and Licorice Fern II. If you do it correctly, you’ll end up passing the little vineyard, then cresting the peak, then get treated to a quick view of Rainier as you wind your way back down to May Valley Road. This section was a lollipop, in case you were wondering. (Keep your eyes peeled, you may find some EZ Money in this neighborhood!)
• 900 back down to Talus. Watch out on the curvy part as you enter Issaquah. Bad shoulder, bad visibility, a few potholes. But it’s downhill so you can keep up with traffic.
• Turn left onto the Talus Drive to Shangri-La climb. You’ll do about 600 ft climbing over 3/4 mile = 15% grade. Guess what, they’ve now opened Panorama, giving you another 200 ft of climbing, in case you thought Talus was too easy! Tip: On a nice day, you can climb all the way through Panorama to the water tower and get an amazing view of Lake Samm, Mt. Si, Tiger, Squawk, etc. I call Panorama “7+,” because you could have just skipped it and gone back down to 900. A lot of people would.
• Tip: There’s a new coffee shop called Q-Café about halfway down Talus Drive on Shy Bear. Expensive, but worth the experience. Nice outdoor tables. No affiliation with Q-Anon.

Now you’ve done the 7 Hills of Lakemont! A total of 4400 feet of climbing over 36 miles – and as a side benefit, you just burned 2200 calories in 3.25 hours. I did the full 7 Hills 3 times in 2020. Some of you guys can easily beat that, I’m sure.

What about 2021? I’d love to attempt this ride twice in one day, going for between 10 and 14 hills, still only 70 miles – too short to get fully RAMROD-ready. So my goal for a single ride will be 14 Hills, plus a lap of Lake Samm, which adds 25 miles, and that will give me enough confidence to get to the Crystal Mtn lunch stop. After that, I will just gut it out and hope you guys will draft me back to Thunder Mountain Middle!

Here’s what I’m thinking to make this more social in case we’re still in quarantine. I got the fancy Garmin Watch, and I think I can figure out how to get the various iterations of the 7 Hills route onto Strava. Then we can have a competition to see who can complete 95 miles earliest in the season and KOM on individual hills. This is all assuming we are barred from riding together again. Let’s hope we can but prepare for the worst and try to make it a fun season. I know, kind of crazy, but was that not assumed from the beginning?!