I have been biking around Seattle a lot since I moved back from Copenhagen. That’s involved a lot of trial and error and some unpleasant situations. Many of those unpleasant situations were caused by Google Maps, which works great for driving but much less so for biking. My general recommendation is to try other navigation tools like Komoot, which focus more on safe and pleasant biking routes. I don’t want others to have unpleasant biking experiences, so I made a map to help Seattle residents and visitors enjoy safe and pleasant biking in the city. But what does Max think makes a bike route safe and pleasant?
I am not going to pretend everyone has, or should have, the same priorities as I do when it comes to biking. If I had to rank my priorities, they would be:
- Separation from cars (from both moving and parked cars)
- Gets me where I am going (either to another bike lane or directly to my destination)
- Physically possible (I don’t have an e-bike, so certain hills are too steep to ride)
- Pavement quality (smooth and clear of debris)
- Ease of navigation (clearly marked)
- Scenic
I don’t usually bike for exercise; I bike to explore and to get places. So if you want exercise or beautiful views, you may be disappointed by my routes. Without further ado, here is my Seattle biking map:
When two bike lanes run parallel, that usually means each street has a bike lane going in only one direction. You can go East on Pine and West on Pike. You can go East on Yesler and West on Jackson.
You may feel like this map does not have many routes, and that is true (let me know if there are any I should add). This is partly because my requirements for pleasant biking are high after living in Copenhagen. It is also significantly biased by where I have lived in Seattle. But I also think a simpler map is more useful. I hope you enjoy biking these routes in Seattle; I know I do!
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