Magnolia?s Bike the Bluff fundraising ride is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 8th, 2013. The popular neighborhood event includes a variety of routes for cyclists of all ages. The 4.5 or 6 mile course begins and ends on the Catharine Blaine School playground, located immediately adjacent to the Pop Mounger Pool parking lot at 2535 32nd Ave. W. There are four different scenic detours that can add distance for those looking for a challenge or a virtually flat 2-mile-roundtrip sidewalk route for the youngest of riders.
The 4.5 mile loop travels past Magnolia Village, along the Magnolia Bluff, through Discovery Park, and back to Blaine via 34th Ave. W. The 6 mile ride continues after Discovery Park to loop around all of Magnolia. Detours can be added by rolling down through Discovery Park to the lighthouse and then climbing back up, rejoining the loop rides; or by adding a spur route down to the Ballard Locks, crossing over the locks for a little sightseeing, then back to Commodore Way and continuing on the Magnolia loop; or from Thorndyke going down the bike trail along the railroad tracks either to the right and into Smith Cover park and Elliott Bay Marina, or to the left onto the bike trail through Myrtle Edwards Park and the Seattle waterfront. Maps will be available at registration, and all routes will be marked.
Registration is online at www.bikethebluff.org or on the day of the event beginning at 9:30am. The course opens at 10:00am and closes at 2:00pm. Bike the Bluff also will feature Dante?s Hot Dogs on the Blaine playground, which will run in tandem with the event.
Riders 18 and older are $20, under 18 are $10, and a family registration is $40. Individual registrations include 1 t-shirt, family registrations include 2 t-shirts and additional t-shirts may be purchased for $10 each.
Proceeds from Bike the Bluff 2013 will help send Catharine Blaine School?s incoming fifth-grades to Islandwood, a four-day environmental science camp on Bainbridge Island.