Getting to know a city by bike gives you a perspective more like a native's than a tourist's view. Noted for its beautiful natural vistas and incorporation of green spaces into the urban environment, Seattle offers many rewards for visitors energetic enough to cycle their way through it. If you're visiting a biking friend in the Emerald City, by all means take advantage of their knowledge. But if you are not fortunate enough to have your own personal bike guide, try one of these bike tour companies.
This club schedules weekly rides for each ability level: beginning, social and intermediate. Most rides begin and end in the city, and there are also monthly excursions to day trip destinations such as Yakima Wine Country, Vancouver Island and Mt. Rainer National Park. Since this is a club rather than a tour company, you will have to rent your bike and helmet elsewhere. The club doesn't offer tour guide services, but riding with them is free and you get to meet and ride with local bicyclists.
Seattle Bicycle Club
seattlebicycleclub.org
Ibike offers custom bike and walking tours of Seattle, designed to suit your schedule and your interests. Your tour fee covers expert local guide services and may include a free loaner bike, but they suggest you rent your wheels from another service. Bike tours range in duration from two to eight hours. Shorter tours may cover Pioneer Square or the Seattle waterfront area. Longer tours can take you through the historic neighborhoods, ethnic Seattle, or the "Emerald Necklace" of parks designed to embrace the city with green spaces. You can also opt for a Labor and Leftists tour or the "est" tour, which takes you through the city's "oldest, tallest and quirkiest" sites.
Ibike, LLC
4887 Columbia Dr. South
Seattle, WA 98108-1919
206-767-0848
ibike.org
This company offers daily historic tours departing from the downtown area as well as custom tours. They provide bikes and helmets as well as insider knowledge of the city. Seattle Cycling features tour routes through gentler slopes, rather than the city's steepest inclines, to accommodate tourists who may be unaccustomed to biking hilly terrain. For adventurous cyclists looking to do a DIY bike tour either in the city or surrounding areas, they provide maps of their favorite bike routes. They also provide informational resources on bike repair, bike parking and bike security in the city.
Seattle Cycling Tours
seattle-cycling-tours.com
