Ride around Bainbridge

Bainbridge Island bicycling

Are you coming over to the island to ride your bike around?  We think that’s a great idea.

We love where we live, and one of the things that makes it great is all of the fun places there are to ride a bike, and the scenery you get to enjoy while you ride along.

Bainbridge Island cycling is mostly road riding, with miles of rolling, narrow rural and suburban-style lanes.  There are some dedicated bicycle lanes throughout the island, as well as some mixed-use paths and hiking trails.

Although it seems like Bainbridge should be flat, being an island at sea level, it is not.  Bainbridge is hilly!  We can give you a 30 mile route on the island that will include 3500 feet of climbing!

Bring a cyclocross bike to the island and we’ll show you how cyclocross phenom Zach McDonald got his start.  There are dozens of great little trails interspersed with a mile here and a mile there of gravel road or paved road connecting it all together.

Area Lodging

Considering a visit to Bainbridge Island with your bicycle?  Cyclists of all varieties explore our island home and surrounding Kitsap County every year.  If you are planning an epic adventure here, keep in mind that your excursion doesn’t have to be immediately bookended by a long trip home.  Take a look at some of our favorite places to spend the night:

The Inn at Pleasant Beach

Located on the south end of the island, this new Inn is perfectly situated for some great rides.  Just outside the door stretches Crystal Springs road, one of the few flat places to ride on the rock.  Taking a left will send you pedaling through historic Fort Ward park, along South Beach drive, and (if you’re brave or stupid) up and over Toe Jam Hill’s 23 percent gradient.  The Inn itself is newly constructed, and sits across the street from the historic Lynwood movie theatre and the Treehouse Cafe (dinner and a movie)!

Check out the Inn here: http://www.pleasantbeachvillage.com/the-inn/

The Clearwater Casino Resort

The Clearwater resort is the place to stay if you want a big-city hotel experience here in little Kitsap County.  Overlooking the Agate Passage and the northern tip of Bainbridge Island, the resort puts you in the middle of some great road riding routes and about 5 miles from the Port Gamble trail area or the White Horse bike trails.  The hotel is modern and tastefully decorated.  The beds are great and the rooms are big.  Like any real resort, you get an indoor swimming pool and spa, and it’s a few steps away from the Clearwater casino and its restaurants.  There is a free shuttle bus that runs back and forth from the Bainbridge ferry dock to the resort.

The Clearwater Resort is here: http://www.clearwatercasino.com/hotel/

The Edgewater

So this pick is along the waterfront in downtown Seattle.  Actually it’s over the waterfront.  Built on a pier just downhill from the Space Needle, this is the place to stay if you have non-cyclists along with you on your trip to Bainbridge Island.  The Edgewater is situated really conveniently for you to hit all of the fun tourist attractions that downtown Seattle has to offer.  The hotel is bike-friendly (Jaime and Paul typically ride over to the Edgewater for Thanksgiving dinner and a night stay).  The Bainbridge ferry terminal is less than a mile down the waterfront.  By the way, the Edgewater has a fantastic restaurant called Six Seven that we highly recommend, and see if you can book one of the rooms that either the Beatles or Led Zeppelin have stayed in…

The Edgewater is here:  http://www.edgewaterhotel.com/