Kirkland’s annual cycling event filled city streets with more than 1,000 bikes and riders on Memorial Day as a fundraiser to help end homelessness on the Eastside.

7 Hills of Kirkland is expected to meet or exceed the goal of raising $100,000 to support Attain Housing.

“We’re pretty sure we at least hit that mark,” said Cheri Kilty, Attain’s executive director. “[In addition to registration fees,] a lot of people also gave donations.”

Last year, the event raised $111,000 and included 1,016 cyclists, and Kilty said not much had changed from the last running.

“That money will go to support our ability to help homeless families with children,” Kilty said.

The event celebrated 16 years, having begun in 1996 with a four-year hiatus from 1998-2001. The ride now has a cap of 1,500 participants, and includes three route options.

The Traditional 7 Hills route runs 38 miles in and around Kirkland. The Metric Century route extends 58 miles into rural King County, and the Century route stretches 99 miles eastward into the Snoqualmie Valley.

All three routes finished at Marina Park in Kirkland.

Linda Larson of Kirkland and Marie Cermak of Bellevue both work for EvergreenHealth, the event’s title sponsor, and have been riding together for four or five years. The two stopped to enjoy strawberry shortcake after finishing the ride at Marina Park.

“It was great,” Cermak said of the ride. “It’s a great route. I mean, you get your exercise and you still have a whole day to do what you need to do. It’s a really nice way to get out.”

Larson said she had been riding in the event for around 10 years, and though the route — Cermak and Larson took the shortest of the three options — was a little crowded, they were still able to take their time and enjoy the many stops along the way.

The final fundraising numbers were tallied on Thursday, June 2, after the Reporter’s press deadline.