Several bottlenecks last year resulted
in waiting and walking.
(Photo © 2007/J. Maus)
in waiting and walking.
(Photo © 2007/J. Maus)
In response to feedback and negative publicity last year, organizers of Bridge Pedal have announced that they’ll make a few changes for the 2008 edition.
In an email sent out this morning, they said the 20,000 or so Bridge Pedalers who will take part in the ride will have “more room on the road.” Unlike in years past this year participants will get two full lanes on the Ross Island Bridge and organizers say the course will require “less merging of large group of riders”.
Also, in order to accomodate MAX light rail construction, the traditional ten-bridge ride will cross just eight bridges and will make two crossings each of the Marquam and Broadway spans. Check out more on the routes here.
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Last year, we spent almost as much time stopped or walking our bikes slowly forward wheel-to-wheel with other folks as we did actually riding. Even when we were riding, it was so slow that we could barely stay clipped in. As much as I love cruising down the Fremont, I\’m probably going to pass this year – just not nearly as fun as it could be.
Any more detail on how they\’re going to give more room on the road, other than one more lane on the Ross Island? And how exactly are they solving the problem of too many bikers in too little space (merging)?
pretty sure you meant to say \’fewer\’ bridges 🙂
I\’ve done mechanical support for the Bridge Pedal on a number of occasions. With that experience in mind, I offer a gentle nudge to those of you who are planning on doing this ride.
Please, take your bike to get tuned up NOW. Please don\’t wait til the week before. Shops get slammed and as they say, a lack of preparation on your part does not constitute and emergency on their part.
And even if your bike is in good working order, please remember to air up the tires.
This all sounds very basic, but you\’d be amazed at what goes on out there at that ride. It\’s crazy.
Oh, and take a fiver with you in case you need a new tube, and a couple of bucks to tip the mechanic (often a volunteer) who saves your day.
And take LOTS of water.
I too will take this year off, and hopefully join up in the future when the pedal becomes fun again. At least the problem is that it\’s too popular, but I\’m into riding, and not walking.
Your picture is the Sellwood bridge, not the Ross Island.
\”Your picture is the Sellwood bridge, not the Ross Island.\”
thanks. i changed the photo.
As it seems that 80% of the riders in the bridge pedal just want to go across the Fremont, why not allow a \”Fremont only\” choice when signing up for the pedal? This would put the highest density of riders on the bridge that can handle it and keep the large numbers off the other bridges where the bottlenecks happen.
After last year\’s traffic jam I won\’t be taking part in a Bridge Pedal for some time…but I would probably be happy to give up a $20 bill to ride across the Fremont.
I wouldn\’t think I\’m alone.
I won\’t be back until the organizers segregate the event with early starts (pre-7:30 AM) for those who wish to ride it quickly and restrict the family riders, bridge photographers, bike funsters, and lazy day in the saddle riders to later in the morning.
Everyone should be able to get their brand of bike fun for the entry fee. No one should risk their steed or skin due to poor logistics, the masses\’ lack of riding etiquette, and fair weather riders with poor handling skills.
Riding across the Fremont when it\’s covered with sponsor booths like Starbucks with people gawking and look-looing around the middle isn\’t much fun. Maybe they should also keep a lane free for thru traffic on that bridge (and the Marquam for that matter) for those not getting free handouts of crap at the rest areas. I\’m all for the scenic photo op part.)
The jam at the Ross Island is totally lame. Yay for trying to alleviate that bottle neck, although it\’s a fun lesson in physics of flow dynamics.
I did the ride once as a volunteer on-ride mechanic and I will never participate again. tonyt summed it up for me in post 3.
Sure the ride has problems, but I have enjoyed it, even despite the massive bottleneck last year. This ride is the way I get newbies out to start riding. Although I do like Brad\’s suggestion in #8 to segregate the speedsters from the family cruisers. That is a great idea.
You\’ve probably benefitted from someone (a mechanic, a course monitor) who gave their time to make your experience a good one. If you\’re thinking of \”taking the year off\” from the Bridge Pedal, maybe it\’s time to give something back?
I volunteered to help cars route around the closed Willamette Blvd. last year instead of riding, and found volunteering has its own sense of accomplishment.
They do have an earlier start–6:30 for the whole route. You can be done before the real mess begins as the family ride doesn\’t start before 9.
My 5-year old and I did the 10 bridge route last year on our tandem and just had a little wait on the Ross Island. He\’ll be stoked when I tell him we\’re doing 11 bridges this year!
Not this year. Problem with last year was that they scheduled the 8 bridge ride to embark on the same route as the 10 bridge ride, perfectly timed so they\’d be riding the same route at the same time.
Here we go again, half an hour into the 11 bridge ride, they meet up with the 8 bridge riders just starting out on exactly the same route. Compare the maps.
So if you\’re going for the long route, you\’ll have to hammer through the crowds if you want to get through the north end of the ride before they close it. Possible, but dangerous.
They couldn\’t have done a better job of planning a gridlock.
That picture (kind of) reminded me of what I saw this morning while trying to cross the Broadway Bridge around 7:00 AM. The Navy boats were leaving so the bridge was up. I came up to the bridge right as it was closing and I was almost back to the sidewalk before the bridge begins. It was amazing looking down and seeing at least a hundred cyclists! I wish I had my camera.
I thought the traffic jam before the Ross Island was awesome. It was probably the coolest bikey thing I\’ve ever seen. Also, a few people starting ringing their bells and hearing it roll back through the crowd was rad. It went back and forth a few times. DIY Pink Floyd kinda action. I thought it was really cool. Yeah, I did a lot of standing around, but I also got to talk to a lot of cool people.
Why not combine Bride Pedal with Sunday Parkways and really have a community bike event?
I\’m pretty much done with the Bridge Pedal. It is a great event, and the congestion sucks, but it is a 100x more stressful riding in those conditions with a child in a Burley trailer. Its a great event, but it has become so popular, I\’ll look for other rides I can participate in with my kids.
Interesting to see the 35 mile ride starts near Legacy Hospital, while the other 2 are at the Waterfront. Is this intended to alleviate congestion at the startfinish line?
This reminds me of one of my favorite Yogi-isms: It\’s so crowded, nobody ever goes there anymore.
I think I\’ll do it this year, since all y\’all won\’t be there, it should be nice and roomy.