Thousands of riders swarmed the city during the 13th annual Bridge Pedal ride this morning.
I started just after sunrise on the 11-bridge route, which had a new start location. We hit the Fremont bridge first thing and then got to ride along I-405 for a few miles through the heart of downtown Portland. It sure was cool to see bikes take over the entire side of a freeway while cars sped by in the opposite direction.
As usual, I saw lots of smiling faces and riders of all ages, styles, and experience levels. I only saw one major crash; on the downhill (east) side of the Marquam Bridge a man went down very hard and was on a stretcher when I rode by.
Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling great this morning, so I packed it in early.
Reader Michael Kuhn reports that, “All in all, it was a much better ride than previous years.”
How was the ride for you? Did you see/experience anything interesting? How was the route? Any bottlenecks to report?
See the rest of my photos here or watch the slideshow below:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
UPDATE: Here are a few neat photos (including an Earl Blumenauer spotting!) from reader Mike Houck:
The massive crowd at the start of the 11-Bridge ride:
Congressman Earl Blumenauer helps start things off:
Another crowd shot, notice Blumenauer in blue long-sleeve shirt at bottom left:
— Read a good report on today’s ride by Erin Hoover Barnett in The Oregonian.