Portland Bridge Pedal
Today was organized chaos at its best. There were an estimated 18,000 cyclists on the bridges of Portland today.
The first half was an incredibly frustrating ride due to "traffic jams" caused by funneling cyclists from wide roads onto narrow trails, from slow downs and stoppages at the top of bridges as people stopped to take in the sights, try to grab some refreshments, get pictures taken, etc.
Once the route hit highway 30, it was clear sailing, except for the occasional bunch of riders who don't quite seem to know to keep right if you're not passing someone... Then up the St. John's Bridge and onto a long downhill on Willamette Drive back to the center of Portland. This second half was much more enjoyable, as I finally got to maintain a nice, steady 20+ mph on the flats, and 35+ mph on the downhill.
I rode 33.33 miles (according to my bicycle computer, though the official route was supposed to be 35 miles) over ten bridges. The computer says the front wheel was rolling about 2 hours and 40 minutes, though I know I was on course for considerably longer than that.
For me, it's much more stressful to be plodding along and trying to pass bunches of riders than it is to ride alongside 55 mph highway traffic. I had a little nap after getting back home to recover from the morning stress.
-Mark
The first half was an incredibly frustrating ride due to "traffic jams" caused by funneling cyclists from wide roads onto narrow trails, from slow downs and stoppages at the top of bridges as people stopped to take in the sights, try to grab some refreshments, get pictures taken, etc.
Once the route hit highway 30, it was clear sailing, except for the occasional bunch of riders who don't quite seem to know to keep right if you're not passing someone... Then up the St. John's Bridge and onto a long downhill on Willamette Drive back to the center of Portland. This second half was much more enjoyable, as I finally got to maintain a nice, steady 20+ mph on the flats, and 35+ mph on the downhill.
I rode 33.33 miles (according to my bicycle computer, though the official route was supposed to be 35 miles) over ten bridges. The computer says the front wheel was rolling about 2 hours and 40 minutes, though I know I was on course for considerably longer than that.
For me, it's much more stressful to be plodding along and trying to pass bunches of riders than it is to ride alongside 55 mph highway traffic. I had a little nap after getting back home to recover from the morning stress.
-Mark
posted by Mark at 7:37 PM
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