bridge walk

On unday, Dh and I were two of the 13thousand bicyclists and pedestrians who took part in the annual Providence Bridge Pedal.  Some of the city's ten bridges are shut down temporarily, or a few lanes are blocked off, or bicyclists are restricted to established bike paths, but a strong and dedicated cyclist can cross all the bridges in one morning if he or she so desires.  We saw the ten bridge wave getting started.  Not more then four ounces of fat between the whole 2 thousand of them.  Calves tanned, with muscles  standing up in knots and ridges.  Many parents towing kids in small trailers or  on those cute little tandem-for-tots bikes.  There were hand-pedaled bikes, recumbent bikes, any number of trikes, and these bizzare eliptical trainers on wheels where you stand up and run sort of.  And one unicycle.  On the shortest ride, the 6 bridge ride, there were swarms of little kids on their bikes and what madness that must have been, trying to wrangle a passle of young'uns for six miles, up and down over all those bridges!

DH and I walked.  I'm no good on a bike.  I like to look around me and I keep steering into trouble.

But to walk, you need the proper shoes.  Like these.

 Or these breezy trekker sandals (Though they would wear holes in my feet in no time.)

Or these . . . ah, wait a minute.

 This nice lady was quite happy to take the five mile hike in her strudy sandals.  Good for her!!

 There were a lot of us packed into a rather small area by 7:30 in the morning.  The event was wonderfully well organized, and our path was marked the full five miles with purple arrows.  No one stood the slightest chance of getting lost.  DH and I were just happy lemmings and went with the flow.

 There is something rebellious in me that delights in walking where usually cars hold sway.  A section of freeway shut down entirely fr a few hours to let bicycles and feet rule.

 And this is the bridge I wanted to walk across.  Ever since it was built, I have wanted to walk across it.  If you look closely, you can see the swarms of speedier walkers ascending to the crest. 

This walk was rather hard for DH because there is a certain touch of race horse in him, and being passed is not his favorite thing.  But he is married to a fat old woman who will not speed walk.

Slow and steady does it!! (Omigawd I'm getting fat!  Back to Weight Watchers for me!)

 Portland really is such a beautiful city.  I took scads of photos (while more people passed us.  Poor DH)  There were booths handing out free energy bars and bottles of water.  And, since the bikes were coming along shortly, there was a mobile bike mechanic set up to help with repairs.  And a first aid station of course.




There weree taiko drummers at the crest to encourage us. They were wonderful, and I felt encouraged!


 

 The crowd thinned out on the down hill leg.  Then we wandered through some interesting sections of the city I have never visited.  There are gentrified little residential pockets tucked into the unlikeliest corners!  I would have said the area was pure industrial, and I would have been so wrong!  Finally, we found our way to the Broadway bridge.

The fair Willamette river and the just-crossed Fremont Bridge.  I'm so proud of myself!!
I made the whole trip without blisters or shin splints, - but I forgot that some talcum in the crevices would have helped things along mightily.  A little butt-dusting as it were.  What an area to develop hot spots.

I went to bed early.  I know, there are any number of you who could have run five miles before breakfast, but I am pleased as punch that I was able to walk it, and yay for me!  (DH was good for another two or three hours of 3.5 mph, but I was worn OUT.)  Soooo, what's next?