August 9, 2015
Scott Kelby (Lightroom and general photography instructor) says if you want to take beautiful pictures you have to go out and stand in front of beautiful things. The blogging corollary to that is: if you want to blog about interesting things you have to go out and participate in interesting things. I’ve been lax in that regard the past few weeks of my first summer being retired. I’ve absolutely reveled in enjoying the glorious days in the grownup version of kids’ summers: daydreaming the days away.
But my sister-in-law kicked us in gear getting us signed up for the Providence Bridge Pedal and Stride. Portland is a city of bridges and once a year they close down many of them to cars, trucks, and busses and open them up to bike riders and walkers. Over 18,000 people showed up this year and participated in one of the six events. Bicyclists can choose between two, seven, nine, or eleven bridges. Here is the nine-bridge route
Walkers (that’s us) cross two bridges on a six plus mile walk.
The two bridges we crossed are perfect for this event. Crossing east we took the top level of the I5 Marquam Bridge.
We often drive across this bridge when we go to the east side (left to right in the photo above) and wish we could stop and take a picture since you get such a terrific view of downtown Portland. Today we could
As I mentioned above, this is a hugely popular event; there was a party at the apex of the bridge arch. Almost everyone stopped to take in the view.
After crossing the river we headed south for our return trip and caught a picture of the Hawthorne Bridge. You can see many Bridge Pedal enthusiasts crossing.
We crossed back to the west bank on the brand new Tilikum Crossing! This bridge will only be used by the MAX light rail system, bicyclists and pedestrians. Portland is a big biking town so having a bridge for cyclists will take a lot of pressure off the other spans. I’ve been champing at the bit to get on the bridge and today was my chance.
Tilikum is a word used by the indigenous people meaning “friend” or “welcome”.
It was a beautiful day for a walk and we got great views of our beautiful city.
3 thoughts on “Providence Bridge Stride”