I did the bridge pedal a few years ago and it was sort of cool to ride across the Fremont and the the Marquam bridges but it also sort of sucked to stand around waiting at certain spots where it bottlenecks. I think its great that so many peolpe come out for this but a lot of riders looked like this was the only time they actually swing their leg over a bike. I do admit we started a little later than we wanted so we were stuck way back in the throng of people. And I realize this is a fun ride (although a couple of our group didn't) and intended for more of a touring pace.
Well it's been three or four years and I wanted to do it again this year but I'm not sure which route to do, 8 or 10 bridges. The 10 bridge route goes down the springwater trail which seems to me would cause a huge bottleneck. Did they run this route last year? Or would it be better to skip the Sellwood bridge and just do 8 bridges. I ride the sidewalk on the Sellwood to go up through the cemetary a lot on my lunch rides but it would be nice to ride it without the fear of getting creamed by traffic or yelled at by disgruntled joggers.
Anyone do this ride recently?

I did the Bridge Pedal last year but I can't remember how many bridges we crossed. There was construction on one of the north bridges so it was excluded. Last year some peabrain decided it would be a good idea to hold a half marathon that the same time. A bunch of bikers (many very inexperienced as you mentioned) mixed with a bunch of runners was just a bad idea. There were times where they wanted the bikers and runners to cross paths to get into the correct lanes. Crazy! :rolleyes:

Go out in one of the first couple of groups. You should be able to cruise through the route without much trouble. As the day goes on it just gets more and more congested.

after doing the Torture 10,000 the day before, I decided to take it easy on Sunday and drive back to Seattle early.