Gordonm

I have been considering riding to the beach this summer a few times, 50 mile trip. I have driven this route hundreds of times so I know every inch of the road. The only part that bothers me is crossing the 4 bridges that go to the island. The 3 small ones are no problem but there is a large one with very little road for a biker. It is heavily traveled also. There is a sidewalk walkway but with road shoes this is a long walk and I really don't want to walk it. The bridge is probably about 1/2 mile long. I want to ride it but I know it will really piss off a lot of drivers. There is a lot of short tempers around here and it might be quite dangerous. What to do???

lebowitz

Ride slowly on the walkway?

Keith99

Or even perhaps not all that slowly. Next time you drive look to see how many (few) Peds there are. Probably not too many if it really is 1/2 mile.

joejack951

What beach are you riding to? It sounds like you are heading into Ocean City from Somers Point. Is the bridge two lanes in each direction?

Gordonm

LBI. The causeway bridge. There are actually 4 bridges but the other 3 are very small and I have been over two of them on my bike.

SonataInFSharp

Ride on the sidewalk on the bridge. (I wouldn't consider this the same type of "sidewalk riding" as in a residential neighborhood, etc.)

randya

the diehard vehicular cyclists would insist that you ride on the bridge deck in traffic ; I would suggest the sidewalk

noisebeam

How wide is the walkway? What borders the left right sides of walkway?

The OP said it was a long walk in bike shoes. That suggests to me that it may not be comfortable to ride on, even at slow speeds.

Al

ekitel

I always ride on bridge sidewalks even when it says to dismount, if I need to get past some pedestrians I just stop and straddle my bike until they walk past me, that way I'm giving them even more space than if I had been walking the bike, this almost never happens anyway, most people consider any destination that's on the other side of a bridge to be too far to walk

Gordonm

This is definitly not a pedestrian bridge although some do walk it. Traffic on one side the concrete wall and railing on the other side. It looks to be about standard sidewalk width. I'll have to look closer next time I go across the bridge. It does have a lot of small stones and trash, possibly broken bottles on the sidewalk. Might have to think about flat tires on this. I'll have to investigate the sidewalk a little closer. Looks like a slow ride on the sidewalk would be my best bet.

joejack951

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...wloc=addr&om=1

Is this the bridge? If so, it's two lanes each way and that sidewalk looks TINY. No way in h e l l would I bother riding on it with so little margin for error between falling into traffic or into the causeway I'd walk the long walk if I didn't want to ride in the traffic lanes.

I'll post this not only to chap randya's hide but also because this is how I would ride this bridge: take the lane, take the lane, take the lane. Centerish to possibly left tire track depending on how busy things are. There's a whole wide open passing lane for everyone who can't wait to sit in traffic on the island. The whole bridge surface appears to be blacktop or concrete so there's no worries about steel deck grating that gives some cyclists fits. Riding a bridge like this is no less safe than riding an arterial road with a high curb and in fact, I'd wager that it's safer as you have no possible threats from either side and about the best sightlines for passing traffic that you'll ever encounter. Looks like a great bike ride to me

john bono

+1

This is a four lane bridge, not a two lane bridge. If you reach that bridge before 10am on a weekend, I doubt there would be much traffic to deal with anyway.

Brusheda

I had the same dillema earlier this year. I ended up claiming my right to the road when I felt good and could ride at a reasonable speed. Other times, when was tired or riding into a head wind, I rode on the sidewalk. The few pedestrians didn't seem to put out but I was lucky not to get any flats on all the glass.

Gordonm

Yes that is the bridge. A 4 lane, two each way. Seeing that it is the only bridge to the 18 mile island it is VERY heavily traveled. Friday afternoon and Saturday mornings are the worst. Saturdays are the rental changeovers so it is real bad. Taking the lane is going to be highly hazerdous. It is a fairly long climb and the cars are zipping by at 60+ mph. I may leave on Fridays at 12 noon and that should get me to the bridge at 2:30 to 3 which would not be as bad. Still a lot of traffic but not to heavy yet. I'll survey it a little better next time down. The sidewalk is very narrow as I recall.

slowandsteady

Is there another route?

joejack951

How much experience do you have riding multilane high speed roads? From experience, it takes some guts to try it out the first time, but taking lane on these types of roads can be quite a pleasant experience. If you don't ride with a mirror, using one might help ease your fear of motorists coming from behind you. With a mirror, it's easy to see most everyone slowing and changing lanes before they get anywhere near you. For those who don't, a look back and a slight move left let's them know that there is no way they are getting by you without changing lanes. If you'd feel more comfortable going at a time with less traffic, then you might as well do that if you can. Sometimes though, higher congestion leads to slower speeds overall which is never a bad thing while cycling (if they are going to be moving faster than you, the last fast the more pleasant).

Gordonm

No. This is the only bridge to the Island.
I guess I'll just have to give it a try and see how the motorist react. So I get a few horns honked at me.

noisebeam

I agree based on my experience.
But my experience is riding on 45-50mph posted multilane roads in curb bounded NOL at 15-25mph with fairly heavy traffic.

If it is a 60mph road with a significant uphill maybe resulting in 10mph then it could get more tedious perhaps with a potential 60mph speed differential. (assuming 10-15mph typical speeding)

Al

banerjek

I hate bridges and have a few to cross myself where there is no space. I'm not sure what the best thing to do is, but I watch my mirrors and drift way left to make sure traffic sees me and slows down. Then I drift right and hammer on the pedals. My experience is that if it if you can get things slowed down and it looks like you are trying your best not to slow things down, it's not so unsafe and motorists won't abuse you even though you are holding them up.

BTW, if traffic is heavy, don't be afraid to stop and wait for a gap that will let you pull in. The last thing you want is people tailgating each other at high speeds blowing by you since many of them won't even know you're there. A bit of drift could be VERY dangerous.

Also, beware of oversize loads. These often hang over on the right.

Blue Jays

The population "swing" of Long Beach Island (LBI), New Jersey goes from less than 35,000 to nearly a million people at the height of the summer. I learned this in a meterology class in college many years ago. They were talking about areas of the country that would encounter extreme difficulty in the event of violent weather. LBI would be problematic trying to evacuate a HUGE summer population off a thin barrier island over very few bridges.

The roadway described by the OP has a very narrow sidewalk that is raised off the roadway. If one were to "bobble" while riding across it, they could either flip over the railing down to the water surface below, or ride 6"-8" off the sidewalk and into the traffic lane, which could catch a motorist off-guard. From what can be seen, the best bet would be to ride swiftly and predictably in the traffic lane at an off-peak time. Do it very early in the morning (as in before dawn) and traffic would be decreased in the area. Friday night (when the season renters arrive) or Saturday morning (when weekly renters arrive) would be the most brutal in terms of car traffic.

joejack951

That is a good point, Al. My guess, based on similar roads in the area is that the speed limit on that bridge is 45mph (even the freeway bridges that I've been on in NJ are marked that low). It might even be 35. Not the speed limit keeps traffic to that speed but people are more likely to be going 45-55 than 60-70 with a 45mph speed limit. At 10mph, the biggest step is getting a "backlog" of motorists stuck behind you. This won't take long in heavy traffic. Once you have that, the rest is just waving hello to the honkers (who will be wishing they were moving at 10mph instead of stuck at a standstill in traffic once on the island).

noisebeam

Maybe I was confused I thought it was said to be a 60mph road. Anyway, it seems clear the only option is to walk on narrow sidewalk or take the lane. I would do the later, but wouldn't see any issue with walking either.

Drivers need to learn when they see a cyclist in lane ahead they should prepare to merge as soon as possible, put signal on as soon as they see cyclist and stay back 100' even if they need to slow to cyclist speed. This makes it easier for them to merge.
Drivers who come up right behind cyclist/vehicle make it much harder on themselves to merge.
Anyway this is merging 101, applicable for passing any vehicle at any speed differential, but more important as the differential increases. Seems to be a forgotten skill.

Al

joejack951

He did mention traffic "zipping by at 60mph." I don't doubt that people go that fast but I highly doubt that 60mph is the speed limit.

I would say that about 50% of motorists who see me in the lane while they are going full speed merg early enough that they barely have to slow. It's the other 50% who do not who then cause a big backlog of motorists waiting to pass as they drive 20 feet behind me with their signal on (as if someone in the left lane will slow to 10mph to let them in). It wouldn't be so bad if the following motorists could see what's going on but often they cannot and end up trapped as well. This can be discouraging especially when the first motorist had ample time to change lanes but did not.

The good news on a bridge like this is that once you hit the top and start going down, you'll be going much closer to the speed of traffic and things should go a lot smoother.

AGGRO

spd's and good hiking shoes

maddyfish

Ride across the bridge.