Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Chicago falling through steel bridges

Just got back from a ride and nearly killed myself on the steel grate bridge on Halsted near Division. I didn't actually wipe out but for a good second or two felt my tires slipping sideways almost into traffic. Anybody else have any such stories or advice from one of the many Chicago bridges? PS: I figured out it is impossible to get from the north side to the Loop without going over at least a few of these steel ruffians.

talk to absntr

use the sidewalk

also...

state, franklin, lake, and washington's grates are filled with concerete.

you can take clark, lincoln, ashland, or damen to avoid steel crossing the river...

i have learned my lesson.

They freaked me out pretty bad at first... however the wobbles themselves i don't think are enough to make you go down. It really does feel like you are going to topple over though. Loosen your elbows and stay in the saddle and ride it like normal asphalt and I guarantee that you won't go down unless you do something dumb (ie. don't try and skid, don't make any fast maneuvers, don't lock your elbows). If you are still fearful of them then i'd say just get up on the sidewalk for that section - though often times they have nasty parts and gaps too that could lead to pinch flats, etc.

I've had the same problem a couple of times. now i hop the sidewalk when ever it's wet out. it's scary as all hell.

Yeah, and I just remembered that on that particular bridge (Halsted at Division) there is a huge gap about two feet in width between the road surface and the side barrier. I could just see myself wiping out and plunging into the Chicago river with bike still attached to my feet. I would drown and it would totally ruin my Brooks. *gulp*

i can't even picture any of this. sounds pretty dangerous. i don't suppose anyone has a picture?

I'm gonna try to snap one next time I'm there. The bridge must be a hundred years old- total peril.

NOoooOoOOOOO NOT THE BROOKS.

But +1 for talking to absentr

Been there, this weather sucks....

on rainy days, i take the sidewalks on bridges, strictly. today was 8+ hours of annoyed pedestrians because i didn't want to die everytime i crossed the river at dearborn, or randolph, or lasalle, etc. grated bridges + water = getting really ****ing hurt. don't be afraid of the sidewalk on days of inclimate weather.

I propose that "pulling a Dave Matthews" be established as the official term for any mishap involving the $#%$& grate bridges.

I would also like to see a picture. I can't picture what they look like. We don't have grates here. Just rreaaly bad pot holes.

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/233567/2/istockphoto_233567_chicago_bridge.jpg

I've seen grated bridges around here like that. I couldn't imagine how you would fall into the river though?? If there's enough space to slip through that sounds unneccesarily dangerous.

oh, sweet, sweet wells. if only it would look that dry for the duration of the week.

Yes, dumping feces on people is cool. Dave matthews has been doing that for years now...

You wouldn't fall through the grate, he was talking about how the barrier on the side doesn't go all the way down, so if you were sliding on your side you could go underneath. The grate just gives you this awful tractionless vibration feeling, like all of a sudden the road turned into one of those vibrating tabletop soccer games and you're a top-heavy game piece.

Don't let the bridges unnerve you. Sure you'll get the wobbles, but the only real threat is slipping between two pannels. There are only two bridges that I know of with spaces like that: Lasalle and Cortland. Watch out for Cortland, I know three people who have been in accidents there!

Hey Naz.....post the brainfund poster.

i fell in this slit in the bridge/overpass thing over by chicago and halstead...just passing over it and my front wheel sank in.....my wheels were no more

I saw someone who bit it hard on the Chicago bridge. Their tire got stuck where the access panel was. The wheel was literally stuck up to the fork. I rode by just after the ambulance got there. It was not a pretty sight.

I try to avoid the metal bridges when it's wet out.

did't ryan almost die during an alleycat on one?
back in oct?
i bunny hop them so it isn't really an issue for me, but i could see how they might be a problem, I can feel them pulling the Tires when i drive my H2 while talking on my phone.

They freaked me out pretty bad at first... however the wobbles themselves i don't think are enough to make you go down. It really does feel like you are going to topple over though. Loosen your elbows and stay in the saddle and ride it like normal asphalt and I guarantee that you won't go down unless you do something dumb (ie. don't try and skid, don't make any fast maneuvers, don't lock your elbows). If you are still fearful of them then i'd say just get up on the sidewalk for that section - though often times they have nasty parts and gaps too that could lead to pinch flats, etc.


i concur, as a messenger i find it best to just ride it out if i have to go over it. The wells st. bridge can be a mighty wicked beast when it is 'sleety' out.

I cross the Cortland bridge all the time and as long as you keep to the right you're fine.

I have never felt THAT uneasy crossing bridges here. If you're on a road bike just coast across is and keep very still. On a fixie just let the cranks turn and don't apply any force.

I guess the worst is when there is ice all over them.

What would you guys say is the most dangerous of all the Chicago bridges? Where does the mostest accidents happen from what you've seen?

I've never seen a crash happen but the bridge that absntr ate isht on is notorious. Was that the La salle bridge?

i've ridden in races in both chicago and cleveland with stretches over such bridges. a friend of mine ate total ****ing **** going to one race in cleveland on a grated bridge that was wet from rain. it was bad news to the max.

the lasalle bridge sucks, it's got a parallel groove, about a half inch or so, that's easy to get your wheel(s) stuck in.

i can't even picture any of this. sounds pretty dangerous. i don't suppose anyone has a picture?

It sounds/looks like the trolley tracks that are so abundant here in Philly. Trolley tracks + tires <25c = not fun.

those bridges are a scary ride

Don't let the bridges unnerve you. Sure you'll get the wobbles, but the only real threat is slipping between two pannels. There are only two bridges that I know of with spaces like that: Lasalle and Cortland. Watch out for Cortland, I know three people who have been in accidents there!

wise words. i'm now realizing how many times i've crossed cortland without watching the bridge closely.

Cortland is fine going east, it's going west where you have to be careful. I cut through Finkl & Sons quite often and cross the bridge there carefully. Keep to the right as mentioned and you'll see the pseudo bike lane that's formed -- the plates have shifted to the right leaving a very open gap for a tire to jam to the left. Stay to the right of that and you'll be fine.

As for other bridges: LaSalle is the one I went down on during stage 4 of last year's Tour Da Chicago. I've visited it since and still can't quite make out where the cracks are or how I went down -- I was completely knocked out and came to in the hospital so I have no memory of where I was or how -- perhaps 165 can chime in where the spot was since he attended to me while the ambulance came. I'll just say that damage was substantial -- I had a mild brain haemorrhage (bruising and bleeding on the brain), numerous cats scans and x-rays and a 25K plus hospital bill. All in all, I came out fortunate.

A photo of such and more explanation is here: http://flickr.com/photos/absenter/7419575/

The bridges are well-known to the city. I've talked to people at the Chicago Bike Federation about the bridges and liability of such to cyclists and was fortunate to meet Kathy Schubert who is one of the biggest proponents of proper bike lanes on bridges and who you can thank for the sole bike lane that is on the Wells bridge. A similar thing happened to her (unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurence on many different bridges) and she petitioned and lobbied the city to get it across.

Two points here:
1) The city doesn't want to be liable for cyclists -- by providing for cyclists on bridges, they are now liable for it and if something happens to a cyclist on a bike lane provided bridge, the city can be blamed in part. By not prividing for cyclists on bridges, it is a "risk you take" thing. It keeps the city free from liability.
2) There is apparently a high cost with getting bridges fitted with bike lanes: the counterweights for the bridges have to be redone to accomodate for the added weight of the plates that get laid down to cover the gaps and holes and thus form the bike lane. The city doesn't want to do that either for all the bridges.

And so, in concession to Kathy Schubert's great efforts and CBF's backing of it, only the Wells street bridge is the official bike bridge.

I love the wells bridge!

naz, you've told me the story, but the pics make me truly understand. glad you're ok.



1) The city doesn't want to be liable for cyclists -- by providing for cyclists on bridges, they are now liable for it and if something happens to a cyclist on a bike lane provided bridge, the city can be blamed in part. By not prividing for cyclists on bridges, it is a "risk you take" thing. It keeps the city free from liability.


bureaucratic reasoning like this drives me insane. oh well, ride safely everyone.

the lasalle bridge sucks, it's got a parallel groove, about a half inch or so, that's easy to get your wheel(s) stuck in.

yeah, **** the lasalle bridge. that groove swallowed my front wheel. it ruined my fork, frame, rim, and dignity (if only temporarily). it was stuck for about ten minutes. i had to radio for help and it took two other people to remove it from the bridge's grasp.

i wish i had pictures.

If you take the sidewalk to avoid the grated bridges, make sure there arn't any stairs at the other side, like the Chicago Ave. bridge. I didn't realise there were stairs untill it was too late one rainy mornig, and wound up taking the stairs at a good clip. I tried to jump them, but wound up bailing pretty hard. I felt really stupid untill I found out that the same thing happened to at least two other couriers that I know of.

Where are the pics Naz?

ummmm...



A photo of such and more explanation is here: http://flickr.com/photos/absenter/7419575/

Why are these bridges constructed with steel grate in the first place? Are they articulated to allow boat travel beneath them?

they're drawbridges, so they need to be light.

and they have to be able to be pulled up quickly to stop the marauding hoardes of disaffected, virulent office workers from spreading chaos to the rest of the city. I've seen the doomsday scenarios where they trap us all in the loop and unleash a super-virus, a la resident evil.

I'm bored in my office.

going north out of the loop, the Franklin st. bridge is paved. Doesn't get any better than that.

the first bridge mentioned was part of my daily line when i lived in chicago, traveling to lakeview from pilsen and back again. i don't remember the gaps being big enough that one could actually fall into the river; at most they're ten or twelve inches between the grating and the guard rail, but i do remember being incredibly sketched out and having to mentally talk myself through each one each time.

Did you ever look down at the water through the grate while riding over a bridge and have a passing barge unexpectedly come into your field of vision? It scares the daylights out of you and adds a little vertigo to make the tire wobble fearfest more intense.

We have a bridge like that in Boston on North Washington where it crosses over into Charlestown. I hate it. I hate it with a passion. Its easy to get up on the sidewalk on the Boston side but there is a large construction like barrier on the Charlestown side so you have to ride down the sidewalk quite a bit to get back on the street. To make it worse the Freedom Trail or heritage trail or whatever runs along that sidewalk so you have to deal with rather large tour groups sometimes. The sidewalk along the side of the actual bridge is also grated but there are some sheet metal plates laying on top of it in two long strips. However...the edges are all corroded and jagged so you dont really want to go straight onto them or you run the risk of tearing your tires apart. Thankfully I know of few bridges like that in Boston and my runs to Charelestown were minimal.

Why are these bridges constructed with steel grate in the first place? Are they articulated to allow boat travel beneath them?

There are dozens of them in Chicago, since the Chicago River disects downtown as it flows west from the lake (yes, it's engineered to flow from the lake into the river) and then it branches north and south, so pretty much every major street near downtown has a drawbridge. It's cool to see when the armadas of sailboats come through, but the grates are freaky to ride.

Learned my lesson on the Chicago Ave bridge sidewalk with the steps... damn near killed myself. Thankfully when I was living down there I was riding 26x1.75 slicks, which helped a great deal.

It was bound to happen...

Currently, there's a longitudinal groove on the Courtland bridge (heading west) that I really don't remember having been there in the last two years. Anyway, I got my front tire stuck in there tonight, had a quick grip of panic, but somehow yanked myself out without going down. Goes without saying that I took a nice chunk out of that tire and put some gashes in my rim, but hey---small price to pay to feel like a real Chicagoan.

It was bound to happen...

Currently, there's a longitudinal groove on the Courtland bridge (heading west) that I really don't remember having been there in the last two years. Anyway, I got my front tire stuck in there tonight, had a quick grip of panic, but somehow yanked myself out without going down. Goes without saying that I took a nice chunk out of that tire and put some gashes in my rim, but hey---small price to pay to feel like a real Chicagoan.

It has been there at least since I moved here last September. About 3-4 feet to the left of the curb, right? Glad you're ok, Nat. Scary isht