Big Bridge Crossing - And Illegal Of Course (VIDEO)
 

My bud has been obsessed with crossing the Mississippi River on the Interstate 310 bridge aka the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge. He picked a perfect day (today) and invited me along ('cause not too many people around here would want to do that). I wore the helmet cam, for your enjoyment.

The bridge is 10,700 feet long and about 160' clearance underneath. Otherwise, wide shoulder and a no brainer. This is what we do between commutes!

To The Video (8:25)

First video of 2010. Not a bad way to start.

Cheers!

One of my fave Zep tracks that happens to be off my fave Zep album

The freewheel down the other side looks worth the climb

Is that a dedicated cycle path?

that took some stones. ive crossed the bourne bridge just walking my bike across and nearly soiled myself...

Cool video. The view is nice on the coasting part. I wonder if that bridge has ever been crossed by bicycle before.

love it. two thumbs up.

i need a cam.

So, were you having second thoughts when that wide load house on a trailer went by? :) Great video.

Wow, that is high up there in the middle.

Beautiful. Well done, sir.

What was your max speed on the downhill?

Answers to above Questions:

Not a bike path. It is illegal to bike on Interstate highways in Louisiana. Windy days up there are challenging in a car, so you would not want this as a must-do commute.

The bridge has been biked before, many times, especially before it was absorbed by I-310. Long distance bike touring folks will occasionally use it still and a few folks like us who just want to do it once, or once in a while.

Yes - the wide load right at the beginning made me think "Hmmm...would we have enough room for that sort of thing near the top when we lose a lane?"

Max speed on the downhill low 30s. We had to avoid those reflectors up until the exit ramp. Then, of course, EVERYBODY decided to exit at once, which is crazy because that is not a popular exit. If we had that exit to ourselves we would have used the lane (instead of the shoulder) and ramped up the max speed. No biggie.

My only worry setting out was the thought of getting confronted by some over-reacting cop. We both had no problem with getting a few tickets to pay. Taking our bikes away and throwing us in the slammer would not be so funny. We had a friend on standby for our one phone call just in case.

Makes my palms sweat.

What Zep song you talkin' about?
Black Water by the Doobies & Bridge of Sighs by Robin Trower...

The Crunge http://www.amazon.com/The-Crunge/dp/...sr=8-1-catcorr

Thanks frpax I was going to ask about the second tune.

That really is an impressive sight from the top. A great advert for your part of the world. Shame it can't be cycled though ;)

Great Video...... Always entertaining......... Thanks !

Nucking futz! Awesome! I've been wanting to ride the Verrazzano Bridge in NY, but I'd get busted ate the toll booths, I'm sure. I've wanted this since I'd done it during Bike New York Ride in 2007, which is the only time you can ride your bike over this bridge, one level of the bridge is closed off for the event. It's just it's not the same with thousands of bikes around you so you can't pick up any real speed on the way down.

Cool stuff. I love bridges. Williamsburg Bridge is the highlight of my commute :)

Bridges is all we got here in the flats.

Check out OUR NEXT VICTIM.

It's called The Green Monster by local cyclists. Just like the 310 bridge, this one (now part of Interstate 510) used to be a state highway that lots of cyclists used for training rides. One of my friends told me that about halfway up he wanted to throw his bike off the thing and walk back down. People still bike over it without any problems from the law, but I think Sunday early AM is the best bet here.

No date has been set. We will just enjoy the last one for a while.

If I'm looking at the right thing on Google, there isn't much shoulder there, right? So yeah, early Sunday sounds about right.

No shoulder to speak of but MUCH less traffic volume than the one we just rode. This one is a sprint up and tuck down spending as little time as possible on the thing. Yeah...it's a Sunday sunrise ride or forget it. I expect to hit 50+ on the downside.

Great video. Loved the wide-load trailer. :eek: Other than that seemed safe enough. Luckily no rumble strips or big debris.