Breakfast on the Bridge Goes To the Dogs!

Last week the Walnut Street Bridge was opened to the dogs.  It has been opened before but the failure of dog owners to pick up after their dogs and to keep them under control resulted them getting banned.  But local dog lovers have been working hard in educating dog owners and working with city officials, so it was decided to give it a try again.

So for Breakfast on the Bridge we had several dog visitors.  Next week we will have doggie treats to hand out and bowls for water.  We don't want to leave anyone out!

6 Bridge Route

This is my entry for the last phase of the summer Games for LGRB.  I combined two events into one-I know that is a point loser but hopefully it won't disqualify me.  I took the long ride to work and rode on our greenway to do it.

   Any time I take the long way around to something it usually includes the RiverWalk.  It just is a nice way to go.

   My starting point for this ride was the Y  Here is my bike at the bike rack (that Q installed).

I turned right instead of left out of the Y.  It is a straight 2 mile shot from the Y to my studio.  Today I am going a big loop around.

Turning from 6th Street, right onto MLK and then right onto RiverFront Parkway.

Under the Olgati Bridge. I never mention this bridge because Interstate 27 goes over it and I don't ride my bike on it.  So getting underneath it is the only way to experience it on my bike.

 Here I am approaching the Market Street (John Ross) Bridge.  This picture was taken as the lanes were reduced from 4 to 2.  As you can see, traffic is very light, lanes are wide and until this point there were multiple lanes.  It is strange that on this street I was agressively honked and yelled at not once but twice.  I wasn't on it longer then 3 minutes.  It is hard to predict when drivers are going to take strong exception to you being on the road with them.

Under the Market Street Bridge.

Under the Walnut Street Bridge.  I am usually writing about crossing the top of the bridge.  It is rare view to see it from below.

This is the glass pedestrian bridge  I wanted to take a picture as somebody was crossing it, but  traffic was light and nobody came over while I was crossing.

This is crossing a bridge by crossing a bridge.  I am now on the Riverwalk on the bridge over looking the Veterans Bridge.

The RiverWalk. I just went on a little bit of it, up to UTC.  If I had time I  would have gone furthur, at least up to Wilcox and have continued to work that way.

Going through UTC I went up Vine Street instead of Oak. Oak is really nicer but I enjoy going down Vine everyonce in a while.  Oak Street looks pretty much as it did when I went to school there so many years ago, but Vine seems to be always changing with new buildings.  This view didn't exist 30 years ago.

Then I continued on to work in my usual way over the McCallie viaduct.  My camaera had died so I couldn[t take a picture of that bridge.  All in all, I went under, or over 5 bridges on this route to work-and never crossed the river!

Riverbend Parking

  For the last few years, there has been bike valet parking at Riverbend.  I volunteered on Saturday but I did go by and visit on Friday.  Since going by the parking site is on my way home, I guess I will be going by it every night of Riverbend, unless I am actually doing more volunteering at it.

Sydney, Chase and Jennifer are waiting for the bikes.  It is still early, so only a few bikes have come, but they will be coming.  Saturday we were filled to capacity with almost 125 bikes coming in to be parked.

The bikes are coming!

Sunset over the aquarium

Q taking in bikes

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The littlest biker (don't worry, he does have a helmet)

   It was good seeing all the people riding their bikes to the festival.  Why wouldn't they?  They got the best parking of all and the use of a clean port-a-potty without a line.  Riding the bike is truly the easiest way of getting in and out of Riverbend-except for fireworks night.  That night the Walnut Street Bridge will be closed, so I don't even plan on coming to the south side of the river.  But until then,  I will be coming around.  Maybe I will actually go into Riverbend.

B on B Friday

  Another Friday, another Breakfast on the Bridge.  The breakfast seems to attract out-of-towners.  Many of the people crossing the bridge in the mornings are intense.  They are intent on getting to work, intent on their exercise, or just intent on not getting mixed up with that crazy looking bunch on the bridge.

  But people from out of town are more relaxed.  If they are coming over the bridge typically they are in exploration mode and always seem pleasantly surprised to be invited for coffee by complete strangers.

   This is Rob, and oh no, I am forgetting his wife's name. (sorry, if you are reading this, please forgive me; my memory is not what it used to be).  But I do remember they were from Kentucky and were on their way to St. Simon.  Chattanooga was an overnight stop and though they didn"t get in to the city till after midnight, they were up early for an exploratory bike ride. 

  Visitors from Kentucky, I hope you had a pleasant visit in Chattanooga.  Come back soon!

A Tragic Breakfast

Breakfast on the bridge is always interesting. This morning though had a tragic aspect to it as those of us on the Walnut Street Bridge were witness to the aftermath of a suicide jump from the Market Street Bridge. We watched as she and would be rescuers were pulled out of the river. While it was dramatic, the sense of sadness is great. I don't know who she was and what was her story, but my heart goes out to the woman and her family. This kind of interesting we can do without.

On the lighter side, we are always inviting people as they go by to stop for coffee. Reactions are greatly varied, with some people stopping and others not. This guy though immediately perked up and stopped at the mention of coffee.

    It turns out to be Andrew Gage, who is starting up a coffee roastery in the business development center. His coffee, which he is calling Velo Coffee, will be sold in Greenlife starting next week. And as you can tell from the name, he is an avid cyclist and hopes to start a coffee delivery service by bike. He has offered to supply some coffee for our breakfast. How wonderful! So people, come out next Friday for a taste of Velo Coffee!

  While the bridge opening was the exciting part of Breakfast on the Bridge today, I couldn't let the event go by without mentioning some of the interesting people we had today.  We had a good crowd, and with the bridge opening (how did they all find out about it so so?) had some new faces just show up.  We love that!

This is Mark.  I first met Mark last week on the Tour De Brews (which I will blog about soon)  On his commute to work, he discovered the bridge opening and then breakfast!

Officer Mansell (no relation to Q)  We love it when the bike police come by.  I know them all and are always glad to see them.

A bike tourist from Florida.  He goes around biking different cities and had high accolades for Chattanooga as a biking city.  He said the people are especially friendly. I wonder if having a bunch of strangers inviting him to breakfast  contributed to that impression?

Encouraged by our interest in what kind a gear an experienced tourer carries, he brings out packable sling.

Which the Lady J had to try out. She looks as though she was a born slinger!

Phil, Chattanooga's Bike Director and

Ruthie,  with Outdoor Chattanooga came across us while checking out the bridge.

  It was one of those mornings that just makes me glad to be alive and living in Chattanooga.  Life on a bike is good!

Whooie! The Bridge is Open!

  The Bridge is open and we, the Breakfast on the Bridge Crowd was there to witness it!

  This is Gary Ball, owner of Tower Construction (and erstwhile crime fighter).  When he showed up on the end of the bridge dangling keys, I knew something was up.  I also knew he would be the best source of information about the bridge opening.  How exciting it was when the answer to my question was"right now!"

  Andy, a fellow breakfaster, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to accompany Gary on his mission.  We were the first ones over the Market Street Bridge when it reopened and thought it was cool we were here to be the first over the Walnut Street Bridge.

Blythe was already waiting on the other side of the fence.  It amazed me how people discovered the opening so fast.  We have been sniffing around the bridge so long waiting for it to open, there was no way for it to open without some of us being there, ready. 

The actual moving of the fence and...

off I was-on the newly redone side.  Don't the planks look so nice?  They now run all the way to the end of the bridge.

   Let's give a hand to Tower Construction for getting done ahead of schedule.  We could tell the hard work that was going on whenever we looked.  You did a great job.

   So here it is- wonderful.  The bridge opening is wonderful, the weather is wonderful, Chattanooga is wonderful.  Let's go ride a bike!

What a Stubborn Man

Q is a stubborn man.  He wanted to start Breakfast on the Bridge today.  

Wait till the bridge opens. I told him .

No, he didn't want to wait.  He was tired of waiting for the bridge to open

It is going to be cold tomorrow.  Wait until it warms up, I told him. 

No, he didn't care about the cold. Hot coffee should banish any chill 

 Nobody will find you, you will be by yourself, I told him.  No, he didn't care if no one came by, he wanted to be there, just in case. And I was going to show up, wasn't I?

   So Q started the Breakfast on the Bridge season.


It was cold and lonely.

  Then the sun came out, warmed things up, and people started coming...

And coming...

  

Q was right after all.  What a stubborn man.  I'm glad he went ahead and had breakfast.

Come on out every Friday morning (except Bike2Work mornings) between 7 and 9 and join this stubborn man for breakfast.  You won't be sorry.

Fence Jumping (on the Bridge)

I am missing the Walnut Street bridge! I can't wait for it to reopen. But for how much I miss it, I think Q is missing it even more. He has been insisting it will be finished a month early. He has declared he will be riding his bike across it on April 8th.

    We were talking about this as we were going by the bridge the other night as I was pushing my bike to walk with Q who had walked to dinner. I challenged him on his prediction-who has heard of a construction project finishing early? Q couldn't let this go unchallenged-he had  to check for himself how it was going to confirm his prediction.

Before I could stop him he jumped up on the wall,climbed over the fence and disappeared down the bridge. I was left there holding my bike and checking to see if any law enforcement was around.  Those Park Rangers can be pretty territorial about the bridge.

Q walking the newly boarded Bridge

   He seemed to be gone for a long time and I got tired of waiting so I followed him in. So there we were, under the cover of the dark, checking out the progress, hoping we wouldn't get caught. After checking it out, Q declared it will be done in two weeks. Was that based on his construction expertise or just wishful thinking?

    We climbed over the fence and wall to get out.  Safe! We didn't get caught but I was imagining the whole time how I would explain this to my kids if they had to come bail me out!

Caught in the act (notice safety precaution-don't jump fneces without helmet!)

Closing of the Bridge

Regular readers of my blog may have noticed that many of my posts mention the Walnut Street Bridge. Going to town and back, this Bridge is part of my regular commute and one of the things that make riding to work so pleasant. I have never ridden it without getting a sense of being gifted that this is part of my route. The view, the people, the events, everything, makes the ride always different and always enjoyable.

In December the bridge has been closed for repairs and will remain closed until May. Though the repairs need to be done and in the process the wooden part of the bridge will be extended to make it more appealing, it is TOUGH not having access to it.










I have the choice of going to the left,over the Veterans Bridge or to the right over the Market Street Bridge. The Veterans Bridge have on and off ramps and the speed of the cars is faster. But there are wide shoulders. The Market Street Bridge has been newly redone and it is beautiful in its own right. The lanes are narrow and in riding the bike it is necessary to take the lane completely. Early morning motorists don't appreciate that.

Which bridge to take? While I enjoy the Market Street Bridge more, Veterans is faster and closer to where I need to go. So I have been taking that.

Except I keep forgetting to make the left turn that will get me to the bridge. Many mornings I am approaching the Walnut Street Bridge before I remember, in which case I proceed to the Market Street Bridge. Adds to my ride. Which I don't mind-unless it makes me late...which it often does...make a note-remember to make that left turn or leave the house earlier!

All three Bridges

The Cold and Radio Report

Today was cold!!! I think I heard it was 29 degrees. Did I ride? Yes! Now, at one time, the answer could have been no. I used to be more of a weather wienie. When I started biking as a commuter 8 years ago, it was to be fun. So any day that didn't promise fun, I didn't ride.


I still feel that way. It is just my definition of fun has greatly expanded. And cold no longer gives me the chills, so to speak. I have lightened my bundling (though there are those who say I still wear too much) and now love the feeling of exhilaration that only exercise in the cold can give. It is nice arriving at work with no sweat and that high feeling. I once recommended new riders to start in the warm weather but I might be changing that to recommending the cold.

The Walnut Street Bridge was beautiful as always on cold days. It takes on a layer of so much frost, that it looks almost like snow. In extreme weather conditions, only the most die hard bridge users are out. At the moment that I took this picture, there was no one to be seen.



This picture does not capture the beauty that I was seeing very well:

As I continued on, there were other users-the very regulars that I see everyday. This is the true morning bridge community that has become so familiar to me.



I took today to do my first bike report. Pulse News WLPZ-95.3FM has started to do bike reports. How cool is that? During the morning drive time, Denise Galloway, Louis Lee, Dale Deason and Chris Taylor of Pulse News will be taking reports from cyclists about the daily riding conditions. I wonder if this is a first in radio? It goes without saying that it is a first here. The goal is to normalize bike riding. Listeners hearing on a regular basis from cyclists as a normal thing. will eventually start thinking of cycling as a normal thing. This is such a good idea I am committed to try doing my part.



So today, I called about the cold and the bridge was my first report. It was recorded so I don't know when it played or if it did play. I don't listen to the radio at work. I don't know how often I will do these reports. Most days my ride is uneventful. But I will be on the lookout for interesting things to report. Listen for me!