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soniaThe I-5 bridge across the Columbia River between Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA has a narrow bike and pedestrian sidewalk hanging off each side, separated from the freeway by bridge pylons and a short barrier, and separated from the drop to the river by a slightly taller barrier. Note that these are technically two-way paths.
I biked northbound a couple of times when I first moved here, and with my depth perception issues, my brain was screaming at me that I was falling into the river the entire time. I decided I didn't need to do that anymore. The southbound side isn't quite as bad, and I did that two summers ago.
After doing vision therapy for a year and adding prisms to my glasses, I thought I'd try it again with my biking friend as an experienced guide through the maze to get to the path entrance.
And I did it! I still wasn't thrilled on the downhill part of the northbound path, but overall my brain agreed that the path was safe enough and I wasn't about to die. Milestone! Fortunately the pedestrians we encountered were willing to move over and let us by.
You can see first the southbound side, which is wider and has a better railing, and then the horrifyingly (to me) narrow northbound side at about 3:40 in this how-to video by Metro employee Kathryn Sofich.
ETA: I also think it's cool that I can do an out of state trip under my own power, but I was too busy worrying about the bridge to think about that this morning.
I biked northbound a couple of times when I first moved here, and with my depth perception issues, my brain was screaming at me that I was falling into the river the entire time. I decided I didn't need to do that anymore. The southbound side isn't quite as bad, and I did that two summers ago.
After doing vision therapy for a year and adding prisms to my glasses, I thought I'd try it again with my biking friend as an experienced guide through the maze to get to the path entrance.
And I did it! I still wasn't thrilled on the downhill part of the northbound path, but overall my brain agreed that the path was safe enough and I wasn't about to die. Milestone! Fortunately the pedestrians we encountered were willing to move over and let us by.
You can see first the southbound side, which is wider and has a better railing, and then the horrifyingly (to me) narrow northbound side at about 3:40 in this how-to video by Metro employee Kathryn Sofich.
ETA: I also think it's cool that I can do an out of state trip under my own power, but I was too busy worrying about the bridge to think about that this morning.
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Date: 2018-12-03 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-03 12:40 am (UTC)Of course my friend commutes across it all the time, so for him it was no big deal. He was kind about offering alternatives if I balked, though.
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Date: 2018-12-04 12:50 am (UTC)I know from what you speak re: "wait! This road isn't right!"
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Date: 2018-12-04 01:12 am (UTC)I find that downhills aren't as disconcerting as they used to be, but downhill + major dropoff to one side is still a problem. I just went slow, and stopped to catch my breath once I was on solid ground again.