one4smoke

...to ride your bike over the 7 Mile Bridge?

https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/c...le-bridge.html

diphthong

probably (if it's legal). i'd drive it first, tho, to look for spots of bother. sounds like it's wide enuff but does it stay like that the entire length on both to/from sides?

10 Wheels

Would You Ride This?

10 Wheels

Would You Ride This

MarcusT

Yes, traffic, traffic and more traffic. There is a supposed bike lane but it is covered in debris, tires, etc. I have never done it, but have watched a few videos.
I did a long bridge with a nice bike lane, but after a few kms it became so boring, I almost wanted to turn back. So, with boredom of a bridge then the traffic perils; no, I would not do it

downtube42

Kind of cheated in answering yes, since I've already done it. Southbound was glorious, with a massive tailwind from Florida City to Key West. The return trip was the opposite experience. There was traffic, at times it sucked, but I don't recall it being a particularly death-defying experience.

downtube42

I had mixed feelings riding roads like this in Texas. On the one hand, 80+ is darned fast. On the other hand, at least where I was the vehicles were so infrequent I could hear them a half-mile away. At night, make that a mile or more.

Where I lived west of Ft. Worth, all the fresh overlays had super course aggregate on the shoulders, making them unpleasant on road tires. That really sucked.

Vintage Schwinn

There is too much traffic for me to want to ride the New Seven Mile Bridge during normal conditions. There is a SEVEN MILE RUN every Spring since the New Seven Mile Bridge opened in 1982. For about two hours, they close the bridge so the 1500 entrants can run the seven mile bridge. They limit the number of entrants to a maximum of 1500 runners. My wife has run it four times. You cannot be slow as they pick up all the runners still out there, so they can open it back within the two hours........bridge only gets closed for 2 hours...
It would be cool if Florida would also consider having a Seven Mile Bicycle Parade where entrants over 12 years of age can leisurely ride the entire seven mile span on ANY non-motorized, human pedal powered TWO WHEELER or THREE WHEELER..............to satisfy those with a need for speed and a desire to compete, perhaps set-up a Time Trials group competition with individual classes based on the type of bicycle and age/gender of rider...................e.g. all CARBON-High Tech and any bicycle weighing below 18.5 pounds not including water -------------------then have another class that would be limited to any bicycle weighing between 18.5 pounds and under 25 pounds not including water------------------------have another class that includes all bicycles weighing between 25 pounds and below 29.5 pounds not including water----------then have a class for all bicycles weighing between 29.5 pounds and below 34.5 pounds not including water--------------------then have a class for all bicycles weighing between 34.5 pounds and below 48 pounds not including water-----------------------------finally have a class for all bicycles weighing 48 pounds or more not including water.
Start the Time Trials portion first with all the A group or whatever you'd want to call it, the lightest bikes.....................you do it where you start them off in rows of participants....however many make sense given the width of the road...........because you've got a Computer Chip....you're racing the clock..........So you start the rows of participants in the A group out about 12 to 15 seconds apart.....whatever is practical (obviously you cannot do it in one log jam free for all because you'd have absolute mayhem given the number of expected participants. Repeat this process with the B group (next classification of lightest bikes) and so on until you get through the heavy bikes in F group.
Then after that, the paraders that have no computer chip and are prohibited from exceeding 17mph at any time to maintain the safety of the other paraders. The paraders will be expected to ride Slowly and Safely but would also be prohibited from stopping, unless for an Emergency situation. No stopping to take pictures/sightsee or stopping for any reason other than an Emergency situation.
Have a local South Florida television station broadcast the event on one of its secondary channels.
Make the whole thing a major fundraising event for something there in Florida that like The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis TN that Danny Thomas founded, is something that everyone worldwide would agree is a great worthwhile organization to support.
Make it also a super fun and festive party for all participants at the other end of the Seven Mile.
Hey, someday the pandemic situation will be conquered and the world will want to party.
Invite Tony Fauci to be the grand marshall...................Get off the couch--eee and ride Seven Mile with Fauci and thousands of others to benefit ............
You started riding bikes to get outside and kick the Covid blues, and now in 2023 etc........six foot distance is recommended between moving bicycles only for minimizing collisions....
It would be a major organizational night-mare to carry-off such an event successfully. It would require closure of the Seven Mile Bridge for probably about five hours, perhaps more depending on how many participants, even though the slowest rider would likely complete the leisure parade ride in one hour and forty-five minutes.
You'd need a huge police presence as well as Air (helicopter) Ambulance crews as well as maybe a vehicle Ambulance crew parked at every half-mile point of the entire length of the Seven Mile Bridge and you'd need a police vehicle...Chrysler..or ancient Ford Crown Vic stationed at least at every half-mile point with officers monitoring progress..............You'd also need in addition to security and first aid, you would need a volunteer stationed at each quarter-mile point to assist with potential mechanical problems and to assist in contacting nearby security(police) and/or medical personel should they see a need arise.
You'd then have major issues with CLEAN-UP as no matter how well intentioned the riding participants will be, stuff will be discarded intentionally or unintentionally(falling off, etc). You might not think that would be much, but imagine having say 3000 participants or whatever the number and yeah it could be significant.

Hey, this is all just the spontaneous off-the-top-of-my-head rambling. (notice I did not write THINKING but Rambling...)
So yes it is what just popped into this idiot's head.

one4smoke

Those that's done it (that I've talked to), say they would never do it again. From what I understand, its a very narrow lane to ride. There's only about 3 feet from the traffic to the side of the structure, which isn't very high. Obviously, ocean water below. Also, motorists tend to take advantage of the lack of speed enforcement on the bridge and haul ass. Plus, with the awe inspiring scenery you have tourists not paying attention to things on the road, namely cyclists.

It's not as easy as it sounds...

Milton Keynes

I think that's a great idea. If they can close the bridge for two hours to let people run across it, they could also close it for an hour to let people cycle across it. Even the most leisurely rider should be done in an hour.

10 Wheels

The Shoulder was Smooth.
The 18 Wheelers changed Lanes way back. There Draft was Amazing.

coffeesnob

I would do it

veganbikes

Would I go to Florida...nah (except maybe to visit a certain Mouse because let's face it, as much as I hate the crowds, most people and the Disney corporation, it is still a ton of fun and I refuse to wholly grow up) Would I ride across a long bridge maybe if I had to but probably not. I don't tend to need to do that any most of my rides. I also don't care for massive traffic but if I have to I will ride in it. Plus sometimes it can beat a crowded MUP.

diphthong

if this is accurate, then hell no.

downtube42

​​A friend of mine does this every January. I was able to join him in 2016. I'll do it again if I get a chance.

​​​​

rsbob 

Well if you get hit by an inattentive driver, you’ll never know what hit you.

Vintage Schwinn

UCan'tTouchThis has the helicopter & Jaimie Lee on the OLD SEVEN MILE...........didn't they blow up a scaled model of OLD SEVEN MILE in that movie.

Old Seven Mile is the one that is really narrow. It was used for automobile traffic from the thirties until about forty years ago when New Seven Mile opened in early 1982.
It (Old Seven Mile) was the former railroad that was built around the turn of the century and heavily damaged during that super powerful hurricane in 1935, causing the railroad to go out of business but not before selling the seven mile railway bridge to the goverment..........after 1935 it was made into an automobile bridge with the recycled railroad tracks being re-purposed/recycled as the guardrails to keep cars from going in the water after a tire blow-out, someone falling asleep, or wreck, or whatever.

I'm not sure about this but what friends that live in FLA told me is that they closed all of Old Seven Mile some years back and they had planned to do certain repairs and then had planned to re-open about a 2.5 mile portion sometime in 2021 (but that was the goal about five years back, but I have no clue if they are still on schedule or if it was abandoned or postponed) What I seem to recall that my friends told me was that the approx 2.5 mile portion was all they could do, since years ago they removed portions of the bridge (purposely making huge gaps) , to keep folks from accessing and continuing along its entire length. The re-opening of the 2.5 mile portion is gonna be as a pedestrian bridge, as it was since the eighties until closed for further repair during the teens. You can see OLD SEVEN MILE in the foreground of the photograph above.....................NEW SEVEN MILE is in the background and has a prominent hump at one point in the bridge for boat clearance. You can clearly see one of the missing Removed sections in Old Seven Mile that was done to keep folks from getting any farther on it. It is my understanding that they have no intention of ever re-connecting the cut-out sections or attempting to re-hab or re-use or attempt any repair to the rest of the decaying Old Seven Mile. Someone that is a current resident of South Florida would probably know. My info is outdated, unsubstantiated heresay, so it is likely worthless.
I do know that driving US 1 to the Florida Keys in the early 1970's was an experience while crossing OLD SEVEN MILE. Full size cars and mid-size cars in 1972 were significantly larger than today's largest SUV and DUI Laws at that time were very lax and had very minimal fines and no punishment............you had to have been around then to know what I'm talking about. You also had no real standards in enforcement of trailer hitch engineering as there were too many homemade ones then and then folks towing crap built things with only steel chains affixed to the car's bumper........many things looked like Jethro Bodine had made them when he was drunk.

Troul 

I'd do the 127 mile ride.

ChrisWagner

No problem. My main concern is availability of quarters at a reasonable cost. Zero stealth camping, most probably.

locolobo13 

Google maps shows a bike path on parts of the old bridge. That looks interesting. I don't see how you get on the section between Money Key and Moser Channel. But the ride to Pigeon Key looks cool.

Street view shows the new bridge as a possibility.

thumpism 

There used to be a CBBT (Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel) ride annually when they'd close the southbound lanes as far as the first island where the first tunnel starts. Nice enough ride for the novelty but the wind could be killer.

MattTheHat 

Quarters are four for a dollar, even in Florida.

Doc_Wui

The bridge to Sanibel Island is probably the same height, to accommodate ocean traffic, but the flat part is much shorter, so only 2 miles? I also felt like it would be easy to flip over the rail on a windy day, Not my picture,

We started riding and because it's one-way, no turning back of you're a wimp, It was OK. Cars are 45 mph, I believe, Only one biker has ever been knocked off the causeway, as far as anyone knows, Was not looking forward to crossing it back, but it was uneventful.

rekmeyata

I don't see why not as long as it's legal for bicycles to be on that bridge. The only other issue would be is there a wide enough berm you can ride on so cars can pass you, if not that could be a consideration if it's a heavily traveled bridge, only because some dope doing 14 mph on a 55 mph bridge holding up traffic for 7 miles is a bit frustrating to motorists, and they could get quite angry, and road rage with a car vs a bicycle...well, I don't think I have to explain how that would turn out.

Notso_fastLane

What would be nice is if they opened the OLD 7-mile bridge to only pedal powered (e-bikes are ok) vehicles. It would require much less maintenance than the one for the cars/trucks.