Not discouraged, he rode under the bridge, came up around to the US17 South approach and happily cycled up. "The view on that side is spectacular", Sparks remarked, "athough it was a l little hairy given the number of fast, big trucks zooming by, and the very low rail."
A little over half way up a Mt Pleasant police cruiser pulled him over, soon to be joined by two other patrol cars. The officer told Sparks that he was not allowed on the bridge, that is what the bike lane is for.
Sparks politely replied that the lane is closed until 4pm, (it was 1.30 at the time), and how was he supposed tp cross? "You're not", the officer replied, "I'm taking you over in the car" (photo 1). As the officer packed up the bike, Sparks asked him if he knew why the bike lane was closed. The officer replied, "Because the Blue Angles are practicing." Oh. Its a long story, but photo 2 shows the view from the lock up seat, pretty sweet. The officer let Sparks go on the Charleston side of the bridge (photo 3) with a friendly warning. Lesson to us all: Don't go across bridges by bicycle when the Blue Angles are practicing! We're serious!
2 comments:
It looked like they had a shuttle half way up the bike lane side... at least I thought that was what it was...
Did Charleston Moves interface with the City about this in advance?
Just goes to show that cyclists (and pedestrians) are treated as second class citizens, if the bridge had been closed to motor vehicle traffic you can bet there would have been signed detours and notices for weeks prior. Cyclists deserve the same, we are vehicles under the SC codes.
Aaron
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