Looking Up: 2012 Bridge Recap

Stone Arch Bridge

Last year, I resolved to run across 500 bridges. (The rationale for doing so can be reviewed here.) And on December 21st 2012, with mere days left in the year, with the winter chill bearing down, and with a warm smile on my face, I crossed the Bridge-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named for #500.

When all was said and done, by year's end I made it across 502 bridges, with a breakdown as follows . . .

#1) Bridge Which Must Not Be Named: 150 times (30%)

A mere 1/2-mile from the house, and on route to the Mississippi River, this become my "go-to" bridge throughout the year. I had actually never crossed it until March when the snapped cables of the Sabo bridge forced me to find another way across the major highway of Hiawatha and on down to the Mississippi. Now that I think about it, that event probably affected the 2012 bridge numbers more than any other. Certainly one of the surprise discoveries of the year!

 

#2) Lake Street: 73 times (15%)

If you told me at the beginning of the year that the Lake Street bridge, high atop the Mississippi, would have come in at number two, I think I would have been a bit surprised. It's a little over 3 miles from the front door and I rarely had reason to cross it last year, preferring the paths of Minneapolis side of the river to the St. Paul ones. (Remember I don't like change.) However, Ashley and I took a run together in January on the St. Paul side which opened up new frontiers for me. And once the weather warmed and the runs lengthened, the Lake Street bridge became the crucial link between the upper Mississippi loop and the lower Mississippi loop. Nostalgia was also on its side. Needless to say, it worked itself snuggly into the bridge rotation by summer's end -- even to the point that if I could only cross one Mississippi bridge before heading home, this one had to be the one.

 

#3) Afton Bridges: 57 times (11%)

The first time I set foot in Afton State Park that early June day, I immediately knew I would be back as often as the schedule would allow. Even though the trailhead is a 45-min drive from the house, it's one of the few places that I've found in Minnesota where you can really get away. Places like that are worth the drive. The fact that the Afton bridges (I count them all together) come in at number 3 testifies to how many times it was worth the drive for me last year!

 

#4) Franklin Street: 55 times (11%)

I feel bad saying this, but the Franklin Avenue bridge was probably one of my least favorite bridges to cross last year. There, I said it. How then did it end up at number 4, you ask? Well, out of necessity more than pleasure as it completes the top end of the north Mississippi loop. It's not that it's a boring bridge, per se . . . I guess it's just more functional than memorable. I-94 is just to the far side of it (conveniently cropped out of this picture to the right) and the U of M is just beyond that. And . . . well, moving on . . .

 

#5) Sabo: 53 times (11%)

Even with it being closed for the majority of March through November, I'm happy to see it still coming in at number 5. The Sabo bridge has a great view of the Minneapolis skyline and was the first bridge I met in Minnesota. Here's to hoping it can stay healthy in 2013 . . .

Other factoids . . .

• I found bridges to run across in 3 different states (Minnesota, Alabama, Georgia).
• The longest bridge I ran across was the Mendota Bridge, with a one-way measurement of 0.78 miles.

Mendota from below in Fort Snelling

• I ran across 22 unique bridges.
• My favorite bridge to cross, every time, hands down, without a doubt, was the Intercity Bridge. It's hard to say why . . . maybe because its the farthest one from the house (6.5 miles)? Maybe because of its relaxed flatness and broad sidewalk, like a home always ready to welcome a weary traveller? Whatever the case, I found myself often looking for reasons to work it into the day's route.

Intercity Bridge

• 502 bridges over 366 days (last year was a leap year, of course) gives an average of 1.37 bridges per day. That seems healthy.
• Conservatively, I estimate that the 502 bridges I ran across tally up to around 78 miles. For perspective, if that was a single 78-mile bridge it would still fall about 30 miles short of the longest bridge in the world, the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China. Bummer.

It's an interesting thing, crossing bridges. On one hand, they are utterly normal. Even mundane. What other things did I do 500 times last year . . . brush my teeth, eat a meal?

But on another hand, they are borderline magical. Bridges forced me to get outside myself, to get outside my own head. Bridges made me look up. I've found that many of life's problems and pains are solved or eased simply by looking up. Seriously, the next time you cross a bridge I dare you to try and look down the whole time. Try it.

Here's to another 500+ times of looking up in 2013 . . .