Saturday, June 6, 2015

Mud is Still an Issue on the Bill Riley trail

Several weeks ago.  It  flooded again and receded since.


Though the flood waters have receded the removal of dirt from the flood has not been accomplished to any great satisfaction.  Yesterday as i prepared to go underneath the train trestle i saw a man and his bike standing there in the middle of the trail just dead center of the blindspot.  before I could yell at him, 'hey dummy, git yo fat ass out of the way this is a dangerous place" I had to duck in and avoid three girls on bikes heading west.  As I passed him I saw the problem.

His high viz yellow shirt was muddy.  So were his arms and legs.  Looking back i saw the mud patch.  A quick hitter of a rain cloud had recently blown over.  The trail was wet before and after this spot.  I had to hide out in the car wash for a few minutes two miles before I came across him.

From the original flood this year.


I pulled over in a safe spot and asked if he was ok and suggested that he leave the danger zone.  i had absolutely no tools, as usual, but experience.  The bike was ok despite the chain dropping.  He was ok except for being muddy.  Said he was glad to have been wearing cycling gloves since that his hands made initial contact with the trail.  His leg had an abrasion but his helmeted head did not hit the ground.  I almost offered to let him wash off the abrasion with my Aquafina but considered my illness that thought ended before I could open my mouth.  Hate to have his leg amputated from my germs.

He said he was 57 years old.  A Bianchi hybrid with fat 700c tires, possible Kenda Kwests.  He thanked me several times and rolled on.  I could never catch up.

They did a good job removing the mud from here.  Rumor has it that Steve Falke brought his own shovel.


I wonder how many people have biffed there.  how many more?  Why cannot the trail brush be used to eliminate the dirt before a quick rain turns a downhill blind turn into an ice rink?

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