4.25.2011 Ride: Scenes From a Wet Trail

The window of opportunity today was at 9:00 this morning.  However, I decided to ride on the bike trail and by the time I packed up and made it out there, it was 9:45.  I started from the Botanical Garden and just as I was putting on my biking gloves it began to rain.  No problem.  The rain only lasted about 10 minutes which allowed me to get in some shots. Going under College Avenue I almost lost control in the thick mud left from the flooding of the creek.  And, looking at the debris field, it looked as if the trail had been under at least 6 feet of water.

Approaching the tunnel that runs underneath the I-540 extension, I came across a DETOUR sign, which didn't surprise me.  But, of course, I had to check it out.  A worker was there poking in a large deposit of mud at the entrance.  He poked around in other places as well.  I wasn't sure what his original purpose was for being there but while I was there he worked on rescuing the fish that were trapped in the trail portion of the tunnel.  He did a good job of catching several with his gloved hands and tossing them into the creek off to the right.

I headed back toward the Botanical Garden, stopping along the way to photograph some muddy shots.

 

These were all taken on the trail under bridges at various points where the creek rose and left a muddy deposit.  The last one is really striking to me as it seems to be a sonar image captured through miles of ocean or atmosphere.

A storm moved back in for the last several miles of my ride with lightening crashing down all about as I rode through heavy rain.  It was great!  And, as you can tell by the fact that I'm updating the blog, I made it through safely. 

Today's Ride: Miles  1hr 30mins.  15 miles.  59 degrees.  Heavy rain at times, lightening.  YTD:  2,373.28