Bicycle Diaries
30 years riding, 15 years writing
Weir flooded over
Rain has been the norm for the last couple of days, and last night a rather large thunderstorm came over us. Normally, I don’t ride in the McAlpine after a night of rain, but I wanted to ride today.
In order to get over to the main trail, I have to cross over one of the two concrete weirs that straddle the creek. After a heavy rain, the run off from all of our neighborhoods ends up in the creek and at that point it’s more of a rapids than a lazy body of water.
This morning the water was rushing over the weirs, you couldn’t tell there was a crossing. When you get run off, branches clog up the large concrete pipe under the weirs, forcing the water to find another way across.
So I had to improvise a bit on the ride, darting here, climbing over there. My usual laps turned into explorations of uncharted territories, and very slow going at that due to the ground being very soggy from the rain.
It was fitting that the only creature I saw today was a turtle.
MTB: distance 15.72 miles, average speed 12.0 mph.
Charlotte, NC
Spent 10 years in Charlotte, a block away from an entrance to the McAlpine Creek Greenway.
Switched to a mountain bike from the road bikes I was accustomed to riding for 15 years.
The time spent on these trails was most appreciated.
Trek Fuel 70
