My first ride of the greenway/lake loop this year. I started at Marketplace Mall.
It's only been three days since the big Thursday night rainstorm. There is evidence of lots of sand having been removed from sections of the greenway. The concrete ford has rushing weather but is crossable. The concrete sideway area near the ford has rushing water but it is only a couple of inches deep and easily passable. As you near the dam, a tree has fallen in the trail but a one-lane path is cut through it.
As you ride clockwise around the lake, there is evidence of fallen trees having been removed. There are lots of fresh ruts and loose sand in curves to watch out for. As you near Linville road, there is a section of the trail that is known to stay soggy. It has some really nasty fresh ruts. Alongside the trail where a long puddle usually stays for weeks, the water is running. In eight years of riding the trail, I've never seen it have running water. On the south side of the lake, the west side of the big hill has many nasty ruts, At the bottom of the hill, I had to hop over one fresh, deep rut.
I had to poke along behind two horseback riders for about 100 yards in a curvy section before having an opportunity to slowly pass. Horses are rare on the trail but they are permitted.
Riding the trail with idiots is always a challenge, such as people walking on the wrong side of the trail in blind turns looking at their phones. In the middle of one sharp blind turn, a woman was kneeling helping her child. Groups of people walking and blocking the trail and then reluctantly moving over just enough at the last minute for you to squeeze by. As I rode by an unleashed dog, it didn't bark but as I passed it, it ran after me and nipped my leg.
