Inspection Time

A Canadian goose glides along Black Hawk Creek.

Sunday the winds died down enough here that I was feeling okay about checking out the Green Belt and seeing how bad things were. We had a 70mph wind gust during all the storm madness of Friday/Saturday, so I figured on seeing a lot of downed tree carnage. 

I decided also to take the Ti Muk 2 as it would likely be muddy. I did not know if the frost had come out yet, but I figured it may have since it had gotten up to the lower 80's on Friday. 

It certainly wasn't anywhere near that on Sunday! The temperature when I left the house was 39°F, a full 42°F lower than the high on Friday. This is not unheard of here. March can be wildly variable. In fact, we expect to be in the seventies tomorrow and then get 3 - 6" of snow on Wednesday. 

Anyway, I was fine as far as all of that went, but I did have to wear gloves and a wool cycling hat. 

Those are not figures carved by some ancient civilization. They are the tell-tale marks of the Emerald Ash Borer found on this dead Ash tree. 

 

This tree was at handlebar height across the trail.

Amazingly, most of the trail was tacky to dry. Maybe the frost is out now? I did actually hear frogs croaking at one point during the ride. Those frogs might be reconsidering waking up from hibernation when the snow hits Wednesday! 

I took a lap around the lake.

Part of the new prairie "lollipop" trail which goes down to Martin Road and back.

I took things easy and started out down by Hope Martin Park. I made it across the drainage dip, which is not easy, and after that first little section I climbed the dike, crossed Ansborough, and rode the spine of the dike till I was able to enter the Green Belt trail. 

Like I said, it was surprisingly dry-ish. I was expecting much worse. I did find about a 20 yard section where it was so greasy the bike just took off sideways like it was on ice. But besides that, it was easy-peasy.

One example of three where Marky-Mark will require some saw work.

A grove of Cedar trees along the Green Belt Lake.

Marky-Mark will need some saw work, but it all was much cleaner than I had hoped for, which was refreshing to find. I feared it would be much worse. So, besides a bit of clearing out of dead falls, this Spring should be a great season for these trails.