Commuting - Slippery When Wet...

With apologies to John Bon Jovi:

On the commute this evening, was reminded how wonderfully slick paved bike paths are with a fresh rain on the fallen leaves. Nothing like a quick little slip, to remind one how fun commuting can be.

Personally I actually find the roads around here considerably less slippery after rain, but in saying that, I don't ride on bikepaths.

The paved paths in our area were getting really bad with the slick leaves hiding fallen walnuts. I was actually thinking of changing my route temporarily. Then one morning last week on my way in I see a tractor with a huge blower coming up the path blowing the leaves off, they have been pretty clear since then. Now if I can just get them to treat the ice that seems to never melt in the winter.

Leaves on the trails that I take too work are a blessing and a hinderance to me. Besides being slippery, they often hide puddles of water, but then they also help fill in puddles of water so it doesn't splash too much. (Fenders help here too!)

Also, theres a part of the trail that I use to get to a street that the neighbors there, every fall, fill up with leaves! So each october, it never fails that by the end of work and I'm riding home, I hit this huge pile of leaves with my bike and have to swim through it. As a kid, we used to rake the leaves into a big pile and jump into them with the swingset, try that with a mountain bike and a rack! Leaves get everywhere, but it usually lasts the fall and is gone by late spring and I can go around it, via another route but the first time is always a surprise.

Jay