A Trail Divided; Reunification Pending

The water level on the Arkansas River is dropping pretty rapidly, but enough of the River Trail was still underwater Tuesday night to create a dead end at Burns Park west of the soccer fields. The situation demanded a little more imagination than usual to get in some miles, a mild inconvenience and a reminder of how good we've got it with a trail system that normally allows riders to jump on and do any number of routes with nothing in the way of a plan. I dropped by the Specialized bike demo, presented by Arkansas Cycling and Fitness, and then rode upriver toward the BDB to see how far I could get, which turned out to be the last soccer field. It was there that I encountered a crew from Competitive Cyclist bent on riding from CC to join the Tuesday Nitro ride as they pressed on crossing the "deer field" through hub-deep water. I did complete a loop of sorts, riding back downtown, up to the BDB, then rode out to Crystal Hill Rd and back to Burns Park via city streets.

The Specialized bike demo at Burns Park was successful in spite of compromised trail conditions and unusually cool weather. Richard Machycek is showing off his freakishly large hands in response to a comment I made in a recent post.

The Specialized Team had a bike for you!

Noah Singer, Ryan Johnson and a couple of other boys were not going to miss Tuesday Nitro! At the rate the river level is falling, we may have dry pavement by Wednesday.

Noah did his part to clear the Yellow Trail equestrian path of vegetation. It's a good thing these guys are in the bike business, as I think they will need to service their hubs and bottom brackets.

New Pavement Markings For the BDB: When all else fails, read the instructions.

Painters had been busy on Tuesday with stencils and a spray rig adding some new messages for Big Dam Bridge users. Walkers are now clearly instructed to keep to the right, while cyclists are advised to reduce their speed on the downhill ramps. Hopefully, this will help interaction on the bridge a bit, as most rudeness is the result of oblivion rather than aggression.

These signs now appear every 500' on the BDB.

Don't feel left out. There are new instructions for everyone!

As soon as the water recedes and the weather warms to normal, I expect an explosion of trail use, so the signage is probably a good thing. I've heard rumblings that the speed limit on the bridge will be increased from the present silly 5MPH to 10MPH, and that some effort will be made at enforcement. Folks, the rude riders among us can be our worst enemy.I'd rather see riders simply behave responsibly than force the hand of county to call in the law. A strict speed limit should not be required if folks behave responsibly and ride appropriately for the conditions-of-the -day on the BDB.