Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Burlington Bike Path (AKA Flooded Lake Champlain) - Lots of pics

I had an appointment in Burlington today so I brought along my (old) bike.  I rode the whole thing, first chance I have had to see a lot of it since the flooding. It was a beautiful day!  My appointment was on time and short ( a skin check - always a good thing to go well and it did!)

I got to the bike path and put on my sun screen and off I went. Well, first I tried to park at my usual spot at the fishing pier because it is free but it was closed. Once I was on my bike I went to investigate.
The fishing pier parking lot

The fishing pier was covered with water at one point

Lots and lots of debris everywhere

The fishing pier parking lot from the other direction
I went north on the bike path first. Most of it is pretty high up in this direction.  North Beach was closed but I didn't go down to look. I reached the northern part before the bike ridge. This last section of houses is what has been on the news and in the paper a lot. There is still a lot of water everywhere.  Some cars were parked on the bike path because there is nowhere for them to be.  I would be very discouraged if I lived there as the houses have been flooded for a few weeks and there is still plenty of water and it is receding very slowly.  




These houses are on the Winooski River side.  The other
side of the bike path is the Lake Champlain side.

Just a nice day on the bike path on this part

Getting ready for VCM! :)

The ferry access - not so much

The above picture and the ones below are from my favorite little park.  It is closed off but you could walk into it.  This is where they will have to reroute the marathon.  


Standing in the park looking north.  This is supposed to be bike path.  But it is all
still under water. Notice the lamp posts in the distance. The picture
below shows it a little better. I have always loved this
part of the path because it is right on the water.  (Change the o to
an i now in on.)


A little beyond the park where the trees are uprooted due to erosion.


The two pictures below I took last fall in the same spot.





Looking back at the park.  Usually you see a lot of ground surrounding
this. It looks very different.

I was doing a lot of gawking today on the bike path.  I imagine a lot of marathoners will be doing the same on Sunday.  It was good for me to be in Burlington seeing all the signs and preparation for the marathon.  I have not been focused on it AT ALL. I am doing the half but I have been so focused on my bike and the duathlon.  I will put some goals in my Thursday post.  







15 comments:

Ewa said...

That is a lot of water. Wow.
Our May is strange. It is unusually cold and we are still getting some rains. It is snowing in the mountains.

Richelle said...

Oh my gosh... I can't believe that Burlington is still dealing with all that flooding.

Good luck at the race this weekend!

Average Woman Runner said...

oh my - quite the flood. AGAIN.

Jamie said...

The flooding has been nuts nearly everywhere! This has been one crazy spring.

Kate Geisen said...

Poor bike path. Poor people who live along there. Nice pictures, though. :)

Jill said...

Wow, lots of water! Reminds me of when I was a kid and grew up in Davenport and the Mississippi flooded some years just horribly. I'm not sure about where you live, girl...terribly cold in the winter, flooding in the spring, hot and humid in the summer. Maybe I'll visit in the fall! :)

Liz said...

It's such a shame to see the path in such a mess. Hope there will be an end to all this crazy weather soon. Looking forward to seeing how you get on in your half!

Laura said...

That is scary....this weather of late is just crazy. Hope it is a nice day for Sunday's race.

A Prelude To... said...

I love those two pictures above the very last one. So very pretty!!

Darlene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darlene said...

The lake still looks beautiful. I hope we have good weather this weekend - you for the 1/2 marathon & me for boating on LG.

Marlene said...

What a beautiful place to ride - or run! Crazy flooding! I hope it clears out soon so you can get back on that part of the path.

Char said...

The lake's taking so long to go down. When we flooded at the beginning of the yeas it was all down in about a week so I guess I 'd just assumed that yours would have gone down just as quickly. It's a long time for the lake to be out of action.

Black Knight said...

That is scary, the flood is a real problem.

Kandi said...

That looks awful for the people who live in that area. I can't even imagine. It looks vastly different from your photos last fall.