Day 63

More Acequias

After brunch with Mom this morning, I got home before the afternoon winds kicked in.  (I suppose you have to have lived in the Southwest to know how important that is.)  I unlimbered my trusty mountain bike and headed out for a quick ride.  Knowing that I should keep it short, I decided to track down some of the short dead-end irrigation routes nearby.

First off, I headed east to the Menaul Lateral where it meets the Griegos Acequia on the other side of my neighborhood, Matthew Meadow.  Right now the Griegos Laterial is a clear path all the way down to 12th St. where a locked gate blocks further passage.  Later in the season it will be covered with plants, some with tire-killing spines. 

I backtracked and took the right fork, the Menaul Lateral down past the Matthew Meadow Park across Matthew Ave., and over the small bridge to get to the bike path on the south side of the Alameda Drain.

BTW, the small triangular blackness in the upper left corner of the frame is my helmet.  Not much I can do about that.  #safetyfirst

Further east, across 12th St., I turned onto the Foraker Lateral, a little-used acequia that runs about 1/4 mile of rough and narrow track until it too ends in a locked gate and fence.

Time to turn around and head home with nice 4.5 miles and 35 minutes of biking under my belt.

Update:  I have made a more detailed report about this bike ride and its geospatial findings in my Goathead Report blog.