Urban Cycle: Ride along a flooded Schuylkill

Monday, March 14, 2011

Ride along a flooded Schuylkill

On Friday I started my day off by biking to meet my friend Julie at La Colombe and as it seemed to be getting sunnier I though what a great day for a tour of the Schuylkill River, to visually see what the effects of 1.5 inches of rain has on the park. I had noticed earlier that the river was reaching flood stages in Philadelphia from weather.com. My idea was to bike up the path to the East Falls bridge and then back down the west side of the park. Not much more than 45 mins.

However once I started my ride it began to get cloudier and the wind really picked up. Anyone that has ever ridden a bike in wind can attest to the fact that it’s a horrible experience. I’d like to claim that it is worse than walking or even running in the wind, I don’t know about running really, but I think biking is worse. Especially for me, Loretta has a steel frame and weighs more than 30 pounds. So I cut my tour short and only biked up to the Girard Ave. bridge and then back home.

There were a lot of people on the trail that seemed to be doing the same thing so there was more dodging of “tourists” then I expected. The failed experimental wetland right below the Walnut Street Bridge was definitely more wet than land, reaching almost over the shoreline wall.

As I headed north and as the wind picked up, there was more evidence of flooding; the area between Chestnut and Market was all underwater, the path below the Waterworks restaurant was inundated. One of the most intriguing areas underwater was in the sculpture garden north of the boathouses and south of Girard Ave. I have cycled past this spot many times but have never really stopped there until I saw that parts of it were underwater. It is amazing to think about what this area has had to withstand. The flooding that I saw was only very minor. I believe the river was only 6 inches above the flood stage.