Some cycling routes closed by “Pineapple Express”

A break in the weather Monday afternoon enabled me to get out for a short bike ride to one of my favorite haunts, May Valley Road.

Although my career in newspapers ended 15 years ago, I still feel a need to survey the damage from severe weather.

There was still plenty of evidence of flooding and small slides, even a day after the torrential downpours that swept through Western Washington. The moisture arrived from the Hawaiian islands in a storm system dubbed the “Pineapple Express.”

Above is a horse pasture that's been transformed into a duck pond by floodwaters of May Creek. The flooding closed nearby 148th Avenue SE, just south of May Valley Road.

Flooding and landslide closures

As of Monday evening, 29 landslides have struck city and county roads and state highways in Western Washington. Amtrak rail service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC, was cut off due to landslides or flooding. (WSDOT photo of landslide on State Route 20 that trapped those who live and work in Diablo.)

In addition to the farms and homes damaged by floods and landslides, some common cycling routes have been affected by the wet weather:

— The Burke-Gilman Trail was blocked by a Monday morning mudslide that crashed trees across the trail and onto an adjacent house in Lake City;

— A portion of Lake Washington Boulevard was closed below a hillside between 43rd South and Lake Park Drive (near Colman Park) after neighbors reported cracks in the slope;

— In the Snoqualmie River Valley, widespread flooding is reported between Fall City and Carnation and Duvall as the Snoqualmie River spilled over its banks.

Bicycling caution

Storm water tends to puddle up at the sides of the road where bicyclists usually ride (here's an extreme example from WSDOT on State Route 900 near May Valley Road).

Give yourself plenty of time to go slow through these deep puddles to avoid hidden obstacles or signal to move to the left to avoid the puddles.

Also, be sure to at least hose off your bike when you return home as the shoulders are still covered in sand left over from the response to the snowstorm last month. That grit can quickly grind down a chain while pedaling or ruin a rim while braking.

And bicyclists shouldn't put away that raingear anytime soon. Showers are in the forecast throughout the week; in fact it's raining right now.