
Puncture Vine (2005); No Vine (2009)
Puncture vine was put on earth for one purpose — to torture bike riders, that much I am sure. It’s an insidious weed that is easy to pull (it has but one root), but hard to kill (that root can extend 3 feet!). In 2005, I complained to the city of Santa Clara about a huge patch of puncture vine, the Mother Lode. It extended for hundreds of yards along San Tomas Aquino Expressway south of Monroe Street.
I and other riders had our share of flats. Fortunately, Lorenzo Lopez, City of Santa Clara, listened and contacted Santa Clara County, which maintains the expressway. They came out and sprayed once, and no doubt several more times. No more puncture vine! I’m no fan of herbicides, but enough is enough. It had to go. Thanks Santa Clara County.
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