Pine nettles spell trouble

[El Diablo]

I have a ton of pine trees in my front yard. Now is the time of year they start to drop nettles in earnest. My driveway slopes upwards somewhat from the street and then flattens out. My mail box is on the side of the drive just before it flattens out.

I was coming home from work yesterday and was turning into my drive. I was moving just a little quicker than I normally would because there was a car behind me. About the time I turned I though I would stop and get the mail. Well, the drive was covered in freshly dropped pine nettles and when I applied the breaks, the bike slid on the nettles. If it hadn't been for the monkey grass which lines the drive, I probably would have slid into the mailbox. I was fine, the bike was fine, I was just a little sideways and holding up the bike up to keep it from falling over. I righted myself and pulled on up into the drive, got off the bike and went and got the mail. It was scary only for a moment but I learned a lesson about pine nettles that I thought I would pass along.