Bridging the Creek Bank

I pushed past the steel culvert out toward the dried creek embankment. The trail ended at a steep three-inch drop over loose aggregate and exposed roots. Dropping off directly would scrape the bike's belly pan on the stone lip. I set both boots down into the dry dirt to survey the transition. A discarded thick cardboard coffee sleeve lay flattened in the dust against a cedar stump. I folded the corrugated sleeve lengthwise, wedging the creased edge firmly under the upper root and anchoring the lower flap into the loose gravel bed. Tested the grade with a firm boot heel. Solid ramp. Hands on the orange bars, I eased down the incline. The knobby tires gripped the fluted cardboard and rolled level onto the riverbed stones.