Today turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day with minimal winds and sunny skies. My training partner-in-crime, Max, joined me on a ride. We went out west of Purdue, the terrain we usually ride, and chatted while enjoying a slight tailwind. The forests are getting greener and farmers have begun working the fields.
About seven or eight miles in, we came to a "road closed" sign. If you don't know, it has been raining here like constantly causing the Wabash River to burst its banks and cause flooding issues. But Max and I ain't afraid of any "road closed" signs so we biked past it and continued talking.
Soon, we came to a flooded road. We reduced speed and rode on the high side of the road. Our feet barely got wet. "Hah!" We scoffed (or at least I scoffed.) "They closed the road for THAT?" We pedaled onward.
Less than a mile later, we came to this mess:
"Uhhhhhhhhh.... Looks pretty deep," said Max.
"Let's go for it!" I suggested, knowing that was probably a stupid idea.
So we pedaled until our feet were submerged and eventually the hubs on our wheels were underwater as well. A woman whose house was nearby looked on disapprovingly.
The current was strong! I unclipped my feet from the pedals and dismounted, fearing that the current might sweep me away while I was still attached to my bike. If I went under... my brand new iPhone, stowed away in my jersey pocket, would get ruined. Plus, I might drown. I looked back and saw that Max had done the same. We snapped a few more pictures to document our adventure:
(Black Beauty and me, forging the river)
(Max shouldering his bike, Habby)
The water was freezing! We both picked up our bikes and walked through the flood by foot. We made our way to the top of the bridge where it was dry and wrung our socks out. We noticed how heavy our bikes had become with water, in the rims and in the frames. "Good training," we said about the extra weight. After our socks had been partially sun-dried, we put on our soaked shoes and made our way up and over the bridge. Upon reaching the apex, we looked ahead of us and saw that the other side of the bridge was washed out as well. Ha... figures! So much for trying to get dry.
After the flood, we biked through the Indiana countryside battling some head winds and cross winds, got lost a few times, but eventually got back after having a nice and refreshing 20 mile ride.
