Most people when they see the sign "Road Closed" figure they better turn around. When I encounter one of these on my bike, I look at it as a challenge. Sure, those 4000 pound behemoths have to make alternate arrangements, but I figure little old me and my bike can squeeze through somehow. And mostly this works out.
Most of the closings I've encountered have to do with downed power lines. The authorities understandably don't want you blundering onto one and becoming a crispy critter, but I figure I can just step around them, or ride over them with my trusty insulating tires. So, I'll plow on through feigning innocence. By the time the police notice me, I'm usually beyond the point of no return and they let me go through. Or I can make a deal with them to let me walk around in the bushes. Most other closures of various kinds they just wave me through.
Then there was the Great Flood of 2010. It rained for three days continuously, and I hunkered down, never going further than the mailbox. On Tuesday the sun returned, and I decided it was time to go to work. I anticipated that there might be some residual water, and was surprised to find mostly dry pavement. Until I got to Carlisle. My usual route on North Road by Great Brook park proudly announced "Road Closed" but I figured that was just for beginners. I had a pretty good idea about the reason for "Road Closed," a little stream at the bottom of a hill that even in good times is wont to be wet. This particular section has a long history of disintegrating, and had been rebuilt a couple of times. Sure enough, when I got there, there was police tape all across the road, where the stream had taken over. I noticed that the right part of the road was missing, but this was of slight concern, all I and my bike needed was a few inches of pavement to get across, and there seemed to be ample.
So I studied the situation. I could try dancing around the police tape but it was still several inches deep, and me without my hip waders. Next I considered the foot bridge which was above the high water mark, but getting to it would require stomping through several inches of water on either end, hence soggy shoes. I considered other overland routes, but in the end, I gave up. This was a first, but since my office move I didn't have any dry socks at work (I decided I wasn't going to ride in the rain any more, hence no need).
So I headed back down Rutland to East street. When I got to that intersection, there was another "Road Closed" sign ahead. I was beginning to think that this was a Sign from God and that I should just go home and have some more coffee, but I decided to check it out. This one was passable, only half of the road was actually closed, and the rest was only under a few inches of water. It was clear water so you could see any hazards beneath, so I got a good running start, held the pedals horizontal and plowed on through.
For degree of difficulty, I have to say our encounter with a bridge out on the tandem gets the prize. We were riding around some back roads on the North Shore and came across a bridge under construction. Destruction was more like it at this stage since there wasn't much left. But there was a bit of stonework on the side that if you angled yourself around this chain link fence, you just might make it through. So, after a bit of debate we embarked on some tandem cyclocross. Dicing with death, we successfully forded the stream. Decided we would find alternate routes on the way back, though.
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