Flooding ... and bikes

ededwards

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Yesterday late afternoon we were flooded out. Thankfully we had a bit of notice as the water rushed up the road (about an hour or so until it was three feet deep). As the water came we realised we needed to get things upstairs - my first thoughts were for the contents of the shed! Impressively my wife did not question my priorities (I only moved the car when the water was lapping at the wheels) and I managed to get the bikes upstairs and to relative safety. I hate to think what in excess of 24 hours immersed in water would do to hubs, frames, forks, b/bs etc. I've still not been able to get back to the house to check on damage although my neighbour kayaked back in (that's how we left yesterday) and has said that thinks look ok (for now).

I must admit I was surprised that my thoughts were almost solely bike oriented (if only they had been so when I left Pakistan) and, although it's an area that has been covered before, wondered which bike I'd save if there was to be only one? Interestingly it's not the Yo's, XLM, Vit T or Colnago but a bike that I've only had just over a year, could be easily replaced new but has 'history' - the first Crosscheck! So, a vague point emerging here via a lot of context, I value bikes more for the experiences I've had with them than just simple pride of ownership (although my bikes are not nearly as sweet and tatefully put together as the majority I've seen on here and live).




Disclaimer: I realise that many people are seriously affected by the flooding (and indeed I may be so more in the days to come) and this is not meant to be an offensively flippant post but my thoughts did turn straight to my bikes and I expect many on here would do the same.
 
Hope your place is OK Ed. The river at the end of my road burst its banks and decided to take a stroll though the estate. Once I realised that there was nothing I could do I got the camera out whilst the water was still low enough to wade about in.

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It got worse :(

The water receded by Saturday morning so the weekend was spent gutting the garage and trying to clean/dry everything.

I feel very lucky because the house is just a little higher and so did not get flooded out. The village where my parents live was 11ft under water, people were leaving their houses though upstairs windows straight into boats!
 
this is nuts. I think we have been lucky where our house is so far.

Its like Ming has turned the dial and forgotten about it..
 
Yeah--- Im reading more and more about people quite local here who've been completely drowned out. Im kinda lucky as Im on a hill and my living room is above my garage so even if I did flood I could still live above it all.

The insurance companies are gunna get a fleecing I tell thee.

Hope all who are affected manage to sort things out and you havent lost too much.
 
Our hearts go out to all of you in the flooded regions. We left Warwick in 1999 just after those Easter floods... only to move into Pickering and suffer more flooding seemingly on a regular basis :?
Hope the levels drop soon.
 
In January 1982 San Anselmo experienced a flood that has entered local legend, when 10 inches of rain fell in ten hours, just when the highest tide of the month took place.

Gary Fisher and I were working in the shop when a friend who lived across the street ran in looking for help in getting his piano out of his house as it filled with water.

We ran across the street and at first we perched the piano on a footlocker, but the water kept rising, and we rounded up four strong guys and carried it up a flight of stairs out of danger.

At that point Gary and I got out some bikes and started exploring. The normally placid creek, usually four or five meters across, was a hundred meters across and had engulfed the entire downtown area to a depth of four or five feet. On mountain bikes, we were just about the only mobile people in the area, and we rode in the water until our entire bikes were submerged.

That worked as long as you were going in the direction of the current, but as soon as we realized that we could easily ride into a deep hole and lose the bikes, we started trying to get to the bank. It was nearly impossible to fight the current, and although we were not in danger of drowning, we were in danger of losing our bikes.

Finally got out, and by working our way through back streets far up stream, we found a place where we could wade across. Everyone else had to be content to be on one side or the other.

Okay, there is no point to the story. But it was a hella day, and like I said, the mountain bikers were the only people who could get anywhere.
 
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