Bike-commute day 31—to gym and home

I needed to make the ride and gym work quick today, so I would have time to feed Howard-the-dog, shower, and make it to the 8 p.m. screening of In a Better World.

It seemed fine by the online radar and by feel on the road to Cardinal Fitness. But it had started to sprinkle after my 20-minute power shoulders workout. By the time I approached Linden, it had turned to real rain, though a light rain. It continued so for about a mile before tapering off. The roads were still wet, though, and I cautiously navigated corners and stops.

The ick factor was how much road splash my ankle-high cycling shoes caught and retained. The shoes were soaked through by the time the rain stopped. —The shoes and socks were still wet the next morning.

At the concrete bank of the Mad River, which is my gauge of whether the river is flooded as it joins the Great Miami, the water churned and roiled from the recent increase of flow.

• The Mad River's normal depth allows all of the concrete and its bottom horizontal edge to show, and a ribbon of mud embankment below the concrete is visible. 
• As the Mad River rises, the water covers the western end of the horizontal edge first. 
• Usually when half the length of the horizontal edge is covered, at least the depression in the bikeway west of the Webster Avenue bridge will be flooded. 
• If all the horizontal edge is covered, then at least another depression east of Webster Avenue is also flooded. 

This evening, the full horizontal edge was covered, and it looked to be at least two feet deep at the eastern end. So clearly only Monument Avenue was the viable way toward downtown. At the traffic signal on Findlay Street, I saw Tom Helbig stopped from the opposite direction. He was headed home, on the bike that he used to visit the Research Park bike to work event this morning.

You and Ohio law
I found an excellent summary of Ohio traffic laws that relate to cycling.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 65 to 68°F at 17:10
Precipitation: none, then a lot
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 01:03:04 for 14.90+ miles
Heart rate: 125 bpm average, 138 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 7 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride. 15th Garmin day.