I rode home -- in the SUN! I waited for an extra half hour after I usually leave, knowing that as we said these storms tend to pass by quickly, and by then the sky had started getting lighter. I took that as an encouraging sign and canceled the emergency pickup by my DH. Instead I rode, and by the time I got home I'd had to take off my arm warmers and unzip my vest; the road had dry patches.

Of course, I also forded a stream that had taken over the road at one point. The water went up over my pedals (on the downstroke) and may have gotten up to my axles, although it was hard to tell because of the way the tires cut through the water. It was impressive. My chain was submerged (it's very low on the Xtracycle). I don't usually have a wake when I'm riding my bike. Fortunately I knew that part of the road and remembered that it didn't have any potholes or anything invisible in the muddy murk flowing around my wheels. Falling right then would've been really unpleasant. The current didn't seem to shove me around at all and I got through it with nothing worse than soaked feet, which wasn't so bad since I had wool socks on.

The other crazy thing I encountered was when part of the road had just been completely covered over with dirt, gravel, sand, pebbles, and rocks that washed onto it. I literally rode through a small sand dune and had to navigate around two abandoned cars, which were presumably remnants from when the water had come through to dump all that sand and stuff. It was crazy and I was actually glad to have my Xtracycle with its wider, more forgiving tires as I rode over and around all the rocks, sticks, and debris. I also was glad for the snow biking skills I developed over the winter, since I unexpectedly had to use them riding through deep drifted sand and dirt on the road. Having the rear end of an Xtracycle fishtail a bit behind you is certainly a strange experience, but in all it wasn't problematic or anything.

I'd rate the call to ride home as a dazzling success: I stayed dry except for my feet, I was not struck by lightning or blown into a nearby tree by high winds, and I got to ride through a river.