I had to turn back due to flooded roads twice today. The first one was predictable; indeed, I have to admit that I chose Meadow Lane as my route out of Loughborough at least partly because I wanted to see just how bad it was. There was a car stuck, or maybe abandoned, in the water on the road, and a RAC van had arrived shortly before me.

However, the second flood took me by surprise: this was where the Kingston Brook was flowing over the road between East Leake and West Leake. I got the impression that it wasn't too deep, but there was a car stopped on the other side of the flood, and I decided to play safe. Just a few yards back, I had seen two cyclists, a small boy and (presumably) his dad, turning off the road onto a bridleway. Now, I had resolved at the start of the ride that there was to be no off-road today, given the recent deluge; but this looked preferable to back-tracking all the way to East Leake. And indeed it turned out fine; the surface was wet, but not soft or muddy; until the final gate, where there was no avoiding a puddle of indeterminate depth. I quite happily splash through water when running, but having to do that while cycling just seems wrong.