I am safe. I am in Elmore and will make my way to Bendigo tomorrow.
This post is mostly for my Australian friends who will be seeing lots of flooding pics on the news from the area I’ve been riding. Just want you to know I’m fine and making good decisions.
I left Echuca on Saturday before any evacuation notices were issued, but it was obvious that was going to happen! The road I used to leave town was under water 24 hours later.
I rode out to Terrick Terrick National Park and spent the night there on high ground and assessed all my options.
There are really no roads to ride. Roads are closed everywhere, and most roads that are open have water over them in many places.
So I found the one way that would allow me to get to Bendigo, since the western or northwestern direction I’d wanted to head is pretty much impossible at the moment due to the flooding. I need to get out of the flat areas where the water will just stick around.
See my route to Bendigo on the yellow line below. This is also the evacuation route for Echuca where I turned south. The green circle is where I’m heading. The red dots I added were additional roads that closed today (as this photo was from my phone the night before).
There is more heavy rain forecast Thursday to Sunday. This will likely renew all the flooding where it has started to recede.
So I will weigh up my options once I get to Bendigo but am strongly considering getting the train to Melbourne and then a train to Warrnambool. This would allow me to bypass all the closed roads and get to an area that has less rain forecast.
So we’ll see where I am next Saturday! Just wanted to let you know I’m safe.