The Route of the Hiawatha – The Dark, Cold Tunnels

I knew that the tunnel would be dark.The brochure had described cycling through a mile of pitch black with only the glow of  LED bike lights to light the way.What the brochure failed to mention was that the tunnel had two-way traffic, was wet, had potholes, and ditches full of water that lined both sides of the dark 8,771-foot long tunnel.

 

Dad had already hit a rut and slipped into a shorter tunnel. He caught himself, but none of us were sure what we would encounter if anyone fell in a ditch.

Water plopped on my head without warning. I felt especially sensitive to subtleties in the environment. As I rode through the tunnel, I noticed every detail.

Small shadows with indefinite shapes skittered along the walls. Perhaps they were of rocks or dense swarms of gnats. Maybe they were tiny gnomes sneaking around the tunnel. Anything could be disguised.

The damp, gray, cement walls fascinated me. Perhaps even a little too much because staring at them could cause an accidental turn into the ditch.

Several times I caught myself from falling in potholes because it was too dark to see anything – even with the bicycle lights.

 

I stayed at the back of our group so that I could easily follow their lights which illuminated the path ahead.

The tunnel took 12 minutes to go through and if it had lasted longer, I might have had a panic attack wondering if I would run into another cyclist or if I would run off the side of the road.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

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