On the way up I did see another potato spillage, this one did not quite block the road and is more representative of what to expect, a few dropped beetroot, turnips or potatoes fallen from the tractor pulled trailers that take the vegetables to central points to load onto larger trucks.
As the seasons move on most of the fields have been harvested and ploughed ready for the next crops to be sown. The farmers take a pride in the precision with which they plough their fields. This one near Ely seems to have been ploughed twice.
The weather was a bit dull today, I started with a rainproof jacket but took it off after I had warmed up. Here is a picture of Ely Cathedral, taken as I was leaving the town, it is one of the high spots of the landscape.
When I take this route I normally stop half-way along a country lane that follows Brandon Creek (a river) at a place called Ten Mile Bank. It is at a crossroads at one of the few bridges over this river. There is a convenient bench where I stop and have a drink and eat something.
Cycling uses energy, even at the slow speeds I cycle and so it is important to avoid bonking. For a cyclist this has a very different meaning to that used by the down-market newspapers in England. When a cyclist bonks they have used up the energy in the blood stream and muscles and virtually grind to a halt. To avoid this cyclists try to eat food before riding that releases energy though the ride and to eat food that supplies energy easily during the ride. There are various foods that cyclists recommend such as Bananas, dried fruit, energy bars/drinks. My personal favourite is to eat "Jelly Babies". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Babies) I have always liked Jelly Babies and cycling gives me the excuse to eat them. (Note for non-native English speakers - I would avoid using the word bonk even when talking about cycling because you'll get some very surprised looks. As in "I bonked on the way home last night" --No)
As I was sitting down eating my jelly babies, drinking some water and checking my emails a gaggle of geese took an interest in me. They all started heading my way, heads pointing up and hissing. At this point I decided to move on, I have never been attacked by a goose, but they are intimidating as they hiss away. Apparently they make very good "guard dogs".
Actually dogs are a real problem for cyclists, they like to chase moving objects, bark and are known to bite. I find the chasing the most annoying because there is a danger of a paw getting caught up in the wheel and the rider going over the top and the dog getting a broken leg. Because I cycle along shared paths I come across quite a lot of people walking their dogs. Most are well behaved and on their leads (the dogs that is) but there are always one or two lively dogs that are not on leads and are, I am sure, being friendly but can unintentionally get caught up in an accident.
My worst incident recently was when cycling along a country lane four weeks ago, I had gone to investigate a field fire. It is now illegal in the UK to burn the stubble in a field after hay has been harvested, but it used to be a common sight. I wanted to see whether I could get some interesting pictures of flames and smoke. As I got closer to the field two large Alsatians came running at me, barking and drooling saliva. Normally I would cycle on - these were way too scary, I jumped of the bike and put it between me and the two dogs and grabbed my pump. Richard's Book of Bicycling, (since updated to Richard's New Bicycle Book by Richard Ballantine et al) recommends, as a last resort, stuffing the pump down the dog's throat. Unfortunately I do not carry two pumps, but did shout sit and then an unseen owner called the dogs and they ran back. I gave up on getting any good pictures and headed off for home.
On setting off after lunch, I came across a "Road Closed" sign. I tend to ignore them, partly because detours tend to add miles to the journey, which to a car driver is no problem but on a bike is a real pain and partly because you can always walk over or around the obstruction. In this case I couldn't get around, short of swimming because a crane was completely blocking a bridge. So most unusually I had to head back to the crossroads where I had my lunch to take the detour.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. The light was not too inspiring so no pictures of King's Lynn today. The railway is easy to get to and bicycles go for free. There are no specific places for bikes they have to be propped up against the doors. At King's Lynn the easiest thing to do is prop the bike against the right hand door - at all the stops, except for Cambridge the left hand door opens onto the platform so it does not cause any obstruction. The challenge comes at Cambridge - so many people flock to get on the train that it is quite difficult to get the bike off. Once I had cycled home that was another 112Km/70miles of "training".
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