Snow :-) and a dodgy ankle :-(

The fun of cycling in the snow was short-lived. I can't recall any particular point when I might have jarred my right ankle but last Sunday afternoon after about 32Km/20miles it started to hurt especially when the pedal was at the top of the "circle". It did not seem to benefit from stretching so when I got home I decided to rest it for a few days.

I also realised that my hybrid bicycle has longer cranks than my custom-made touring Longstaff because it hurt mote to cycle on the Marin. I figured it was better to go out on the hybrid in the snow and ice since the riding position is more upright. I did not resort to using my MTB (mountain bike - big knobbly tyres). Although the local schools have closed for two days during the last two weeks the snow was not too bad here in the flatlands.

The snow also tends to disappear pretty quickly so after the first drop on the Thursday it had pretty much gone by the Sunday. The only challenges occurred on one or two side roads when the snow had been compressed and shielded by hedgerows. Occasionally I had to put both feet down and glide gently along, perhaps that is what caused the ankle problem? However more snow was predicted and judging from the evening clouds in this picture taken at Wicken Fen it was imminent.

Indeed it did snow and as I noted previously you get to see a lot of animal and bird tracks. Because I was not cycling here are some pheasant tracks taken in my garden.

Here is the snow falling although we seemed to get a lot it did not settle like the previous week.

By the end of the week my ankle was feeling better and unfortunately the snow had gone as well, apart from in one or two sheltered areas

On my way back from White Fen I did come across a car driver "walking" a dog. The last couple of times this has happened the driver seemed quite concerned to get the dog back into the car before I got too close. The dog is often a huge Alsatian/rottweiler and I don't think the owner is worried about me crashing into the dog rather I think they are concerned about the bad press you get when "Dog eats cyclist". As I got closer it turned out the driver was a "Little old lady" not really the sort to own a fierce dog - this time the concern really was for the dog, it turned out to be about 15cm/6" tall.but not at all concerned about me either. I guess that in this weather it can be quite scary walking on the icy pavements.

Here in Cambridgeshire they do not seem to grit the shared cycle/pedestrian paths it is almost as if the pedestrians and cyclists are second class citizens. Mind you quite a few of the smaller roads don't get gritted either.