Yet Another Pootle - Cycle track update

Despite the wind and the need to pack and prepare I still popped out on my bike - I took a slightly different route but still went out through White Fe. I mentioned that they had installed a box with what looked like sensors across the track - well today they had a couple of people near the bridge over Swaffham Bulbeck Lode doing a survey of people passing the point. The sign indicated that it was on behalf of Sustrans and there was an additional sheet for cyclists. There were questions on me - age, sex etc and then on my reason for travel and then on my propensity to take exercise and to cycle and walk.

I am in favour of Sustrans working with the NT to open up these routes. For me they are a welcome way of avoiding the traffic for some of the route from to Upware. It is a single track road with undulations caused by peat shrinkage. For a cyclist there are some extremely intimidating drivers there is enough room for a car to pass a bicycle, but it is only safe at slow speed. Unfortunately, the boy racers of this world seem to think that it is ok to whizz past. What they don't take into account is how the edge of the road is all chewed up and how easy it is for the edge to throw the front wheel of the bike. I was once hit by a gust of wind into a ridge at the edge of the road which then tumbled me off my bike. No damage - but if it were to happen when a boy-racer went by!

It turns out that the repairs to the roads to and from White Fen were funded by the Sustrans/NT Connect program, although apparently the farmers grumbled about it according to the tow people doing the survey! For the record the surfaces are great and here is the road from White Fen leading to the Upware road.

Although I have not got a picture of the loose gravel path, awaiting repair nearer to Wicken Fen I was also chased by a dog today, I am sure the owners thought their little pooch wouldn't hurt a fly - but it would have hurt me if it tangled up with my wheels.

Here is the contraption used when the onions are stripped from a field. You can see where the field has already been processed to the right hand side, just past the portaloos. Sometimes they have blue and pink portaloos - I assume for the men and women doing the work.

Actually I enjoyed my cycle ride despite the wind and also went further than planned at around 50Km/30miles - hopefully that should stave of DVT when I fly off to San Francisco tomorrow.

Yet Another Pootle around the Fens - Farming Seasons and Cycle track repair.

When I do not have a lot of spare time for cycling I tend to stick with a route around Wicken Fen, depending upon the time available to me I add or subtract bits from it - including tracks, by-ways and smooth road. As I know it quite well it means I can make best use of my time. It also means that I see changes in the fields as the seasons progress. Talking about tracks I have been impressed with some of the road re-surfacing in the Cambridge area. A path from Cherry Hinton through to Mill road has been re-surfaced and roads either side of White Fen have also had a smooth layer of tarmac. I don't think the farmers care that much in their tractors and there are very few cars so it appears to have been "driven" by the opening up of the route as part of the Sustrans Connect2 program.

One of the Sustrans' routes - Number 11, which has been around for a while, goes through the National Trust Wicken Fen nature reserve. This bit of it used to have a scruffy bit of tarmac, which was thin and bumpy but provided a fairly solid base for cycling. For the last few months it has been in a state of partial repair. It has been widened and a base layer put down, presumably before adding a surface layer. The benefits of a wider path are that it will allow cyclists and walkers to pass each other more easily and brings the path up to the level elsewhere in the reserve. It seems that weather problems have affected this bit of path upgrade, wrong leaves on the line perhaps - at least the NT have put up signs to explain what is going on and to warn cyclists. As it happens this loose gravel is pretty awful to cycle on when using thinnish tyres, I use tyres which 26mm (1inch) wide, not as thin as on a racing bicycle but not as thick as on a Mountain bike.

The best approach whilst the track is like this is to sit back on the bike in an easy gear and cycle reasonably quickly whilst spinning the pedals - that way the front wheel does not dig in and the momentum takes you through the ruts that form in the gravel. What you don't want is to have to slow down and veer around the track. Which is what I got when meeting some people walking their dogs coming the other way. Generally I find that most dog owners recognise the inherent unpredictability of dogs and call them to one side. In this case I slowed down and moved to the left side of the track - unfortunately the owners threw a ball of to my left causing one of the dogs to run across and back directly in front of me. A good job I was not clipped into the pedals otherwise I would have been off my bike. All I got was a grumpy stare from the dog walkers. Perhaps dog walkers feel like the new pariahs - occupying the role that used to be taken by cyclists on these paths? My advice - pay attention to the pieces of paper at the top of the fence - "Take Extra Care"/.

It will be a nice path when they finally finish it though. No ponies around today - they sometimes gather around the path - but behave more predictably than dogs. Mind you they can be inquisitive sometimes.

I was surprised to see this field, not only has it been harvested, ploughed and drilled (something else planted) it has started growing a new crop already.

Whilst on the other side of the road, beneath a blue sky with a few puffy clouds a field is still awaiting the combine harvester. I have not got a picture of it, but a little bit further along a field of onions was being harvested - not by a machine - in this case a gang of workers walking behind trailer with a "tent" and conveyor belt being towed by a tractor. After it has passed by it looks as if a swarm have locusts has passed by with a smell of onions in the air.

The farming is relentless at this time of year - he is a "Before" picture taken last weekend - gently waving in the wind.

This is the "After" picture taken yesterday - it has practically been harvested - the tractor is just coming to the end of the field. The bales left behind are quite green.

I then unfurled the bike wing and headed off to the coast to take this picture - not really - when they built a new Bottisham Lode Bridge to open up the White Fen path they also created a couple of ponds from the clay. I was struck by how clear the water was.

This is another shot of one of the ponds with an island in the middle it will be interesting to see how the wildlife develops.

I was hoping to pop out for a spin this afternoon as I am flying off on business tomorrow - it looks pretty windy thug.

Wicken Fen at the Weekend - Combining (as in Harvesting) almost finished

The weekend was actually quite pleasant for cycling, now that I am getting used to daytime temperatures of less than 35C after my Summer Holiday. In the main it was quite warm, not too sunny but no rain - the only minor downside was that it was fairly blustery. When it is very windy out generally plan my route to head out into the wind and then get pushed home by the wind - it was not that bad.

Most of the fields have been cut though - farmers have indeed been making hay whilst it has not rained. There are quite a few fields with hay bales stacked awaiting collection and also quite a few tractors pulling one or two trailers stacked with hay. I've always found the farmers around these parts to be friendly (make that considerate) towards cyclists on the roads and to encourage that view I generally always pull off onto the verge so that the tractor driver does not even need to slow when passing - they always give a wave of thanks. Although not often you do see bales that have been shed onto the roads. When I was a boy I would sometime help the local farmer stack bales - the reward being a ride on top of the trailer loaded with bales as it was pulled through the fields. definitely not the sort of thing that would be allowed nowadays.

This picture was taken looking the other way - a bit darker for emphasis but the weather was changeable.

Off in the distance I could see a large smoke plume. My first thought was that it was a stack of hay going up in smoke - but it was too large and black really. In the end I cycled up to Ely to find that the fire was still of int he distance. It turned out to be a fire in a tyre recycling plant close to Litteport. For more pictures here is a link.

The next day the clouds seemed to have moved along with a few contrails from passing aeroplanes.

The farmers do not get much rest though - they have to plough up the stubble and then prepare the fields for drilling. (planting the next crop)

I am always impressed just how fine the soil is around the Fens.

I am not sure what this is - but it looked good blowing in the wind almost like a green pond.

By Monday the weather whilst still warm was much cloudier and dull, a few spots of rain where felt in places but not by me when cycling.

One good thing, the wind had dropped though.

A quick trip round Wicken Fen - back in the saddle

They say you always appreciate things more when you have been away (absence makes the heart grow fonder!). Before we went off on holiday the countryside seemed quite brown, however after spending time in Morocco it seems greener again. Of course it has not really gotten greener it just seems that way. Before going away I took this picture hay making seemed well under way.

On Monday Combining was continuing, with some very pleasant cycling weather, warm, but not too warm. I did find myself cycling through the dust plumes as the Combines worked their way around the field though, sunglasses were certainly required.

The last time I took this picture looking towards Ely Cathedral the crops were still in the fields - so the farmers have managed to make some progress over the last few weeks.

I grew up in Somerset (where the cider apples grow) and as well as sour cider apples there was an orchard with some really sweet apples nearby. The apples might have been Cox's Orange pippin and I once fell out of one tree and landed on my back still clutching the apples I had "scrumped". The orchard was on its last legs and the apples were rarely picked. One year they had sold the "rights" and a group came in to pick them and we helped. I am not sure what we got in return, some apples maybe. Here are some apples growing in the hedgerow, the crop looks good this year. Our apple trees in the garden are also laden.

Wicken Fen has not changed much, the foot/cycle path through this is still in a partial state of repair. They are waiting for cooler weather according to signs. At the moment there is a swathe of loose small-sized gravel, it is not the easiest of paths to cycle along but can be fun.

Further along at White lode Fen there were some bridge works to repair plan on the bridge. They also appear to have put in a sensor across the path, presumably to count the number of visitors. Most organisations love their bureaucracy, I wonder what they are hoping to determine from this information? Perhaps I should cycle up and down the path although they might get suspicious of a pattern of alternate crossings. If they record the direction of the traveller that is.

So that is how giant lizards form - spontaneous eruption from the mud - the National Trust will be pleased - perhaps that is what their counter is counting!

We do not seem to have had that many wasps around this year although I was talking to a Pest Controller who has been inundated with calls to dispose of wasps nests so perhaps we were lucky. I did get stung whilst out on my bike though. Fortunately i do not suffer to much from such stings - it is less painful than a stinging nettle and by the end of the ride I had more or less forgotten about it.

Now I am back I must get my cycling in India trip sorted - flights, new bike - yep I had had some email dialogue with some cycle companies during my hols - I was not allowed to take my laptop - but that is what smartphones are for. I have an appointment to get measure - more info to come.

Summer Hols - Morocco Imperial Cities

The longest time I normally don't spend cycling, excepting accidents, is when we have our family summer holiday. The timing of which is governed by school holidays, exam results and one or two other things that have cropped up this year. Consequently we were very late booking anywhere to visit. Personally I like to visit somewhere I have not been before and would rather not chill out on a beach all of the time. I had suggested Borneo, but that choice was vetoed by my wife and daughter - they did not want the hassle of long flights and mosquitoes.

By chance we saw a TV program (Masterchef) that featured an episode where the competitors were cooking a meal in a place in Morocco. So we decided to go there and our travel agent put a suggestion together and with very little research that is where we ended up.

As it turned out it was perhaps hotter than we might have chosen but we had a great time, both in terms of learning about a different culture and also getting an historical perspective. We also got used to the heat and I am now finding it slightly chilly back in England.

Although I did not do any cycling I did take quite a few pictures whilst away - around 2000. Here is a small selection starting with a Brocken Spectre - although this does not have a shadow of the plane in it. They are actually fairly commonly seen when flying. They are more interesting when seen from a mountain as the observers shadow can be seen in the middle - like a spectre. I have a picture of my son and I forming a "angel" like shadow on such a rain "circle" bow viewed from the top of Wayna Picchu - whilst looking down on Machu Picchu in Peru.

We travelled around a bit and started in Casablanca. All the Moroccans we met were very friendly and all commented on how all the religions peacefully co-exist in the country. The country is a Muslim country and so there are many Mosques to be seen dotted around. In Casablanca is the world's third largest Mosque - Mosque Hassan II with the world's largest Minaret at 210m. It can accommodate 25,000 worshippers inside and a further 80,000 outside. It also features a roof that opens, as it was when we visited. Normally non-Muslims cannot go inside a Mosque - however the King of Morocco has decreed that this one should be open to non-Muslims, so we were able to look inside. (Such an approach exemplifies the feeling of hospitality.)

The Mosque is built on reclaimed land and half of the surface lies over the Atlantic sea, inspired for religious reasons. Here is a picture taken from inside looking out towards the sea.

The doors are magnificent and and made from Titanium and brass to avoid the rusting effects of the nearby sea.

After Casablanca we visited Fes a city dating back to around 789. There we visited a clay/Mosaic works. This guy seems used to being photographed without it putting him off.

They also produce all sorts of other pottery - here a pot is being hand-painted. We bought a trademark pot - the Tagine.

I liked the mauve colour on these teapots.

In the Medina we were staying in there was a tannery. They gave out sprigs of mint to mask the smell. It was an incredibly hot day where the leather was being worked. The smell was pretty bad.

The city walls in Morocco seem to have survived in many cases - here the wall is behind the ramparts. A minaret can be seen on the left.

We then visited a city called Meknes - at one time ruled by a a Sultan with 500 sons and countless daughters. Here is a lake where his many wives and concubines were able to stroll.

One thing I had not thought about was the existence of Roman Ruins. We visited Volubilis - which featured as a case study part of the syllabus in my daughter's History GSCE exam this year. The Romans created healthy cities - due to the provision of underground sewage drains (cloaca maximus - main drain!) and water "pumped" around.

One aspect of Morocco was the high levels of agriculture. Apart from the ground being browner there were many hay stacks around, almost like England. There were also lots of olive tree plantations. The olives were delicious

There is a stork nest on the top of the column in the distance.

The Mausoleum of King Mohammed V is in Rabat. It is sited on the opposite side of Hassan Tower, the site of a Mosque that was not completed. The Minaret was supposed to be twice as high and has a ramp inside so that the Muezzin could climb the tower more easily by riding a horse. In fact the tower was not finished it was supposed to be twice as high. Nowadays they have loudspeakers in the tower so that the Muezzin no longer needs to climb the minarets.

Also in Rabat a Medina with distinct blue and white walls. The blue was believed to help reduce the number of mosquitoes and and the white helps to reduce the heat inside the buildings. When the focus is on the inside the of the dwelling and not on the view then it does not matter that there is no external view and of course the houses can be built very close together.

This Medina had rich and poor, local and foreign inhabitants. Here is the front door of one of the richer inhabitants.

Before we caught the train to Marrakesh we had a drink at a cafe near the railway station. The service is perhaps a little slower then a cafe here in the UK, however these is no hassle to keep buying things - people seem to stop and chat for ages with one cup of mint tea.

Marrakesh was not my cup of tea - it was very touristy. The main square had monkey tamers, snake tamers, henna painters and so on. They were there to extract your money. Mind you we did look around parts of the old town. We visited a bakery, it was dark so the baker ended up as a blur. Some chap grabbed a loaf and stood by my wife so I took a picture - then he wanted paying for it. I don't mind such things providing it is clear up front. We did not have such problems elsewhere in Morocco, only in Marrakesh.

There must be a lot of babies being delivered in Morocco - these are all storks.

After the mayhem of Marrakesh we ended up at Sir Richard Branson's place - Kasbah Tamadot (Breeze castle in Berber). It was a great place to chill after the touring.

The village across the valley from the Kasbah - they trained staff from here rather than ship them in from Marrakesh in order to benefit the local community more.

Opposites - the Berber village seen from the Infinity pool.

On the way back to London I saw these interesting fields.

It turned out that there had been strikes, fortunately were not really affected - we had a charter plane instead of the scheduled one. We talked to other passengers who had been delayed in Morocco though.

Guilty Pleasures - Web cartoons

One thing leads to another and before you know where you are you're wasting time reading cartoons. It started with reading Cycling blogs - and there are still three I read regularly.

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  Crap Cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest In the great tradition of highlighting just how ludicrous some Councils can be when making claims to be cycling friendly. Basically some facilities are so bad that if you didn't laugh you would cry - so here is some humour. The bottom line is that the cycling facilities, even in the Cycling friendly towns and cities of England are pretty crap. I have blogged about some of the problems here in Cambridge. Fundamentally cycling as a mode of transport is not taken seriously - I blame the fat blobbers, they can't face the idea of cycling so they have to belittle cycling as often as possible.
  
  


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  Real Cycling More a magazine of snippets of cycling, mainly based in London but with interesting forays into other parts. Today's item (4th August 09) has a rather nice piece on a Hull based company making puncture repair outfits - as white label goods for the well-known brands. There is also a rather nice sound piece of a tour around the factory.
  
  


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  Cycling Missy - enthusiasm for cycling from an American's point of view including the build up to and successfully 100mile rides
  
  

This led onto cartoons, because many blogs also include their own list of blogs.

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  Yehuda Moon & The Kickstand Cyclery a wry look at the challenges of running a bike shop, jointly run by a "Lycra-roadie" and a "dogmatic, old-school & passionate cyclist"
  
  


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  Rosscott, Inc.'s The System This throws in bicycles, IT, work and a bit of life in general.
  
  

This led onto some comics that are just weird - but fun, yes time wasting - but at one a day who cares.

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  Girls with Slingshots
  
  


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  Sex, Drugs and June Cleaver
  
  


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  A girl and her Fed
  
  

Humm, I think my son would say I have too much time on my hands - but I enjoy wry humour about the human condition - that's my excuse.

My last guilty confession, well I do not wear my cycle helmet very often at the moment - why you may ask, did that accident not teach me anything. Well the answer is that the helmet makes my head very sweaty and I do believe that motorists treat lycra'd helmeted cyclists as if they know what they are doing and get very, very close sometimes. I have tried washing my helmet. Here is a trick for keeping your cycle helmet clean. I tried it, but prefer a bath so substituted bathing for a showering. My family think I am mad and it works kind of. It seems that Horse riders admit that their helmets might actually get smelly and advertise anti-bacterial sprays for their helmets - I must try one of those next.

Finally my own contribution to the Cartoon world - no I am not artistically inclined - but this is something I have thought about trying - Sorry officer I thought the "Mandatory" meant I had to stay in the lane, since the motorist clearly felt he could park there!!

Better weather - same old roads and Connect2 Funding Wicken Fen

My daughter's 16th birthday will shortly be upon her and as befalls people born in August she is pretty much the youngest in her year and has rarely been at home on her birthday. Even when she is many of her friends aren't so unfortunately she has gotten used to birthdays on holiday. Mind you this has included a birthday paddling down a river in Canada, blowing out a candle on a birthday cake near the Old man of Coniston in a rather blustery day. As my son is working at the moment we had a meal out at our favourite Chinese Restaurant in Histon when he was visiting us over the weekend.- the Phoenix. I can certainly recommend it - the food was particularly good on Saturday and the place was very busy - always a good sign. Even better it is outside of Cambridge and so not a hassle to get to.

During our meal there were several torrential showers and as we left a double rainbow in the sky in one direction.

In the other direction a wonderful red sky - which left me hoping the the rhyme "Red sky at night - Shepherd's delight, red sky in't morning - Shepherd's warning" was going to come true.

Well Shepherd's delight might have been taking it a bit too far - but the weather on Sunday was not too bad - so I did a bit of the cycling equivalent of pootling around. Just cycling around and about Cambridge check out places I had not cycled in recently or before. One interesting cycle path cuts down from Cherry Hinton to Mill Road - it helps to know it is there - but it is convenient. Here is where it starts off at the Cherry Hinton end of Coldham's lane - don't let the abandoned motor cycle put you off - it is quite a well used path.

The path then passes a Sports Centre - you know the sort of place where people get in their cars to go and have some exercise. It has quite a large car park which is normally fairly busy so I assume that lots of people are exercise minded. It seems a pity that more of them don't make use of the energies to cycle out there as well. The bit of the path next to the Centre has one of the best cycle route fragments in Cambridge - well lit, different colours for the pedestrian side compared with the cyclists side. Mind you quite a lot of the "sports-people" don't seem to realise that the red stuff is for cyclists and often walk along it - perhaps that's why they don't cycle - ignorance.

The route then crosses the Ipswich to Cambridge railway line - on which an old diesel train can be seen plying its trade every hour. Most of the time there is one carriage, but around school time there are two because it gets busy. Apparently there is not sufficient capacity at Cambridge Railway station to make more of this line. I find it a great way to get to Ipswich for meetings though (naturally taking my bike on the train).

The path is called the Tins path and lies between a Territorial Training ground and a lake. It has recently been re-surfaced and is much smoother. Before there were a number of tree routes that protruded quite badly. Unfortunately it is not the widest of paths, but reading the the latest (Aug/Nov 2009) copy of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign Newsletter the Cambridge City Council is looking to widen it - providing land can be acquired. When there aren't many other users and it is light it is a great path, but at night it can be tricky avoiding people lampposts.and cyclists. The bike in this picture is an electrically assisted bicycle - although not that popular yet I have seen a few in Cambridge so they can't be that bad.

My pootling took me past the University Botanic Gardens along Trumpington Road. If you have never been they are well worth a visit - although I have not been since they started charging - just as I have not driven in London since they started charging! This is where the Highway Code and parking do not always make easy bedfellows. The two advisory cycle paths are in the door "kill" zone for the cars parking either side. On balance I think that it is probably better to have the advisory cycle lanes on this stretch of road since it alerts the drivers as they park to the fact that there are likely to be a number of bicycles travelling along the road I do think that it makes the Highway code "suggestion" regarding cycle paths and cyclists ambiguous and I quote:

"61

Cycle Routes and Other Facilities. Use cycle routes, advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings unless at the time it is unsafe to do so. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer."

The logic seems a little convoluted - do they want the cyclists do perform some sort of statistical analysis working out whether it will be more dangerous or not. Indeed use of such paths can make the journey more dangerous as well. What this fails to address is the issue of whether damages due to the cyclist in the event of an accident might be reduced or not?

Also if you look at this picture you can see that the door mirror of the VW car protrudes into the advisory cycle lane space - which results from the space being barely wide enough for the car (and not a very wide car at that).

As I pootled around following Sustrans Route 11 and then heading up towards Milton I arrived at a T-junction - Green End Road and Scotland Road). I was turning right and so moving towards the middle of the road, I was indicating so had might right arm outstretched, looking both ways and yes went right into the pothole. Fortunately I did not lose my balance and was not going very fast -and I hit the pothole square on- if I had caught it on its edge it could easily have tumbled me off the bike. So bearing in mind the old saying - "Don't get mad ... get that pothole reported" I headed off to the CTC website to do just that - towards the bottom left of their front web-page is a link "fill that hole". There it is easy to fill in a form with a convenient map to place the pothole on, but to my dismay I find that I am not the first - in fact the pothole had been reported 5 months ago. I suppose I could have repeated the exercise - I am not sure whether that increases the chance of a fix, so instead I reported it directly to the Cambridge City Council via the Cambridge Cycling Campaign Website where if you look under resources you eventually get to this City Council page: Roads and transport- Reporting defects within the highway.

So I reported it directly - along with a description of why it is dangerous to cyclists in particular. They requested an email address, so hopefully I will get updated on progress!

Whilst I was pootling the next step was to check out how the planned cycle path from Waterbeach across to Wicken Fen was coming along. This has benefited from a Televised Lottery competition to determine what public causes were to benefit from some of the public lottery money. The Cycling one won - mainly because it was spread across the country rather than located in one spot to provide, say, a new Opera facility in Richmond. The Connect2 web-page is a starting point for all of the schemes in the planning stage, but here is the one for the Wicken Fen path along with a map. I know that one of the bridges planned for the route is in action because I regularly cycle over it and I am very pleased with it. I regularly see a heron when out that way and a few times have had deer cross my path. I also enjoy cycling along it at night. Below is Bottisham Lock, which is due for an upgrade, to make it easier for cyclists. The interesting thing though is that it already has a narrow track running up each side to allow cyclists to slot their wheels into in order to facilitate pushing a bike over the bridge. It looks as if the track has been there for a long time, so the implication is that there is a cycle route somewhere along here. In fact as i descended the other side I met a fellow cyclist travelling in the opposite direction. But no - only footpaths, so I got off and walked my bike.

On the route I saw this sign - I have always believed that it is lawful to walk a bicycle along a pavement and footpath, this sign implies that (or tries to imply that) I was not allowed to walk my bicycle along either. So I carried it ;-) Thinking I must check out the law when I get home. I also wondered whether the existence of the sign meant that it was possible to seek written permission, if so who from? and what conditions? (Also would I need one for each of my bicycles ;-)

So seeking information via Google and Wikipedia -it seems that you cannot even carry a bicycle along a footpath (where it is a right of way type of path). You can however wheel a pram or pushchair or wheelchair. I understand that there is a need to minimise damage hence not allowing horses or cycling cyclists but I would imagine that a pushchair would do more damage. Here is a typical piece of advice from a County Council - Surrey which explicitly states that you cannot ride, push or carry a bicycle. This web-page from York City Council says you cannot ride or push a bicycle on a footpath. If you do so the matter is one of trespass under civil law. The Ramblers Association has a somewhat clearer description of the Basics of Footpath Law. Where is says that a walker can take along a natural accompaniment such as a wheelchair or pushchair. I guess that a bicycle is not such an accompaniment although could the same be said if I was carrying my Brompton bicycle in folded state?

Well I have learnt something as a result of my pootling: not to even carry my bike on a footpath and it makes me wonder whether Connect2 will make good on their promise of opening up this particular route in the face of such opposition. Perhaps the signs are part of a protest against the ways of the NT and its vision to flood the Fens and bring back malaria and mosquitoes.

I stopped at Wicken Fe to get a drink at the National Trust cafe - the NT seems switched on to the idea that bicycles are a good thing for the countryside and there are some good posts to lock bikes up to at near the cafe. Mind you I did have a driver swerve at me along the road past the car park - he was leaving. I am not sure whether he was perhaps old and a little blind and so just did not see me, or perhaps he (it normally is a he) wanted to give me a fright. I tend to think given the demographics of NT members that it was the former not the latter. Mind you my 20 year old son has just joined - so young people do find their activities relevant

Good to see the harvesting is taking place.

Although I did not take pictures there are loads of bicycles parked on railings in Cambridge - there just is not enough cycle parking available. If there was just think how many more people would cycle in the Flatlands.