The weather here in the Fens is getting warmer again - although not quite as nice as a week ago. After returning from a business trip I have had to spend this week catching up on things and have had less flexibility to pop out cycling. I have also been catching up with Posts to this Blog. I find it gets harder the greater the time gap between the day I am posting about and the day I actually post the blog.
The result is that recently I have ridden less and when I have ridden I have had less time to stop and take photographs. This year my rough target for distance is around 12,000Km/7,500miles - which equates to a daily equivalent of around 33Km or 21miles which is not actually a huge mileage. Except if I don't cycle for a week it leaves a gap of 233Km/147miles. I generally find I do cycle around 3 in 5 days. So like anything if you keep on top it is easy - if you get behind it becomes a challenge. Why bother, well by cycling regularly it keeps my bike fitness at a reasonable level and ensures I can cope with long hours in the saddle so that when I want to spend a couple of days cycling 160Km/100miles a day (e.g. Hull to Cambridge) or go on a 2 week cycling trip somewhere (Southern India) I can do and focus on enjoying the trip and seeing the "sights" rather than worry about aches and pains. Being prepared is more important as you get older I think. My son (who was 20 at the time) prepared for the same cycling tour in India by eating a few curries and apart from being a bit saddle sore at the start had no problems.
So this is a short Post - although it was Friday (generally associated with finishing early) I had a conference call, which I thought was at 3.30pm but in the end turned out to be at 4.30pm. I set off at 2.30pm and I expected to be out for around 3 hours including stops so I was going to have to take all I needed for the call with me. Nowadays the Fens have joined the 21st century and the cell-phone coverage is good where I cycle - there was a time when I would also have had to factor in being in an area of good coverage as well.
It was warmer so back to shorts, a cycling t-shirt, windproof and cycling sandals. It was not warm enough for sitting but was fine for cycling. I also wore long-fingered gloves - which turned out to be unnecessary. I also took an additional top for warmth when sitting still and taking part in the call.
So not much time to hang around - a slightly different route took me along Sustrans 51 out of Cambridge and on the route, between Bottisham and Swaffham Bulbeck I noticed that the hedge was on fire. Perhaps they'll have to close the airport because of wood ash. The hedge was not really on fire - someone was burning stuff in their garden. Garden fires used to be a more regular part of my life when I was a boy. My mother was a keen gardener and grew vegetables and fruit. In those days you dealt with your own garden rubbish and although some things went on the compost some stuff got burnt. (Some types of weeds need to be destroyed to prevent them spreading for instance.) Actually thinking about it she tended to burn most of the garden rubbish, I don't think we had a compost heap. The ashes were spread around - but I think that the real motivation was that she liked having a fire in the back garden.
As kids we were entranced and liked to stick things into the fire set them alight. It was also good training in the art of setting and lighting a fire. Fires are easy with kindling and dry sticks - try it with garden rubbish - much harder. This type of fire is a rarity nowadays - one of the consequences of high density living - even in villages.
I also stopped briefly to take a picture of the trunk of the unidentified tree (to me anyway) near the Lodes Way bridge over Swaffham Bulbeck Lode. When I was younger I went to a primary school with around 60 pupils, aged from 4-11, we had two classes and two teachers. As a village school discipline was firm and we were being prepared for the "Eleven+" test which would mean Grammar School if we passed and a Secondary School if we didn't. The Grammar School implied university - the other school didn't! Being a village school with strong links to farming (many children were associated with farms) we were also expected to know about nature and were regularly tested on our knowledge of flowers and trees and local wildlife.
As a result I used to be able to identify most of the trees and plants around the area we lived in (On the edge of the Mendips in Somerset). This meant I could tell you what type of tree it was from the general shape and bark without needing the leaves. Unfortunately those days are gone and I have failed to identify this tree from its bark. My wife, also a keen gardener couldn't tell either from these pictures.
I also took a closeup and failed to identify it - so next time I will take a picture of the overall tree and as the leaves are now coming out the leaves as well. What I really want to find is a website that has a structured approach to determining types of flower and tree. Ideally it could use the clues such as the size of the tree, gnarliness of the bark, shape of the leaves amongst other factors to narrow down onto a pictorial reference. If you know of one please let me know.
I stopped at 3.30pm, conveniently sitting at one of the picnic benches in the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve car-park. The benches were well away from the cars though and although I found that the call was not due to start for another hour did have a useful discussion on the issues surrounding the call. (A little preparedness goes a long way). As I sat there I noticed a small deer in the field alongside the picnic area.
An hour later I stopped at a picnic bench in White Fen for the call proper. Well actually I stopped just before the bench to check the phone number to call and dropped my phone case. When cycling I put my phone in a small soft bag along with some money for emergencies - taxi fare/train fare/emergency snacks/drinks. I had the phone but not the case - so during the early stages of the phone call I re-traced my "cycle-steps" along White Fen, with the phone on mute so as not to lose my money! At least I was on time - my GPS unit is of course satellite-set.
Once again I saw a small deer rooting around and it was warm enough I did not need the extra top. It did start spitting with a little rain - but not enough to have any real effect. The "random" picnic benches are really useful business stops - the rustic equivalent of Starbucks - without the coffee?
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