After the miserable weather of last Saturday it seems that once again Summer is back here in the Flatlands of East Anglia. Everything seems to have turned green and is growing profusely and having been off my Hybrid for a few days it was time to take to the tracks around Horningsea and Lode again.
One of the challenges for shorts wearing cyclists at this time of year is avoiding the stingles and this is not just on the more remote tracks and byways around the County. Here is Sustrans 51 where it connects Fison Road with the cycle path through to the Newmarket Road Park and Ride site (and beyond). As Summer progresses the paths become more like tunnels and if you look closely at this picture there are stinging nettles on either side of the path down at the bottom. To be fair I have not been stung going there there so far and I do like to see the wild plants being allowed to grow. If I wanted a more industrial scene I would cycle on the paths alongside the roads. I guess what I would really like to see is a wider path, with a width more suitable for two cyclists to be able to pass each other safely. This would also reduce the conflict between pedestrians and cyclists as well I think and then loads of wild flowers and plants on each side.
Talking about conflict - yet more surface dressing of the road - there is an Urban hymn - "we tar the roads and scatter the good chippings all around". Then we stick a few signs for drivers to ignore and watch those who own their vehicles cringing as a non-driver owned vehicle (alright white van man) shoots by. This was taken on High Ditch Road where High Ditch Road meets Low Fen Droveway - just by the bridge over the A14.
I took the quickest way off the newly chipping'd road along Low Fen Drove Way - there are still traffic cones in place of the missing drain covers on either side. My theory is that the drain covers were stolen for sale as scrap metal! It seems that now the crops in the fields are busy growing the local farmers have turned their attention to irrigation and flattening their farm tracks. This is Low Fen Drove Way shortly before it reaches Snout Corner. The last time I cycled along here, maybe a couple of days ago it was solid rutted mud. The ruts were not too bad - it needed a small amount of care on my Hybrid (25mm tyres.) This time around it appears to have been flattened and the ruts are all gone - as a result the surface is loose dried-mud-gravel. In places the mud is quite powdery and grabs at the bike wheels, in others there are large lumps that knock the wheels. It does not need much more care - but a lower gear is better and watch our for the quick-dust sucking your bike wheels down.
Yet another Linseed field - not quite as advanced as some of the others in the area - in the shade of the tree there seemed to be a concentration of blue flowers - although it is not that obvious from the picture.
At the end of Long Drove you have to stop for the Horningsea Road. As I waited at this "junction" for a gap in the traffic so I could turn right onto the unfinished shared use cycle path a car and van appeared to want to turn down the Drove - except they didn't they wanted to use the entrance as a lay-by and as far as they were concerned I was in the way. The trouble was it was not a lay-by and so they obstructed my view of the road - making it almost impossible for me to see whether anything was coming down the road. As I was trying to cross you could see the drivers getting impatient as they really wanted to stop in the "lay-by" for some nefarious purpose no doubt. It goes to show that some people just don't put their brains into gear when they are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. (To be honest that sometimes happens with cyclists as well - they just don't hurt as much when they hit you compared with a car or white van.)
Here is a Google Streetview Link of the place where Low Fen Drove meets the Horningsea Road - there is what appears to be a bus shelter alongside as well - although no signs of a bus stop. I have never seen anyone waiting for a bus here.
The new cycle way is great - see what I mean - wide enough for two cyclists pass or a cyclist to pass pedestrians. (I wonder if it will have markings down the middle for cyclists and pedestrians to ignore?). Unfortunately you always get someone who considers the pavement (or cycle path) as a convenient parking space - like this van. This is clearly selfish behaviour and worse, it also deters people from using the path for its intended purpose.
I generally take the Harcamlow Way just to the North of Horningsea and follow it round past Alicky Farm towards Quy. What was I saying about selfish motorists - it is a good job I am riding a bike - is this for more track repairs?
As I was cycling from Lode to White Fen there was an interesting crop growing in the fields
I think that it might be Corn Chamomile (Anthemis arvensis) - but it is difficult to distinguish from other Mayweeds and could also be Scented Mayweed (Matricaria recutita) as the leaves look more like the latter than the former. I will have to try smelling it next time I go past.
I also spotted some more of the Tufted Vetch growing by the side of the track (Straight Drove) between Reach and Upware.
The farmers had also been out performing their civic duties by cutting the the plants down alongside the byway (Straight Drove) I wonder why they have only cut the grass on one side? Perhaps the next time I cycle along there it will have been cut on both sides.
There is a field of potatoes on the left side of Straight Drove (looking North) the plants have shot up recently and are getting the correct level of irrigation is important.
Opposite the Spud field is the new Reach Lode Bridge - part of the new Lodes Way route. This whole build seems to have been pretty slick. From sorting out the small country lanes for the large cranes through to building the bridge - the site is now cleared. Although the job isn't finished until it's finished - some railings will still need to be put up on either side of the earth ramps.
Straight Drove carries on as a mud track for a while - I can normally cycle along it without too many dabs of my feet unless I choose the wrong rut to cycle along and need to climb out of the same rut (with a dab). At the Upware end it is Harrison's drove and is a heavily broken tarmac road - easier to cycle but with quite a lot of loose gravel and so not so much fun. As I cycled along there was the smell of fresh cut grass in the air. This was not verge-cutting - this was a field being cut for hay. It is a smell that takes me back to my childhood the field in front of the house was often used for hay and we would help the farmer - mainly to get a ride on the trailer.
I cycled through Upware and back through Wicken Fen and along another Harrison's Drove - only not the same one as before. I did have an interesting moment on the road into Wicken (A1123) before I turned off down Way lane to the back road into the village. As I was cycling along there was a stream of cars, headed by a lorry coming towards me I car poked its nose out - saw me and then overtook a few cars and the lorry. Am I just a wimp or is there something really unnerving about a car driving at 60+mph towards you on your side of the road?
Anyway back to the two Harrison's Droves they run in parallel and are about 0.5Km apart - they liked the name so much they used it twice? The Harrison's Drove near to Wicken Fen is an old concrete track that reaches Wicken Lode. The concrete is also quite cracked and so is fairly bumpy but a popular place for dog walkers who park their cars at the bottom. As this is NT land the verges are not cut quite so ruthlessly (sorry with such Civic Pride) and you could see several varieties of grass with pollen.
At my small rural primary school (60 kids from 5-11) we had two classes and as well as Maths and English we used to learn the names of the local wild flowers and have flower tests. Various flowers would be distributed around the room and we had to name them. As far as I can remember I don't think we included wild grasses in those tests. So my guess is that this is Common Couch Grass - but (Elytrigia repens) - but I am less certain than I am about the flowers - and I am not that sure on quite a few of those.
To make it more difficult I also took a picture of a different grass growing alongside - my guess - Rough Meadow Grass (Poa trivialis). The Wikipedia link implies that it is a bluegrass, in the US anyway.
The view down Harrison's Drove with Burwell in the far distance. The blob of orange in the path is someone walking their dog. Although there are no formal parking spaces down at the bottom it is not uncommon to see a few cars left on the verges or blocking CockUp bridge.
On crossing Swaffham Bulbeck Lode on the way into White Fen - I stopped - yet more grass-cutting has taken place - mind you this is supposed to be a path.
One thing about this weather it is bringing out the cyclists I see quite a few around the Fens - including three in White Fen - they were not together - or rather I think they were together but had spread out a bit. The lead cyclists had stopped at the picnic tables in White Fen, I assume to allow the other two to catch up. The Lodes Way is getting used - despite not being due for completion for a while - well done to those involved in making the Lodes Way happen.
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