June Cycling -- On the move II

Usual cycling round-up, with the end of the month numbers 12099.0 and 1680.4, for 148.5 + 310.4 or 458.9 miles total for the month, and 2044 year to date, only just short of a hoped for 2100. And that without doing any particular long excursions.

OTOH, work now having moved to the Science Park, the nicer -- as in less encounters with other road users -- routes to the office are between 1 and 5 miles longer than before, so there's been a systematic increase in my weekly mileage.

Winter Wonderland

Thursday evening last, it started to snow -- blizzarding enough that Karen's evening call carers got lost on the way back, took the wrong turn and ended up stuck in the snow on a farm road, and had to be towed out by tractor.

Friday, the snow was drifted deep against the front door, and going out to the village shop, it was calf-deep in places where it had drifted. A definite work from home day.

Saturday, pulled my boots on, and yomped the footpaths across the fields into town to do some shopping, on an exhilarating crisp winter's morning, where the long grass was sticking through the snow like through blown sand on a beach. Traffic was horrid in town, and for the return journey, when I went part of the way along the main road, the snow had clearly turned to slush and been refrozen, horrible going. So on the last, off-road, leg, when I was getting tired and footsore, when confronted by a pitbull thing, I just kept on going. This unsetled it, and when I got within about six feet, in pronked off and started circling, despite being yelled at by its human. I eventually had just to grab the thing by the harness and wait for the lead to be clipped back on.

Deep and crisp and even

Sunday, I thought it would be a good idea to clear the drive -- but under what looked like nigh virgin snow there was a thick layer of ice. Monday, worked from home again, did some clearing -- though the main bus-route through the village was still thick with ice (no gritting done whatsoever). Tuesday, discover that the other road through the village was clear, so very gingerly make the short drive onto the clear road and the long main-road detour to work. Head home after lunch, expecting the other end of the village to be as clear as the way I went in the morning -- to find a horrible scary drive.

Worked from home the rest of the week, probably getting more done than had I gone in. Yesterday afternoon wheeled the bike out to the main road, then cycled to the nearest supermarket for some last minute food shopping. The main roads were clear, but some of the side roads near the supermarket were sheet ice (one gentle slide to my knees while wheeling over that on the way back).

Today, the thaw was setting in, but there was still snow lying morning and evening -- the first white Christmas I can remember, certainly in the 20+ years living here. the main road was clear, and in the close, the ice was soft and breaking into slush where cars were driving -- but some of the pavements (especially uncleared driveways) were solid slippery sheet ice. One old gent visiting the family for the day managed to get stuck for lack of traction, until I helped him.

Sand

One of the major features of the southern and eastern part Suffolk is the sandy soil. A fact brought vividly to home when cycling down narrow (single lane and passing places) country lanes, where only the usual tramlines are clear of sand.

This means that when there is traffic trying to pass (like every few minutes), hugging the hedge means being forced into deep and drifting sand, and hence coming to a dead stop. Fun on the up-hills, and plenty more fun at downhill junctions (like this one) where I'm heading south and downhill and am about to make a right turn and up, and the junction is pretty much awash in sand.

The contrast is low in the Google image, but at the moment, you can just about make the sandy borders out, though tree-shadow hides the fun-fun sand-trap that I nearly skidded out on.

The open road

Cycling to work from having running repairs done to the tooth that was playing up at the start of the year (bits falling off now), it was a lovely morning for ambling along the Coton footpath (dodging the hedge cutting), and then on to the old main road.

Were it not for the 3 bits of single-lane roadworks it would have been marvellously quiet cycling. As it was, one was a dismount and push; and the other two too long for me to get through before the lights changed at the other end. And with string between cones, not easy to just nip out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Will be good when the works are all done.

Long day

Woken about 04:30 by having to help Karen to the bathroom, by 05:00 I gave up the unequal struggle and admitted that in the morning light, I was awake; so fired up the laptop and fiddled a bit with the blog, setting up Google Reader and tapping aggregations from that.

I wasn't the only one active at that time -- one of the UK blogs produced a flurry of posts at about 05:20.

On the road by 07:00, at the office by 07:50 for Bike-to-Work Day, and breakfasted copiously; then showered, and with the rest of the team, hit the road down to Chalfont. Going A1/M25, with stop/start traffic from junctions 19-21, it took 2h15. On the return, starting at 15:30 went A413, through Wendover to Tring, B488, A505, A5, A4012, A421, A428 took the same, even with a stop for petrol, and unusually slow traffic between the M1 and Bedford.

In the garden, about 30 minutes ago, just enjoying the slow twilight, I was taken by surprise by a hedgehog crossing the property, and disappearing under the fence.

Following up

This starts to explain some of the Bokurano before and after from yesterday…

And the drive in wasn't too bad. The "main" road through Kingston was being marked as closed, and the lake was still there at the first turn off into Bourn; but the rest was free of standing water. There was still running water in the usual bits in Bourn; and a lot of mud and gravel washed onto and across the roads.

By this evening even that standing water was gone; though the rest persisted.

Summer Weather

We were in a meeting room with no exterior windows when the thunder started. Half an hour later, I emerged to see the rain absolutely hammering down outside, and it kept doing so for the next half hour.

There were a few inches of water on the road in Bourn, but not enough to be a problem, with an engine nice and high -- and the brook hadn't flooded in the valley. But getting through the village, there was a car stuck in deeper water. Turn around, try the other way out, onto the B1042. No problems there; a bit of standing water to cross turning onto the road into Kingston -- but over the first hill, and more trapped vehicles. Turn around, carry on to Toft. And immediately after the Comberton turn, see another blocking flood, and a driver phoning for rescue.

Amazingly, the brook was not flooded at Comberton -- so back to the old main road, and finally get to cross at Coton.

The journey in tomorrow is not going to be fun.

Phenomena

Driving to work this morning, the sun was rising behind me and the moon, full hours before, setting in the pale light ahead of me.

And a double-decker school bus was stuck behind a horse for quite a while, with me a few cars behind that.

Winter

Hard frost, and lots of it today. Hard work scraping the wind-screen to get a peep-hole, while running the engine; and the edge of the passenger side had only just about defrosted by the time I got to work. This will have put a stop to the still busily flowering fuschias in the font garden.

Plenty of wild-life crossing the road on the way home; a hare on the bridge over the new dualling of the A428, and a muntjac on the descent into Bourne.

Nature Notes

Fog again, like yesterday. And, driving into town, just coming into Barton, a fox loping across the road in such broad daylight as there was, stopping to look at me as I went past.

About time too…

They resurfaced (i.e. sprayed some tar and about three times as many chippings as would fit) part of the way into work last week, leading to great drifts at the down-hill end, enough that turning onto that piece of road in my car, I could feel an incipient skid. So on my bike, I've been taking longer alternative routes, extended by the fact that the unofficial side way in to Cambourne is blocked while the dualling of the A428 goes on, and so have to loop back to the Monkfield Farm entrance.

But, this lunchtime, returning home to let the flooring people in, it seemed that they were at last starting to hoover the massive gravel surplus. Two cheers.

In other news, the flooring guy due this p.m. called in at 09:15, while I was on my way to work. Still, I can read MSDN just as easily at home as in the office, and have bheer with it too!