Blog
Wet woods
In the last week, we have had large quantities of rain and snow, so not surprisingly, everything was extraordinarily muddy in the woods today. There were lots of puddles, and even some areas were flooded that normally only do that once the ground is frozen. What was more surprising is that it was getting on ten degrees warmer today than yesterday. It had been forecast, but I had found that hard to believe.
I had dug out my long cycling trousers, reasoning that it was the end of November. My companion did better, putting on shorts, although he did mutter about cold water on his legs as we splashed through the puddles. I was very happy that I had worn both my winter waterproof boots and my waterproof shorts. Waterproof shorts seem pointless, but in weather like this they are a Godsend, keeping your backside nice and dry.
The conditions did make it hard going, though. Especially the sand was very clingy, with our nice grippy tyres hanging onto it as they sunk down into it. We took a strategic decision to bypass what is usually the muddiest section of the route. That was definitely the right thing to do, but we did end up going through an area of lots of unleashed dogs. They were not aggressive or anything, but they, and their owners, did clutter up the track, so that we diverted again onto a cycle path. In general, there were an awful lot of people around, especially considering the foul conditions underfoot (and under wheel). I guess that was partly due to the cold and sleet yesterday.
It might have been muddy today, but at least it was better than it would have been if we went out yesterday.
TCW end of season
Twice a year, our club, the TCW (Tour Club Wageningen) arrange that its members can have coffee and cake at some café that is within cycling distance from Wageningen for the racing bikes and often it is near to a nice mountain bike route. Today 'Boscafé de Zweef' was filled to the brim and overflowing with cyclists. It was such beautiful weather, ridiculously warm for almost November and the woods were filled wth glowing autumn colours.
Before the coffee and cake, our small group did two routes. First of all we cycled the Malden route. That was almost completely flat and consisted largely of straight paths, even with some asphalted cycle paths. In some seasons it would have been boring, but there were lots of American oaks, which had spectacular bright autumn colours, quite stunning.
The original plan was to have our coffee break after cycling the first loop, but we were done with that so soon that we quickly changed our minds. The Mook route was close and that was much more of a proper mountain bike route, full of twists and turns and with a reasonable amount of up and down, some of it quite steep. It was also nearly all in woodland, which was less spectacularly coloured than Malden, but nevertheless a delight to see.
After that, we were ready for our coffee. The café was notable for having a glider hung from the ceiling, all decorated with fairy lights. It is next to an airfield for gliders and 'de Zweef' almost means 'the glider'.
Although some of the other cyclists there were from the faster mountain bike groups, most were on their racing bikes. Why is our group so relatively small? Surely it is obvious that cycling in the woods is much more fun, and surely not everyone wants to go fast? And our season doesn't end in October, we keep going. What more could you want?
Last Gear Eerbeek 25 jaar jubileum
It is always a great feeling, when you are heading towards the start of a mountain bike tour and as you get closer you see more and more people heading the same way, both on their mountain bikes and in cars with bikes hanging off the back. It gives you the feeling that this is not just a regular ride in the woods, but that you are part of something larger.
The Eerbeek cycling club ('Last Gear') were celebrating their silver jubilee (25 years), so it was indeed a special occasion. The start was well-organised with bike stands for whilst you were signing in and plenty of people staffing the desks so that it went quickly and smoothly. There was even a DJ with music and commentary, reminding us that parts of the route were into areas where you were never normally allowed to go.
It was incredibly good weather. When I set off it was even a little chilly at 9°, but by the end it was 21° and even a little too warm. There was a brilliant blue sky the whole time, with bright sunshine. There had been enough rain that the ground was mostly firm, but only a couple of small patches of mud (I didn't even need to clean my bike when I got back) and several longer patches of really loose sand, which was sometimes quite challenging.
The route was nearly all in woodland and heathland and it was gorgeous. The heather had mostly gone over, but there were still a few bushes flowering. The woodland was mixed, mostly deciduous and showing the first signs of autumn. There was lots of singletrack, often quite technical with sharp turns and short steep climbs (a couple that were even so steep and unexpected that I had to get off) and also a fair amount of wider stretches, where the faster people could get past. We were promised 320 height-meters, over 60 km but my bike computer claimed that it was nearly 500 hm and I must say that it felt more like that. Last week I was on holiday in the Eifel, where the hills are steeper and go on for kilometres, so this didn't feel too bad.
All in all, a great, well-organised tour, I was very fortunate it was organised during my holiday in Eerbeek.
Wild animals
It was quite something when I came around the corner and saw such a huge pair of horns facing me. The yellow ear tag reminded me that it is not a wild animal, but still, that is one impressive pair of horns, and there they are, sticking out over the mountain bike route. Then I looked further and saw it wasn't alone. There was a small herd of them, and a calf wandering between the adults. Everyone knows that you should not go between a calf and its parents, but which one did it belong to? I manoeuvred around the large horns, giving it plenty of space, and then made my way slowly and carefully through the herd. Of course, they just ignored me, doubtless being well-used to mountain bikers.
Not quite a wolf, but still something a bit different.
Heideweek
The heather is still flowering magnificently, although it is a little past its peak now, and it won't be long until it goes over. It used to flower a little late in the year, but the last few years it has gradually started earlier and earlier. But yesterday, it was cheerfully brightening up our ride.
What is also the case if that when the Ede mountain bike route was first made, the field where the photo was taken was nearly all heather, but now it is more grass than heather. I had to do my best to get a photo with enough heather in it. That is mostly due to the heavy nitrogen deposition from the nearby intensive farming.
It is also the end of 'heideweek' in Ede, which translates literally to heather week (or heath week). That is a week of parades, markets and attractions. It is at the end of the summer holiday, at the same time as when the peak of the heather used to be, and is doubtless intended to intend the tourist season. But it is not just for tourists. I was talking to a colleague last week who lives in Ede, and he was enthusiastic about it. Perhaps that was in part because he grew up there and has all sorts of fond memories.
The interesting thing is that Ede is famous for being full of strict Protestant churches, and celebrating the heathland is a pretty pagan activity. The English word 'heathen' comes from heathland.
But regardless of the anthropological interpretation of the festival, and the grass coming up through the heather plants, for the mountain biker, the flowering heathland is a glorious sight.
Closed for wolves
In this country, about 150 thousand people are bitten by dogs every year. About 13 thousand sheep are bitten by dogs. It seems to be a bit unclear how many sheep die as a result of this, but in any case it is a lot more than are killed by wolves. Of course, it is not the fault of the dogs, they have owners who are responsible (or irresponsible). I've twice been bitten by dogs whilst out on my mountain bike, and one time the owner didn't even try to call his dog off as I cycled along a public road in front of his house. But wolves don't have owners, so who is responsible if they do actually bite someone? So far, it hasn't happened, but if people feed them or go stupidly close to them, then there is a serious risk that it will happen. In countries where bears live, people know that they cannot keep food in their tent or there is a risk that bears will come looking for it. Maybe we will need to learn that here.
There has been a lot of hysteria in the press and elsewhere recently about wolves. What people don't seem to realise is that the wolf is a wild animal that came here under its own stream and that when wild animals are hunted, it might reduce their population temporarily, but it will also drive the animals out from their core habitats and lead to more problems. Hunting is simply not an effective way to reduce conflict between people and wild animals. It is even possible that hunters are scared that wolves will make their 'managment' of deer and wild boar less justifiable.
Today, when I was out with the club, a section of the track was closed for 'wildlife management'. Apparently this is due to wolves with young in the area. If that reduces the conflict, then I'm quite happy with that. But wolves can have large territories. How much of the woods can we close off for them?
