Mountain biking

Normally I cycle into work, but seeing we're all working from home, that's not happening any more. Fortunately we are still allowed out on our bikes here, so long as we keep 1.5 m from anyone else and only with your own household or alone. So every day I have been out on my bike a bit, but sticking to cycle paths, not off-road. The photos below are one from each day of last week.

This week we have had amazing weather, with blue skies and cold nights. Here you can see how the light brings out the shapes of this avenue of beech trees.

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Spring is definitely on the way. This Coltsfoot flower is always a sure sign that winter has come to and end and is a joy to see. It looks superficially like a dandelion but the scales running up its flower-stalk are quite distinctive.

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I have discovered that a good time to go out for my exercise is early evening, when many people are still eating or putting the children to bed. That has also meant seeing some spectacular sunsets in the last few days. Note the complete absence of aircraft vapour trails! Going at that time also has the advantage that it is deserted everywhere. Although everyone does their best to cycle at the opposite edge of the cycle path when you meet them, it is still easier if that isn't necessary.

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The Binnenveld is an area to the west of Wageningen which has recently had a large area converted from farmland to nature reserves. Last week the water levels were high and it was full of all sorts of wading birds, especially oystercatchers and lapwings (or peewits as we used to call them). However, after a week of no rain at all it is all drying out and the waders were mostly gone. This small lake (or large pond) still had plenty of birds though.

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The photo below was taken in the middle of the day on what is usually a reasonably busy road. Not a car or bike to be seen!

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Today it is Saturday and there was time to go mountain biking for a few hours rather than just a quick ride on the road as it got dark. Aside from not transmitting deadly diseases to your club-mates, mountain biking by yourself has a couple of other advantages. Firstly, you can take a flask of coffee to drink on the way. And secondly, you see a lot more wildlife. In addition to the cowslips below, this morning I saw a couple of storks (really close and not bothered by me), a hare and all sorts of other birds.

This evening the clocks go forward and it will be lighter in the evening. Unless there is a tightening of the regulations, cycling off-road in the evenings should then be possible!

My goodness, it was busy in the woods on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug yesterday. I thought I must be going (even) slower than usual by the number of people passing me, but then I stopped for a break and saw that there were just a lot more people mountain biking than usual. It was a bit like taking part in an organized tour.  I must say, everyone was doing their best to keep the required 1.5 meters distance from each other; no one tried to push their way past on narrow paths and when people stopped, they formed little groups away from each other. The only thing is that at the car park I did see various groups getting in and out of cars and I wondered if they were really all in the same household.

I was cycling alone because our club has cancelled all activities. I am happy that so far, here in the Netherlands we are not (or not yet) in total lockdown and still able to get out on our bikes so long as we keep 1.5m distance from each other. It makes you wonder how long that will continue though. In Spain, they said that one of the reasons that cycling is banned is that if cyclists have an accident then that is an extra strain on emergency and health services. That is certainly something to bear in mind, and perhaps a good idea of take a few less risks (resist trying to jump over that log which is maybe just too high) and not going too far from road (ambulance) access (the Veluwe being one of the few areas of the Netherlands where that is actually possible). If you do go cycling on your own, an app like Beacon is a good way for your family to see where you are. Google Maps location sharing is often inaccurate when you're not in a city. 

Cycling and mountain biking keeps you fit, boosts your immune system, helps you make vitamin D (critical for your immune system) and increases your lung capacity.

This peaceful lake isn't a lake at all, but a patch of heathland and grassland which had flooded. We have had so much rain in the last week, indeed the whole month, that everything is incredibly sodden. Despite the sandy ground, the water just could not get away fast enough. We made a detour around the 'lake', following a thin animal track through the woods until we came back onto a normal track and skirted around the edge of the water. The normally dry path was crossed with small streams, which looked innocent enough until my companion crossed one and discovered that it was much deeper than it looked, and he got completely soaked up to his middle. Unfortunately for him, but conveniently for me, at that point we decided that the flooding made it impossible to go on, so he had no choice but to come back through the water for a second time. From that point on, we were much more wary, skirting around the outside of the scary looking puddles, but after a while we were off the sand and onto soils with much more clay and loam, and then it was just incredibly muddy. A couple of weeks ago my nice chunky winter back tyre had given up the ghost, and I had replaced it with one which was a bit faster but no match for these conditions, so from time to time my wheels literally just spun round and I had no option but to get off and walk a few metes until I was on something approaching dry land again. It was hard work and when we approached Wageningen with the option of an extra loop or not, my shoulders, aching from trying to steer though all that liquid mud, definitely prompted me to head for home.