Lodes of fun

A wonderful day of cycling in the fens. The weather was largely stonking, and not voided by fenland wins that usually sap the joy.

We cycled to the fen-edge village of Lode to team up with our colleague Rob, his wife Liz, and their two kids. From there it was an utterly delightful cycle to Wicken Fen through a series of fens that feel like diverse habitats even though the landscape is as flat as a pancake. Some massive highland cattle wallowing in a pond reminded me very much of buffalo on a savanna. These paddleboarders were loving life, and it’s a great time of year for wildflowers in the verges and meadows.

At Wicken the boardwalks are still closed off so we couldn’t trundle amongst the reeds and pathways, and there was the crushing disappointment of not getting a 99 with flake.

University quiz round in the evening (not in any way to be confused with University Challenge). Clare and Bob were this week’s hosts, and included a smoked meat round. At least fifty percent of Bob’s chat is about smoking meat, so it was only fitting.