Matt and I found ourselves in the midst of an apocalyptic landscape, as one lady walker remarked it looked similar to pictures of WWI battlefields after intense shelling, trees laid alongside the path, huge areas of what was once dark and tightly packed trees now open and wide with multiple stumps all that was left to show for 100’s of years of growth. All very shocking really. In this instance however it’s not down to over zealous local authority trying to reap profits from selling timber but a total necessity as the larch trees are infected with Phytophthora Ramorum this was thought to be confined to the rhododendron bushes but has been confirmed by experts to have spread to the trees and in an effort to stop the disease in its tracks the only thing to do is get radicle and cut out the infection. The other bad point, but really selfish one is that a few really good trails have now been destroyed but that really pales into insignificance against the threat of losing the woods. Thankfully its planned that the larches will be replaced with broadleaf trees and hopefully in a 100 years or so things will return to how they were, I’ll not be around to see it however which makes me quite emotional. We take trees and the environment for granted. We get a life time’s benefit from trees and they’ll be here long after the average human is gone so make the most of them now, go hug a tree.
The fact that in the second part of the ride was a bit of a disaster pales into insignificance really. One puncture and then a manufacturing fault in the spare tube causing it not to inflate at all meant a phone call for a lift home, something I hate doing. Here’s hoping for better on the next ride
ride 125
12 miles
total 2646
commute 1098
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