Fenland Friends 600km 22nd/23rd June

[wilkyboy]

Just a quick heads-up about Chatteris Green Welly on Saturday — card-stamping and water

Dod (George) and I (Nick) will be stamping your cards so you don't need to trouble the staff for a receipt when you order your breakfast 

If the weather's not p!shing it down then we'll probably be stood near the main entrance outside, or else near the entrance inside.

There will also be large bottles* of water to refill your bidons — last year was a bit of a bunfight for the taps in the loos!  Pink table, outside (don't ask — but at least you can spot it) 



* The bottles are refilled from the tap, in case anyone's thinking "single-use plastic" 

[wajcgac]

Based on your text as the photos aren't showing in different browsers here anyway.

Thanks for the heads-up Phil, seems OK in chrome but not IE for me - will try and resolve later.

Also going by text - images not showing in Safari either

Hopefully sorted now - had to amend the dropbox link to end with raw=1 rather than dl=1 don't know why this should be but when quoting one of Phils posts I saw that it was the difference in the links and gave it a try.

OK thanks - helpful to know. I was a bit concerned that the section going south between Southrey and Dogdyke might also be affected...

I rode all the way along there last weekend at the height of the floods and the water was no where near the top of the bank even then. It only flooded on the short section around the bypass works between Lincoln and Washy as the path has been routed temporarily on to the lower bank there.

Now I've got the hang of this photo lark here's one nearer to Woodhall - that puddle was as wet as it got 

[stefan]

brilliant, thank you! Pictures all working now too

[markldn]

Not being that familiar with the local area/situation, can anyone advise me whether I could potentially run into trouble/flooding using the following water railway route?  I have tried to avoid gravel.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30317722

EDIT:  Just seen Phil W has emailed me an update!  Hold!

[Phil W]

Yep, photos showing now. 

Defo avoid the section between of Washingborough and Lincoln and out towards Woodhall the Water Railway looks like it normally does. Perfect.  That's my alternate routing finalised.

[Phil W]

Not being that familiar with the local area/situation, can anyone advise me whether I could potentially run into trouble/flooding using the following water railway route?  I have tried to avoid gravel.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30317722

EDIT:  Just seen Phil W has emailed me an update!  Hold!

It is the section between km 32 and 35 that is flooded as above.  So if going via Lincoln when southbound you can continue to the Washingborough Rd to Washingborough then down Ferry Rd and join the Water Railway at km 35.  If bypassing Lincoln there is a ramped foot / cycle bridge at Fiskerton or you can join the Water Railway at Southrey as a few of us are now.

[markldn]

Not being that familiar with the local area/situation, can anyone advise me whether I could potentially run into trouble/flooding using the following water railway route?  I have tried to avoid gravel.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30317722

EDIT:  Just seen Phil W has emailed me an update!  Hold!

It is the section between km 32 and 35 that is flooded as above.  So if going via Lincoln when southbound you can continue to the Washingborough Rd to Washingborough then down Ferry Rd and join the Water Railway at km 35.  If bypassing Lincoln there is a ramped foot / cycle bridge at Fiskerton or you can join the Water Railway at Southrey as a few of us are now.

Amazing, very clear.  Have made both adjustments.  Much appreciated.

[Phil W]

“I know these closures aren’t ideal, but we’ll be doing everything we can to minimise disruption, including keeping Lincoln Road open over August bank holiday weekend, maintaining pedestrian access along both roads and doing our best to finish both jobs up ahead of schedule."

Seems it might be possible to get down Canwick road but might be gravel, as above, and no idea how long you'd be on the rubbish surface. Will leave diversion in GPX files and see what's what when get to Branston. 

Editted to add: If you go to open street map you can see the line of the Eastern Bypass and where it crosses our routes. It might not be too long a section to get past assuming access has been maintained. Now see, it's 1.3 miles beyond Branston, so a pain if you can't get past, and it's uphill on that bit to top of Canwick Hill. So think I'll just head downhill at Branston to Washingborough on the diversion.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/69144#map=14/53.2060/-0.4973

[duncan]

Thanks for the Water Rail Way updates - will avoid it until Bardney.

[duncan]

Washy

is very much what I'm hoping to avoid.

Will probably join it at Washingborough - the Water Rail Way is lovely, I'd like to ride as much of it as possible!

[wajcgac]

Washy

is very much what I'm hoping to avoid.

Will probably join it at Washingborough - the Water Rail Way is lovely, I'd like to ride as much of it as possible!

I get to use it on my commute 2-3 times a week where it takes me right in to Lincoln and enables me to avoid the busy commuting roads. I wouldn't commute as much by bike if it wasn't there - certainly not in the winter when the road in to Lincoln from Washy becomes really grotty when wet.

Being local I forget sometimes how good this traffic free route is From Lincoln to Bardney and then Woodhall beyond. I do a few Audax events in other parts if I can - and if I had to ride along something similar I'd be thinking what a great route it was.

Almost forgot to say don't panic if you see the 'Sustrans Route Flooded' sign in Ferry Lane - it's referring to the section back to Lincoln.

[BFC]

“I know these closures aren’t ideal, but we’ll be doing everything we can to minimise disruption, including keeping Lincoln Road open over August bank holiday weekend, maintaining pedestrian access along both roads and doing our best to finish both jobs up ahead of schedule."

Seems it might be possible to get down Canwick road but might be gravel, as above, and no idea how long you'd be on the rubbish surface. Will leave diversion in GPX files and see what's what when get to Branston. 

Editted to add: If you go to open street map you can see the line of the Eastern Bypass and where it crosses our routes. It might not be too long a section to get past assuming access has been maintained. Now see, it's 1.3 miles beyond Branston, so a pain if you can't get past, and it's uphill on that bit to top of Canwick Hill. So think I'll just head downhill at Branston to Washingborough on the diversion.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/69144#map=14/53.2060/-0.4973

I rode the helpers ride last weekend.

At the site of the eastern bypass/B1188 intersection that is planned for road closure this weekend there was a temporary aggregate path being constructed to the East of the B1188 - as of last weekend it was behind barriers and I could only see the ends where it joined the existing road. They were about 1/2 way up the depth of the wooden shuttering and the aggregate looked fairly coarse. Transition from the road to the new pathway did not look the best - no drop kerbs and 90 degree to the roadway. Velomobiles may want to avoid! The path along this stretch of road is signed as a combined use footway/cyclepath so a load of bikes rolling up to use the temporary path is not unreasonable.

I would expect the contractors will be finishing it off with smaller stone and compacting it - this is a logical extrapolation in line with good construction practice. Until someone goes along and tries the "path" out we can only speculate on it's actual surface quality and ride/walk ability. Official opening time for the path is 7:00pm tonight - if anyone local can "do a test ride" to check it out it would help, otherwise the Audax riders will have to take a best guess and hope. This all leaves the organisers of Fenland Friends and Yorkshire via Essex rides with a bit of a problem - advising the riders based on incomplete information.

I will be at the Angel and Harp on Sunday to listen to stories of how good or bad it actually was! Good luck to all.

GPS files for both the "carry on regardless" and the "take the formal diversion" routes for Fenland Friends have been prepared by Wilkyboy and are available.

[Phil W]

Thanks for that update BFC.

If it's fine and compacted with no loose bits then I'm quite happy riding that kind of stuff on the recumbent. But sounds like it will still have lots of settling down to do.  The small front wheel of the recumbent will not like that, and you have less time to react. So I'm going to stick to the diversion on good surfaces.  Others can speak of their tales of adventure or how it was a Tarmac smooth surface and they were cruising at 40mph.

[wajcgac]

For real adventure, riders could try the original diversion that Tomsk had in mind to avoid the Branston Road (B1188) weekend works which was to use the road to and from Heighington and Canwick.

I know a lot of cyclists including myself tend to treat road closure signs as not usually applying to us and that you can usually get through, but sometimes you've got to admit defeat. Looking west is where Canwick is - the big hole is the bypass route running north to south. Eventually the Heighington to Canwick road will be reinstated and the bypass will pass under it.

Should you manage to get over the fence and down you have the choice between a ladder or ramp to get out.

More of a road removal than closure!

[Alex B]

Here are photos of some of the riders passing through Cambridge this morning (feel free to re-use). It's a nice day for a bike ride!

[ChillyPanda]

Nice photos, Alex.

Hardly a Carradice in sight. Riders seem to pack light these days.

[Alex B]

Hardly a Carradice in sight.

But I did spot two pairs of SPD sandals. So it's not as if standards have slipped entirely

[αdαmsκι]

I gated crashed the arrivee on my pointless ride. I was there at about 13:30 /14:00..the first rider has turned up earlier and while I was there numbers 2, 3 and 4 arrived.

Excellent stamping work by Huggy

[markldn]

Thanks everyone for an incredible ride. I was up and down and in a variety of England’s most well kept towns. Somehow the foot got through but every other part of me has been thoroughly put through the hurt locker (it all started with Morvelo). Highlight was local hospitality and banter in Queen’s Head. Low point was sunrise and the last three stages with no sleep. Hope everyone made it out of their 5* hotels and to the finish. Cambridge? Spaniard? Richard? Tom?

Here is my patched together instagram stories of the ride.

https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTA0NjkyNTk5MzIzNjc3/?igshid=15yipejawrtz2&story_media_id=2071645199704235942

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Excellent news. See you in Paris!

[wilkyboy]

A few photos wot I took in Chatteris, while stampering your brevets — https://www.tomsk.co.uk/fenland-friends-600/2019/photos/

[markldn]

Excellent news. See you in Paris!

Thank YOU!

[rob]

A few photos wot I took in Chatteris, while stampering your brevets — https://www.tomsk.co.uk/fenland-friends-600/2019/photos/

‘A couple of vets from the Sleaford start’ are the legendary Jim Hopper and Ian Hill.

[wilkyboy]

A few photos wot I took in Chatteris, while stampering your brevets — https://www.tomsk.co.uk/fenland-friends-600/2019/photos/

‘A couple of vets from the Sleaford start’ are the legendary Jim Hopper and Ian Hill.

Who's who?  (I've never had the honour) — Jim's on the trike, right?

[JBB]

A few photos wot I took in Chatteris, while stampering your brevets — https://www.tomsk.co.uk/fenland-friends-600/2019/photos/

‘A couple of vets from the Sleaford start’ are the legendary Jim Hopper and Ian Hill.

Who's who?  (I've never had the honour)

Chap putting on the helmet is Jim.