St Mark's flies and Red Campions

Today was the perfect training ride,a light southerly breeze, quiet roads, and the feeling after 28 miles that you could just keep rolling on. The St Mark's flies that buzz up and down the hedge near Beer seemed to have "moved on" as less kept hitting me on the head as I descended Stovar lane! Lots of gnats on my journey, one of which got stuck in my mouth till I spat him out. The road side verges are full of Red Campions and Cow Parsley and are a wonderful sight. I passed a farm today that was selling up. Unfortunately for me it was on a narrow lane which led up a long steep hill (15%) with very little room for my bike never mind the three 4x4's that tried to pass me going to the sale. My clip less pedals lock my feet into the pedals and removing them requires a sharp twist of the ankle.Easy to do on the flat but not uphill when you have pressure on the pedal. Every time a vehicle tried to pass me I had to fall into the hedge to get my foot out of the pedals. Care was needed to avoid the large patches of stinging nettles but I eventually mastered the technique! All in all a successful day!
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/scientific-advances/industry/bibio-marci/index.html