I like to bike ride through Medmerry Nature Reserve; especially after an early morning swim when there is very little two-legged traffic out ‘n about then. My route takes me from the east side of Selsey over to the West Beach, while catching sight of the sea and the Isle of Wight. I ride through the Seal Bay caravan site and arrive at the start of the Medmerry at the first lookout point. When the tide is out, you can see the waves rolling in across the bay, and the sun shining through the mist to the east. My inner 10-year-old boy likes to freewheel down the back of the lookout point.
On one of my rides, I found a colony of adult and young rabbits nuzzling the tall grass seemingly without a care in the world. Suddenly they all went on alert as I rode through. I am guessing the alarm was raised when they heard the clicking and crunching of my bicycle wheels and not by the pair of foxes lying in wait in the bushes with their serviettes, knives, and forks at the ready. I cycled on leaving nature to its business.
On another ride, I spotted a ‘white fluffy cloud’ on top of the bank. I slowed my ride to identify it. It was brilliant white and not moving, so probably not a cloud. As I got nearer, I realised I was looking at a white fluffy Samoyed-husky type dog. I approached her while looking around for her owner. She came to me when I called to her. She appeared to be well looked after and I wondered if she was lost or worse, if something had happened to her owner. I continued my ride with the intention to check on her on the way back; pondering just how was I going to ride my bicycle with a dog on the handlebars in rescue efforts to locate her owner! As I got to the end of my ride, I spotted another white cloud with a gentleman. I caught up with them and asked after the first white cloud. He confirmed she belonged to him and is a bit of a princess that plonks down when tired and rejoins them on their return walk. Whew, problem of riding with a dog on my handlebars solved itself! By the way, the beautiful white clouds were Pyrenees Mountain dogs.
When nearing the end of my rides, it is my habit to sit down with my coffee and biscuits to bring on a very much needed sugar rush. During one of these rests, I spotted a huge rabbit’s head above the very tall grass. The ‘rabbit’ ran across two fields with its black tipped ears looking like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. One could almost hear it saying how late it was for a very important date! I was mesmerised by its size as it disappeared into a hedge while wondering if I had ridden through a poppy field and inhaled too deeply. I finished my coffee and biscuits and rode slowly homeward, on the lookout for that poppy field!
Selsey has a lot on offer whether in the sea or on land, just watch out for those foxes with fine dining cutlery, clouds that don’t move, and those elusive poppy fields!
Michael Atkins, SSBS Member
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