Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Gareth Rees writes: It was a cool and overcast afternoon, with autumn well and truly underway: the harvest is in, the fields are ploughed and bare, and leaves are falling from the trees. There were eight riders at Brookside, plus Phil, who was about ten minutes late and who chased us as far as Longstowe before giving up and making his own way to tea.
We headed out via Barton Road, Haslingfield, and then onto a route we rarely take, through Harlton, the Eversdens, over the hill to Kingston, and up to Longstowe. A strong westerly wind made the exposed section west of Longstowe a bit of a slog, making us glad when we dropped down to Gamlingay. The air was fantastically clear, with, I think, the start of the Chiltern hills visible on the horizon beyond Biggleswade.
From Gamlingay we headed northwest on a roller-coaster of a road over Tetworth Hill (above) and Lily Hill (below) to Waresley, arriving at about 16:20. Which was just as well, since they stopped serving at 16:30. Something to note for future visits.
The return journey via Great Gransden, Caxton, Bourn and Toft, was much quicker, with a strong tailwind, and we were back in Cambridge by 18:00, having done just over
40 miles.
Gareth Rees
Photos by Gareth Rees.
Licence: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA v2.0