Sunday, 08 November 2009
Nigel Deakin writes: There were thirteen riders at Brookside for today's afternoon ride to Waresley. There had been some rain earlier but this had now passed and the afternoon was dry. It started dull but the sun soon came out and for most of the way to Waresley we were riding in pleasant late afternoon sunshine.
I was the leader today. We had to get to Waresley by 4pm so I took a fairly direct route west out of Cambridge, first along the Coton path to Coton (below) and then up Madingley Hill using the cycle path that runs alongside the A1303 (second photo). The ground was covered in leaves, making it sometimes hard to see the edge of the path, and causing it to be slippery in places.
At the top of Madingley Hill we rejoined the road and followed the old main road west past Hardwick until we reached the turn to Bourn.
In Bourn we turned right onto the road to Caxton and Great Gransden. When we reached Great Gransden we were only a couple of miles from Waresley, but it was only 3.40pm so we took in an extra loop via Abbotsley; the final few miles from Abbotsley to Waresley, along a lovely narrow lane which undulated pleasantly, were a delightful way to enjoy the final few minutes of afternoon sunshine.
We arrived at Waresley Park Garden Centre at 4pm as planned. The cafe was very quiet but there was plenty of food left and sat down in the comfortable chairs to drink large cups of coffee and eat hot apple pie and ice cream.
After tea it was now dark, so we put on our lights and returned to Cambridge via Great Gransden, Caxton, Bourn and the B1046 through Toft, Comberton and Barton. There must have been a bit of a tailwind, since we made rapid progress and I was back in central Cambridge by 5.45pm. Total mileage:
37 miles.
Nigel DeakinView this GPS track on a larger map