Monday, 28 December 2009
Joseph Sugg writes: I arrived at Brookside ready for a 9:30am start, to find no-one waiting. I was about to leave when John Temple arrived. It turned out that this ride was down as a 10:00am start - that'll teach me not to check the runslist. By 10:00am we had five brave souls keen for relief from the Christmas festivities.
There was still a little ice at Brookside, but none on the roads. Conscious that some minor roads may still be icy, and with information that the Drabbet smock at Haverhill would be packed, we set off for Saffron Walden instead.
We took a familiar route through the Shelfords to Whittlesford, then on to Duxford and Ickleton. We gave Coploe Hill a miss and went past Riverside Barns in Ickleton (which were apparently open). We joined the main road at Great Chesterford and carried on to Audley End, stopping long enough for a photo. There was a surprising amount of traffic on the roads, obviously unable to resist the temptation of all those bargains...
We arrived at the Temeraire at 11:45am. This was late enough to allow us to stop for lunch. The standard of food here is very good, and cheap. I had burger and chips and a coffee for just £4:75. The pub filled up steadily, and was full by the time we left.
The weather was now threatening rain and sleet. It didn't come to anything, but it was still cold and bleak with a brisk westerly wind: a typical winters day! We rode back the way we came with a detour through Hinxton to look at the ford. As expected there was still a little ice on parts of this road.
We were all glad to get back home to the warm. I got home at about 2:00pm having completed
35 miles.
Joseph Sugg.
3 comments from old website
Monday 28th Dec 2009 at 7.55pm
No one at Brookside for the afternoon ride at 1.45.
Given the ice patches, I wasn't prepared to do a ride into the dark any way, so coffee was had at Brookside followed my a very gentle plod around Cambridge. Millpond and the river to Grantchester were very pretty when the sun shone. Nice to see whats right on your doorstep for a change....
Ian
Monday 28th Dec 2009 at 8.01pm
The afternoon ride, if it happened. was at 2.15pm. The 1.45 starts are for January. But I'm glad to hear you had a pleasant "gentle plod".
Monday 28th Dec 2009 at 8.13pm