Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Nigel writes: Despite cool temperatures and some persistent drizzle there were seven of us on this evening's ride to Little Shelford: Daniel, Gareth, Kenny, Chris, John, Tony and me. We headed south-west out of Cambridge along the Barton Road cycleway to Barton.
Because it was quite cold, the pace was relatively fast as we all tried to warm up.
Between Barton and Haslingfield we were overtaken by a group of faster riders. I chased them for a short while before Giving up. Gareth was more successful and clung on at the back until they turned off towards Harlton.
At Haslingfield we turned onto Chapel Hill. If we weren't already warmed up we were by the time we got to the top.
After descending down to Barrington we turned left to Foxton, where we crossed the railway using the gates next to the level crossing.
From Foxton we continued south-east to Fowlmere where we turned south to cross the A505 to Chrishall Grange.
The lanes south of the A505 are some of the nicest in the area. By now the drizzle had stopped, and the sun had come out. At Chrishall Grange we turned East onto Royston Lane.
We all agreed that Royston Lane is particularly nice narrow lane that we don't use very often. We could have followed it all the way to Littlebury, but by the time we reached the Elmdon-Ickleton Road it was time to turn north to Ickleton.
Somewhere about now the sun finally disappeared below the horizon. However the sky was still quite light and the western sky provided a spectacular red display for a further 20 minutes or so, which we admired as we rode along.
As we crossed the A505 we looked back and saw a rainbow over Chrishall Grange.
After crossing the A505 we continued north past to Whittlesford and on to Little Shelford, where we stopped for a drink at The Navigator. After sitting chatting for about half an hour we all continued back to Cambridge. This didn't take very long, especially we we were able to use the new Busway Cycleway for the final section all the way back to the station. I was home by 9.35pm, having cycled
31 miles.
Photos 5 and 8 by
Gareth Rees.
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