Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Nigel writes: Now that we're on summer time, our evening rides have become weekly and, for the first time since last autumn, allow us to spent a large part of the ride in daylight. Today had been a very warm, almost hot, day, and when we assembled at Brookside for this evening's ride it was still warm and the sun was still shining brightly.
Five riders turned out for the ride: Gareth, Rob, Paul, John and me. Our destination was St Ives, and Gareth led us north to Orchard Park where we joined the St Ivo cycleway which runs alongside the guided busway.
The ride along the cycleway was fast, with Gareth and Rob both setting a rapid pace.
When we reached the Fen Drayton lakes the sun was low in the sky and the temperature beginning to fall.
It was just becoming dark when we arrived in St Ives. It was 7.40pm so the ride from Brookside has taken a little over an hour. We stopped at The Golden Lion in the main street, where we ordered food and sat for about 45 minutes chatting.
The ride from Cambridge had been quite easy, so Gareth suggested that after we had finished eating we should cycle along the Thicket Path to Houghton, cross the Ouse and return to St Ives via the Hemingfords. By the time we left the pub it was quite dark, so this was an enjoyable and atmospheric night ride.
The return along the busway was another fast, smooth ride on a cool, clear night, with the Moon, Venus and Jupiter clearly visible overhead. I arrived home at 10.10pm, having cycled
37 miles.
View this GPS track on a larger map