Thursday, 30 August 2012
Edward writes: This Thursday ten cyclists met in Haslingfield under grey skies following a cool night. Today's leader was Tony H and we left Haslingfield by way of Harston before going over the railway and the hill into Newton. The breeze was quite stiff from the west and slightly against us. Following Newton we went into Thriplow and went the long way round the village before reaching Fowlmere. Next followed the long run out to Flint Cross on the A505 and then the long climb up to Barley. In Barley we re-grouped, having become strung out climbing the hill into the village. By now the weather had deteriorated and the first of the day's many showers was in progress.
In Barley we turned left and went via Shaftenhoe End to Little Chishill and then on the quiet and attractive route through Langley Lower Green and on to Clavering and the Lakes which was to be our coffee stop. At coffee we were joined by Doug, Peter W and Mike S and during our break the rain became more persistent.
Clavering LakesWe left the Lakes after the rain had stopped and after the usual coming and going of personnel. Our route took us via Stocking Pelham and on to Clapgate and then to Little Hadham.
Little HadhamAfter coffee there was a noticeable change in the wind direction and it seemed to be coming from just north of west hence our progress to Little Hadham was fairly fast. Needless to say we had a long wait at the traffic lights on the A120 in Little Hadham but they finally let us through and we travelled the short distance to Much Hadham where we turned off the main road and it was but a short distance to Green Tye and the Prince of Wales pub.
Green TyeDespite the weather we all sat outside in the pub garden and some had sandwiches whilst others ordered food from the pub. When it was time to leave it was dry but this didn't last long and we were forced to shelter from heavy rain. We retraced our steps back to Much Hadham and the B1004 but this time we branched off to the left and made for Sandon. During this period the weather was being particularly unpleasant and the temperature had dropped to 13 degrees to add to our woes with the rain. As the wind had changed with a bit more north in it the wind was mainly in our faces.
Sheltering from the rainDespite all this we pressed on and arrived in Sandon which was quickly followed by Puckeridge and the B1368 and the road home. We followed the B1368 all the way back to Fowlmere where we said goodbye to Mike S and then Newton where David and Sarah left us to go back to Haslingfield and the rest of us went back to Great Shelford where the ride ended.
Little Shelford libraryDespite all the weather threw at us we all enjoyed the day out and particular thanks to Tony for devising the route showing once again the value of researching the route beforehand. We did
57 miles.
Edward ElmerView this route on a larger map