Sunday, 18 November 2012
Ian writes: Today's afternoon ride was to the Teacake Café in Shepreth. With clear skies and virtually no wind forecast, I expected a reasonable turn out. We had eight other riders at Brookside, which was quite a healthy number for November.
I took a ride to this destination via the hills beyond Duxford a few weeks ago, so this time I though we'd go through Wimpole Hall as we haven't been that way for a while. There is no direct way to cycle there, so I announced we would go via Barton and Chapel Hill, which prompted the customary but good-natured groan.
We set off on the cycle path out of Cambridge to Barton, turning left for the road to Haslingfield. The ascent of Chapel Hill was over in a couple of minutes without the need for ambulances or heavy moving equipment. The leaves have mostly fallen from the trees now, giving clear views for miles on a clean and crisp day like today.
Now the fun bit: we whizzed down the other side of Chapel Hill to take us into Barrington where we took a right turn up to Orwell.
In Orwell we briefly considered a lovely forest track to Wimpole Hall, but the ground looked pretty boggy, so we followed the path on the side of the road. There was a craft fair on at the Hall, so we had to go a little carefully, but it gave us a breather and a chance for a photo stop.
The next leg took us along one of my favourite bits of road through Croydon. Very little climbing is needed for the reward of huge views. From here we crossed to Shingay along the quiet pretty lanes and onto Bassingbourn. Now it was but a short hop and a skip through Melbourn to Shepreth for tea. Our fingers and toes were quite cold by now, so a warm cuppa and a cake was just the ticket.
After tea, it was properly dark and starting to get icy cold, so I took a group back to Cambridge via the track along the side of the A10, waving goodbye to them at Trumpington once everyone knew where they were. My GPS track showed
41 miles Ian Driver
View this GPS track on a larger map