Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Nigel writes: On a cool, dull evening with a threat of rain later, five riders turned out for tonight's ride: John, Paul, Jim, newcomer Chris and me. After introducing each other and agreeing on a route, we set off north from Brookside, through the City Centre and out along Huntingdon Road to Girton Corner. There we turned right and continued through Girton. A short distance further on we reached the busway.
Joining the busway
Once on the busway our speed increased with the help of a slight tailwind and we made rapid progress along the ten miles to St Ives, with just a short pause along the way at Swavesey to allow those trailing behind to catch up.
Short break at Swavesey Station
We reached St Ives just after 7.30pm. We rode through the town and followed the Thicket Path to Houghton before crossing the Ouse Meadows to Hemingford Abbots and turning back through Hemingford Grey and Fenstanton. It was about 8.20pm when we reached Fen Drayton where we stopped at The Three Tuns for drinks and bowls of nicely-cooked chips. Already in the pub was Eva, who had made here own way there.
Pub stop
Afterwards we returned back to Cambridge, initially along roads to Swavesey and then once more along the busway. I rode back with Chris and Jim. They were full of energy (and chips) and we sped along at speeds of up to 20mph, taking turns at the front to shield those behind from the mild southerly headwind. As we rode along it started to rain, but it never amounted to very much. I arrived home at the later-than-usual time of 10.15pm, having cycled the longer-than-usual distance of
38 miles.
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