Thursday, 06 September 2018
Edward writes: This morning in Haslingfield we met in benign conditions, in fact nearly perfect for cycling. The weather forecast suggested this would hold until late afternoon, so the chances were that we would get round before any rain appeared. Our ride today included a coffee stop in St Neots and a lunch stop in Kimbolton.
Today's leader was Sheila, and what would we do without her regularly volunteering to lead our rides? We started out with thirteen riders, including our resident poet - that's Greg, and made our way over Chapel Hill to Barrington and Orwell before arriving at Wimpole Hall.
Through Wimpole we had to negotiate our way past a large group of Wimpole Runners who were mainly women, perhaps able to enjoy some 'me time' now that the children are safely back at school. Arrington and Croydon came next and as if one steep climb wasn't enough we found ourselves toiling up Croydon hill on the start of the run through the Hatleys to Gamlingay.
We followed the Cinques route out of Gamlingay and a couple of climbs later we approached the Ambience cafe in St Neots, arriving at 11.20 am. Already there we found ten 'city slickers' (with John E leading), and other friends, namely Bob (Potton), Richard (Bedford) and Bill (Ely).
Coffee at St Neots
When it was time to leave we left quite a few behind to enjoy themselves over a more leisurely and relaxing coffee break. Sheila led us out of St Neots into the pleasant countryside which greets us to the west of the A1. Although only twelve miles to Kimbolton we were able to observe the farmlands being prepared for the new crops and also a bit of hedge trimming which is always a worry with an increased risk of a puncture.
On our way we passed through Duloe, Staploe, Little Staughton and Pertenhall with the final run into Kimbolton along the B645. Surprisingly we arrived well before 1 pm.
The city group had taken up residence in the New Sun Inn and our group went next door to Oliver's. Rupert probably felt smug (actually satisfied) to see that his two-stop lunch break plan had worked so well. So well, in fact, that we were on our way again by 1.45 pm.
Sock Challenge - Who owns them?
Our route home took us back along the B645 for couple of miles to the turning to Graffham water at West Perry, including another steep climb. Now mainly downhill we came to Buckden and after the railway crossing at Offord Cluny we were overtaken by the city group; we were held at the gates and they got straight through.
Buckden
We climbed out of Offord D'Arcy and on to Graveley where we watched the threat of that rain starting to show itself. At Hilton we went along the B1040 for a nervous ten minutes before we came to the comparative quiet of the road to Elsworth followed by the long climb through Knapwell up to the St Neots old road.
Now it was downhill to Bourn and the first spots of rain appeared but as the clouds were still well broken it seemed likely that we would finish the ride before the rain became serious. In fact the ride was nearly finished with just Kingston, the Eversdens and Harlton to go before arriving back in Haslingfield at 4 pm after a most pleasant
64 miles. A special thanks to Sheila for her efforts - she probably really enjoys leading!
Edward Elmer
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GPS track (GPX).