Sunday, 27 January 2019
John S writes: Sharks, Geese and Crocodiles... At last, it was my turn to lead a Sunday winter ride. I woke at 7am with rain battering against the window, to find an email from Alex saying "Take care John - it looks like Sharknado out there ..." Not being a connoisseur of 1.5 out of 5 star rated horror movies about sharks falling out of the sky in Los Angeles, this reference was lost on me, but I had to agree that it was looking a bit wet. By 9am, things were getting better, and I headed off to the start, making slow progress into the wind.
At Brookside, I found just Ian B sheltering under a tree, but then as the start time approached and passed, more brave souls appeared, including Nigel, Susan, Phil, Nick and Will. I asked the Parking Enforcement Officer, who was on a bike taking photos of a car parked by the club's bench, if he was interested in a ride, but he had other things on his mind.
We headed off along King's Parade and out via Garret Hostel Bridge and High Cross site to Eddington and Girton. Here, local resident Nick encouraged us to stop at the village hall and admire the brand-new art installation that captures some of Girton's history. We learned from the nearby plaque that Girton used be the home for all the geese that provided the quills that were used for writing in the University of Cambridge. I suppose the modern-day equivalent would be a ride to an inkjet printer cartridge factory – far less romantic. One member of our party was very concerned to see that some of the geese were portrayed head-down, until it was pointed out that this posture is generally good for a goose, as it means they are finding some food in the water!
John inspects the new ornamental fence by Girton Church (Photo: Nigel)
(Photo: Nigel)
After our cultural interlude, we continued onto the busway, where we met the prevailing headwind full-on for the first time. There's not a lot to say about the busway, so, after picking up Mike CC at Swavesey we were soon at St Ives, where we stopped to admire Nick changing to a higher gear. As he was on a fixed-wheel bike, this involved removing the rear wheel and flipping it over for the ride back to Girton with the wind behind him.
Passing Swavesey Church on the busway (Photo: Nick)
In St Ives, we found Adrian, Rupert and Ed, and stopped for refreshment at a local café, helpfully called Local Café. Leaving there we headed to Houghton and then up the hill to Wyton. From there, it was a real struggle into the wind all the way to the western-most point of the ride. Once we made the turn out of the wind at Abbots Ripton, we passed effortlessly through the pretty villages of Wennington and Broughton to reach the lunch stop at Oldhurst. Here we introduced Nigel to the crocodiles, which he had not met before, as we usually visit this stop on Thursdays.
One of the crocodiles at Johnson's Farm, Oldhurst (Photo: Nigel)
From Oldhurst, we decided to skip the planned delights of the busy road past the Bluntisham rubbish dump, and went instead via Pidley and Somersham, quickly getting to Earith. At Willingham we stopped to briefly consider sticking to my planned teeth-jangling route home via Iram Drove, but I bowed to the will of the people, and instead we headed home via the billiard table-smooth busway before scattering in different directions as we approached Cambridge.
Prevailing wind in The Fens can make for a miserable day out. Today, we had things the best possible way round, as we struggled into the wind before lunchtime, and were then rewarded with a strengthening wind behind us all the way home. No sharks, but some metal geese and basking crocodiles – what more could you ask for on a ride? I arrived home having cycled exactly 60 miles.
John S
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