Saturday, 01 August 2009
Saturday's morning ride to Horningsea was quite a party! Julia reports:
When I took my first picture of the assembled cyclists, just as we were about to ride off from our meeting point at Brookside, we were 14 people already – a fantastic turn-out. But after I put the camera away two more riders arrived, bringing the total up to 16, which must be a record for a Saturday ride.
In addition to several regulars we had a fair number of new or newish riders, including my friends Luci and Susie, who had been on our previous Saturday ride, and another friend, Jitka, who had come for her first CTC ride.
It took a several more minutes before everyone was organized and we were able to set off along Lensfield Road. We were a colourful group on a variety of bicycles: touring bikes, classic roadsters, mountain bikes, town bikes with baskets on the front as well as Ian's Dahon folder with its tiny 16-inch wheels.
We continued on to Parker's Piece. The route across was blocked off for a public
Cricket in the Park event, so we rode round it instead. After slowly and carefully negotiating our way through large numbers of pedestrians we arrived at the Parkside/Park Terrace crossroads, where we continued straight ahead towards Midsummer Common.
After a short stretch along Riverside, we crossed the new cycle bridge and rode into Chesterton.
Heading north, we followed National Cycle Network route 11 which follows the towpath that runs along the left bank of the Cam. Today was a lovely, sunny and warm summer morning, and we admired the water birds, numerous large Brown Hawker dragon flies and quite a few blue-winged damsel flies as we leisurely cycled along.
After a while we passed Bait's Bite Lock and continued on towards Waterbeach.
Just before Waterbeach we left the river and turned right onto the road to Horningsea, which was slightly busier than I expected. Once in Horningsea, however, we were rewarded with a special treat. Our original plan had been to continue to the Garden Centre for coffee, but instead we stopped at Peter's and Sabina's house for a group photo shoot followed by a fabulous tea break.
Sitting in their beautiful garden, we were spoiled with home-baked redcurrant cheesecake and a variety of biscuits (the peanut butter ones were my favourites!).
After this excellent stop – for which thanks again to Peter and Sabina – we continued along the road to Fen Ditton, where we turned onto the cycle path that leads along the river back into Cambridge.
Today's was a very nice ride. It was really good to see so many people out, enjoying not only the cycling but also the friendly and social atmosphere of the club. I look forward to the next one!
Julia
(The next Saturday ride is on 15th August. Meet at 10am at Brookside for a gentle ride, stopping for tea at Burwash Manor, Barton.)