Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Nigel writes: Our first evening ride of the year attracted seven riders, an excellent turnout given that was quite a cool and dull evening. At the start were Ian D, Ian W, Neil, Rob, Conrad and me. These rides don't have a formal leader, so the route is agreed before setting off. I suggested a loop out to the east via Quy, Six Mile Bottom, West Wratting and Balsham. Everybody seemed happy with that and we set off along the river to Ditton Meadows (below) before turning onto the Wadloes path (second photo) to Fen Ditton. I was pleased to see that this narrow path now has a useful centre line and illuminated studs.
Because they are relatively short, the speed on evening rides is often slightly faster than our other rides, and Gareth set a brisk pace at the front (by our standards). We soon reached Quy and the right turn to Little Wilbraham, and the long, straight road to Six Mile Bottom.
From Six Mile Bottom we took the road that climbs up past Lark Hall and Wadlow Farm to West Wratting. A short descent followed by a short climb brought us to Balsham, where we turned on our lights. From here a fast, exhilarating descent took us back down to Fulbourn, where we stopped for about 45 minutes at the White Hart.
Afterwards we returned back to Cambridge via Cherry Hinton and the Tins path. I was home by about 9.25pm, after having cycled
27 miles.
View this GPS track on a larger map