Saturday, 18 June 2011
Tina writes: Despite the showery forecast, blue skies greeted eleven riders at Brookside, including Caroline & David, weekend visitors from London and new rider, Kit.
We headed off through town up Kings Parade, down Garrett Hostel Lane and over the river, where punters glided along, also enjoying the warm sunshine.
Crossing Grange Road and turning up Adams Road, we joined the Coton footpath where Julia was waiting to snap us as we rode past.
Emerging from the woodland section of the path we passed a young cricket team practising their strokes at Coton Recreation Ground and then turned right past Polhill Garden Centre and left on to the cycle path beside Madingley Road. Unfortunately Sarah's bike had a puncture, which took some ten minutes to repair and then immediately seemed to go flat, so Julia suggested she, Sarah and Annie would return to Cambridge, while the rest of us headed on up the hill past the American Cemetery. Turning left at the roundabout, we carried on along St Neots Road and then took the road south through Hardwick village. Wheat (or was it corn?) fields bordering the road looked green and healthy and seemed to have recovered well from recent drought conditions.
Turning left at Toft, we returned east through Comberton and then spotted Julia, and friends ahead, just as we were approaching Barton. (Repositioning the tyre on the rim had apparently solved the earlier problem.) We arrived at Burwash Manor Barns looking forward to late morning coffee around midday. Caroline and David decided to return direct to Cambridge to support their son rowing in the college 'Bumps' and Alwen kindly offered to guide them along the A603 cycle path.
Skies were looking rather doubtful, so we moved inside and enjoyed a selection of cakes and scones with clotted cream and jam! We left Barton at about 12.45pm, taking the direct route back along the cycle path and arrived back in central Cambridge around 1.15pm. Total distance:
15.47 miles.
Tina FilbyView this route on a larger map