Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Nigel writes: Tonight was quite a contrast to a week ago. Last Wednesday it was hot, humid and thundery, this evening it was warm, dry and very windy. And whereas last week we felt like a slow amble through the fens, this week we were in the mood for something faster and hillier. There were nine of us this week: Ian, Jacob, Mike K, Kenny, Peter H, Peter D, Gareth, Neil and me.
Our route this evening took us south out of Cambridge along the newly-opened Busway Cycleway, which we joined just north of Hills Road bridge and followed all the way to Addenbrooke's.
At Addenbrooke's we turned south along the new Francis Crick Avenue before turning off-road once more onto the DNA path to Great Shelford.
We continued south along NCR 11 to Stapleford and Sawston before turning off onto the road to Babraham. Here we paused to wait for Jacob, Mike K and Pete H who had taken the rather bumpy off-road path that runs directly from Stapleford to Babraham.
At Babraham we all turned off-road onto the familar path that leads down to the footbridge over the A11 to Abington. From Abington we turned north, and with the wind behind us at last, climbed the hill up to Balsham.
At Balsham we joined the B1052 - possibly the quietest B-road in the Cambridge area - and sped on northwards to West Wratting before turning left onto the little road that runs north towards the Woodland Cemetery. With plenty of height "in the bag", and a continuing tailwind, this was a attractive, fast and enjoyable section of the ride.
But soon it was time to turn west, down the hill to Six Mile Bottom and then along the flat to Little Wilbraham where we stopped for a drink at the Hole in the Wall. This is a pleasant, excellently located, pub, with a table outside where we could sit with our drinks, but it is as much of a restaurant as a pub, and didn't serve food to casual visitors.
Not that it mattered: we were soon on our way back to Cambridge via Quy, Fen Ditton and the Jubilee Cycleway. This was straight into the wind and relatively tiring,, so I was relieved I didn't have to go very far; I was home by a relatively early 9.20pm, after having cycled
32 miles.
Photo 4 by
Gareth Rees.
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