Thursday, 19 February 2015
Edward writes: Early morning we enjoyed sunshine and blue skies but by the time fifteen or sixteen members gathered at Haslingfield Green the skies had clouded over and a stiff breeze from the west had sprung up. It wasn't cold but the weather forecast was for rain by mid-day.
Adrian was today's leader for our ride out to Ashwell and Gamlingay.
Departing from Haslingfield Green
We set off into the breeze with a climb over the hill into Barrington followed by a trip round Orwell before entering the grounds of Wimpole Hall. This put us on a south by south westerly course and straight into the wind. After Wimpole we continued through Arrington and Croydon where we noticed that new windows had been put into the Queen Adelaide pub. Of course we wonder what this means to one or our former coffee stops - re-opening as a pub or conversion to a private dwelling.
Wimpole
When we reached Croydon Hill we turned away from it and joined the B1042 for a brief few hundred yards with the wind behind us. After leaving the B1042 we faced south west again as we headed towards Guilden Morden into the teeth of the strengthening wind. The rain had arrived and cycling now became very unpleasant. After a long toil we finally passed through Guildern Morden followed by more open country before arriving in Ashwell for coffee and relief from the wind at about 11.15am.
Wimpole
Coffee was designated at the Rhubarb and Custard cafe but not unexpectedly many chose to go Day's which has long been a club favourite. At coffee we also met Doug and Richard M. After the break there was a general lack of enthusiasm for more riding into the wind and rain. Although it was never heavy rain it certainly wasn't a pleasant day and so it was agreed that we wouldn't go on to Gamlingay but to return home. No doubt the wind which would now be on our backs would have been an influencing factor.
Croydon
On the way back we went via Steeple Morden, Litlington and Bassingbourn and as expected it was a far easier return journey than going out in the morning. We finished off the ride through Meldreth and Shepreth, Barrington hill again and finally into Haslingfield at about 1.15pm and 31 miles. During the return trip the rain stopped for about an hour but by the time we reached Haslingfield it had started again so we felt validated in our decision to finish early. Our thanks to Adrian for taking us round even if the ride wasn't one for our scrapbooks.
Edward Elmer
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GPS track (GPX).