Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Nigel writes: Despite a rather unpromising weather forecast, with thick cloud cover promising rain showers, this evening turned out to be dry and mild with a gentle westerly breeze: perfectly comfortable conditions for a jaunt into the countryside. I wasn't sure whether anybody else would come out to join me so when I arrived at Brookside for the start of tonight's ride I was pleased to find Paul waiting, and after a few minutes we were joined by Seb.
My plan this eveing was to follow a familar loop to Quy that I sometimes refer to as an "anticlockwise Dullingham. This entailed riding down Hills Road, climbing over the Gogs to Fulbourn and then continuing through the Wilbrahams and along the long straight road to Six Mile Bottom. At that point Paul suggested we separate for a few miles to allow Seb and I to blow off some energy, so Paul continued straight up the hill to Cemetery Crossroads and then waited for about ten minutes whilst Seb and I turned south for a loop via Wadlow Farm and Chilly Hill, before meeting up with Paul once more.
We continued north to Dullingham and turned west towards the station, arriving at the level crossing just a couple of seconds after the gates had been re-opened following the passing of the Harwich train. By now it was approaching 8pm and I realised we were running a little late, so I was particularly disappointed to fiscover a few minutes later that I had a puncture.
We agreed that Paul would carry on to the pub at the pub in Quy, taking a short-cut along the A1303, whilst Seb remained with me, holding the light whilst I changed my tube. After about twenty minutes we were ready to set off again, taking the same short-cut as Paul did and arriving at the White Swan in Quy at about 8.55pm.
Paul was already at the pub, of course, and had persuaded the landlord to leave the chip fryer switched on until Seb and I arrived. We all duly ordered beers and bowls of chips and settled down for a typically pleasant and relaxing half hour. Indeed it was so pleasant and relaxing that time flew and it was approaching 10pm by the time we were ready to set off once again towards Cambridge.
In the White Swan, with condensation on the camera lens
After riding through Fen Ditton, across Ditton meadows and along the River into Cambridge I arrived home at 10.25pm, rather later than usual on evening rides, having cycled
32 miles.
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GPS track (GPX).