Saturday, 15 April 2017
Ian writes: Somebody casually mentioned after the previous social ride that our next ride would fall on Easter Saturday. I hadn't considered that but I thought "no problem" as I hadn't planned to be away. However things didn't go precisely to plan. Easter Saturday turned out to be a fine day and it was even more encouraging when I found twelve members and one guest rider waiting at Brookside, which together with my own group made a total of sixteen.
We took the scenic route out of Cambridge, passing through Newnham to Grantchester Meadows then by way of Trumpington Meadows to Hauxton. We were then back on the minor roads, passing through Little Shelford on our tailwind-assisted way to Whittlesford to pick up Sustrans Route 11 by the church to head back towards Sawston where coffee was planned to be at The Brickhouse.
I had visited The Brickhouse a couple of days before returning from the Thursday Ride. However that was late afternoon and I wasn't surprised to find the cafe closed as it was gone 3.30pm by a long way. I did, however, notice the counter well covered and chairs and tables stacked. However the standard opening times were still displayed in the window so I reckoned it would be fine for our visit today. However this was not to be, since when we arrived on Saturday The Brickhouse was closed.
Sawston, I thought, has numerous alternative cafe options to offer, but all were found to be likewise closed except got Dorringtons. So there we all queued for our coffees and cakes whilst the trainees behind the counter seemed programmed to trying to sell us packets of hot cross buns which were evidently on offer!
In due course we all got served and we headed back over the road to sit in The Brickhouse outside seating area, which was adequate but slightly draughty, perhaps with the sunshine only just compensating.
By this time Ed, Adrian and Averil had joined us so we were quite a throng. Once we had managed to distract Flo from his forestry operations involving some bark chipping mulch and bulldozers and dumper trucks we all initially headed in the direction of Cambridge but soon diverged at the crossroads, Phil and Sue retracing to Whittlesford, some heading straight ahead and the majority turning right to divert via the recently opened Babraham Institute cyclepath. This was all very pleasant until we joined the cyclepath along side the A1307. What with heading into the wind, and the traffic noise, conversation was somewhat restricted so it was just a case of concentrating on climbing up to Wandlebury and coasting into Cambridge where Tom H, Beverley, Mark and Lalita peeled off, soon followed by Rachel leaving Dennis, Liz, AngelaW, Simon, John and the three of us heading for the Busway into town.
All in all a good way to spend a Saturday morning, away from the hustle and bustle. We completed a leisurely
20 miles.
Ian Wright