Sunday, 23 April 2017
Simon writes: Hello and welcome to today's blog for the Sunday 23rd afternoon ride to Wicken. A trickle of 5 riders came to meet me at Brookside today. Johns E and F and Neil S, with Lalita and Mark who recently upgraded their horizons from the Saturday rides.
Phil's request to meet just outside the densely traffic populated parts of town is sufficiently regular and so pre-empted his call by sending him a text message to suggest meeting on the railway bridge just off the bus way south of Addenbrooke's.
Delicious slow release energy smoothie
Half an avocado
Half a cucumber
200ml almond milk
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
50 gm almond nuts (pre soaked)
25 gm cashew nuts (pre soaked)
2 hand fulls spinach
1 hand full kale
Blend it all together to make two servings of super healthy, easily digested go faster fuel for the longer distance cyclist, something our webmaster Nigel might like to benefit from on future Audax rides, as an improvement on burgers and chips.
Hence as Mike K rang me earlier today to ask the same question it seemed logical to offer him the same suggestion. No wonder then that the pair of them were waiting for us as we reached the bridge, super charging our collective to a harmony of eight.
Mike and John F know I prepare for a cycle ride by eating a delicious slow release energy smoothie. It's a bit like Popeye's spinach and Brazilian Monica's tea, but you'd need to be a fan of reading
Turma da Monica to appreciate the comically battering effect it has on the boys in her stories (and does actually have spinach in it). So, by popular petition here is the recipe for said smoothie.
Our designated leader David S had to pull out not long before today's ride so I volunteered to step in and follow his route. This was a familiar course starting with the bus way from the train station and leaving Addenbrookes via the locked gate on Red Cross Lane. I missed the path that takes cyclists along the grounds of the Forvie Site with the shiney copper coloured sculpture so for my oversight I had to lift everyone's bike over the gate. Lalita must be the fittest of us as her bike was the heaviest.
The Gogs hill to Fulbourn was our only hill for today. From there we naturally took in the Wilbrahams, over the A14 and into Bottisham.
Once through the Swaffams, Reach and Burwell the landscape charms us with the uncomplicated and traffic free Fenland lanes. Who should we meet at Wicken village hall but a trio of Ian, Julia and Flo enjoying the warm sun in the grassy area out the back of the hall.
Actually Flo was running off his own go faster fuel so it should have been little surprise to see him fast asleep in the child seat on Ian's bike as we passed them on the way back through White Fen.
Simon Gallaway
Download
GPS track (GPX).