Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Ray writes: We are in the middle of the hottest June for 40 years and I had foolishly taken the week off to sort out my garden. Instead of sitting in a cool, air-conditioned office, I have been hiding from the sun with all the windows open (it was too hot to work outside, the garden remains neglected). I was glad to get out on the bike into a light breeze as the evening came on. I arrived at Brookside to find a handful of riders waiting, including first-timer Alex and Brian on his recumbent. More arrived as I was sorting out Alex's guest entry form and by the time we set off we were 10. On our way out of town we were joined by Chris, riding in from Sawston. I don't think I've seen this many riders on an evening ride before!
The regular Alex volunteered to act as back marker until we got to Duxford, which made my job as leader much easier. We took the usual route to the guided busway then the DNA path to Shelford, Whittlesford and Duxford. Then it was Grange Road and up the hill to Heydon. I was planning to take the minor road via Shaftenhoe End to Barley before dropping down to Flint Cross on the B1368, but this turned out to be too ambitious if we were to get to the pub on time, so we turned right in Great Chishill for the long descent to Flint Cross we had enjoyed on Nigel's ride to Shepreth last month.
We skipped the detour past the nature reserve and rode directly to Barrington down the B-road, arriving at the Royal Oak at about 8.25pm. Some of us ordered full meals (fish and chips, veggie burger, home-made soup) while others went for the usual bowls of chips. They obviously run an efficient kitchen here as our food arrived quite quickly.
Re-energised and refreshed (did I mention the excellent beer?) we set off for the short ride home. Today was the summer solstice and the sun was just setting as we left the pub. We made our way over Chapel Hill then rode into Cambridge down the Barton Road cycle track. We'd left two riders at the pub, and everyone else dispersed as we came into the city, leaving me and Tom to make our way north via (a different) Grange Road and Storeys Way. I arrived home at 10.10pm having covered
36 miles.
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GPS track (GPX).