Sunday, 13 August 2017
Nigel writes: Today was the day of the club's
Summer Barbecue, so today's all-day ride was rather shorter than usual, with a later start, a later coffee stop (rebranded as "brunch") and bringing us to Andy and Sarah's house in time for the start of the barbecue at 2pm.
Brookside
Today was also a glorious sunny day: after a couple of weeks of cool and changeable weather, it felt as if summer had returned at last. John R was our leader today, and he led our group south-east out of Cambridge along Hills Road towards Addenbrooke's (where a short diversion was necessary to get past some cycleway works) and along the A1307 cycleway towards Wandlebury.
Wandlebury Hill
Wandlebury Hill
After the short climb to Wandlebury we dropped down the other side and continued along the same cycleway to Babraham.
Through the grounds of the Babraham Institute
This was my first time out with the club since my return from LEL a week ago (see
Alex's excellent write-up), and it was something of a relief to discover that I was still able to ride, and that my cycling muscles were still working normally.
From Babraham we continued to Abington and pressed on south, through Linton, Bartlow, Ashdon and Radwinter, arriving in Thaxted at 11.30am. Here we stopped for "brunch" at Parrishes Restaurant, where a large table was waiting for us.
After brunch in Thaxted
After a very pleasant, leisurely stop in Thaxted we set off once more for the relatively short stage on to the BBQ, with John taking us west to Henham before steering the group north through Thaxted and Saffron Walden to Little Chesterford. We all arrived at Andy and Sarah's house a little before 2pm.
This afternoon's barbecue was one of the most enjoyable social events organised by the club that I can remember. The food was excellent and plentiful, the weather perfect, and a large turnout of members made this a very pleasant and sociable occasion.
Barbecue at Sarah and Andy's
About two and a half hours later John started rounding up riders who wanted to ride back with him to Cambridge, and I took the opportunity to tear myself away from the plentiful food and drink and start the short journey home. We took an easy, direct route via Ickleton, Duxford and Whittlesford, and I arrived home at 4.40pm, having cycled
56 miles.
Nigel Deakin
Download
GPS track (GPX).