Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Ray writes: I am writing this on Tuesday morning with the rain drumming down on the conservatory roof and thinking how lucky we were with the weather on Sunday. It was perfect cycling weather with just a light breeze and warm enough for us to enjoy a picnic lunch and the club's centenary tea outside in the sun.I was leading a metric centenary (100km) ride which I had advertised as a moderate-minus pace so I could go on my recumbent trike, which is a bit slower than I can manage on two wheels. I was joined by Mark, Lalli, Sheila, and Seb. We set off from the club's traditional meeting point, Brookside in Cambridge, and headed out of the city via the southern busway and DNA path to Shelford.
We carried on through Sawston towards Babraham where we turned right to use the A505 cycle path, bypassing the bridge with steps that would have been awkward with the trike. Shortly after came our first climb of the day, from Hildersham to Balsham.
Now we were on lovely quiet lanes all the way to Great Bradley, where we stopped by the church for a picnic lunch.
More nice lanes brought us to our second (and final) climb of the day, up to Gazeley, Our route continued north as far as Kentford then turned west for Chippenham, Fordham, and Wicken, where the rides converged for a birthday tea at the village hall.
There were more than 40 people at tea over the course of the afternoon, and we were all efficiently served by a team of volunteers from the club. We stayed for a couple of hours so had plenty of time to chat to everyone and enjoy the display of old photos John had put together (see CTC Cambridge in the 1930s for more photos from the club's past). There were plenty of sandwiches, cakes, and tea to keep us refreshed and restored for the ride home.
My group was one of the last to set off for home, but we soon caught up with the afternoon ride. Rather than overtake, we slowed down to ride with them. Not long after we were also joined by a few people from the 100 mile ride, so it was quite a big group of us making our way back. Fortunately we were on quiet roads and cycle paths across the fens, so didn't have any conflict with traffic.
This was the club's first social event since the pandemic struck, and it was great to be able to get together again - especially to see some members who haven't been able to make it out on any of our rides. A lot of work went into organising this event, and I am grateful to all the volunteers and everyone who attended and helped to make it a success.