Thursday, 09 September 2021
Ray writes: I am back in the saddle after a spell in self-isolation thanks to the dreaded virus, and was leading today's ride to Dorrington's in Newport for coffee. The route, Radwinter and Arkesden, is another one of Rupert's from the Route Library, and I chose it because it's one I hadn't ridden before. By the end of last year I had ridden all the routes that start in Cambridge, so it's great to see that Rupert keeps adding new ones. He recently added many of our longer summer all-day rides and I hope to ride one or two of these before the nights start closing in.There were 11 people booked for today's ride so I had arranged with Phil that he would lead half of the group to make numbers more manageable on the road (this didn't stop me from losing one of my riders on the way home - more on that later). Phil's group set off first, and rather than waiting at Brookside I took my group via Parker's Piece and the railway station, with a couple of sets of traffic lights to slow us down and avoid catching up with the first group.
We headed out of the city on the busway then NCN 11 to Sawston. I checked that everyone was happy carrying their bikes over the footbridge at Babraham and no-one put their hand up preferring the A505 cycle path alternative, so we stuck with the original plan. The route then took us to Linton, Bartlow, Ashdon and Radwinter.
It had rained overnight and was still overcast when we set off, but by the time we reached Radwinter the sun had come out and we had blue skies, making for nice views across the fields and especially when the land dropped away towards Newport. Here we reconvened with Phil's group (and David, who had made his own way there) for take-away coffee, cakes, and sandwiches from the bakery. We chatted outside while we ate and it was nice to catch up with friends I hadn't seen for several months (almost two years in the case of Eva).
We let Phil's group set off first and gave them a few minutes head-start before we hit the road. Nigel remarked that he was glad we weren't following the B-road north to Wendens Ambo, instead looping to the west via Wicken Bonhunt and Arkesden (one of my favourite villages in the area, especially in the spring when the daffodils are out). From there it was the nice lane to Duddenhoe End, where we stopped to wait for David to repair a puncture. There were three more climbs on the way home: first up to Littlebury Green, then Catmere End, and finally Coploe Hill.
It's a very familiar route home from here, via Hinxton, Duxford, and Whittlesford, and I assumed that everyone knew the way. It wasn't until we reached the A505 crossing and regrouped that I realized we had lost Nick. When he didn't appear after ten minutes I assumed he must have turned left in Duxford and crossed the A505 by the roundabout instead - no point going back to look for him (he later confirmed this is what had happened).
There were a mix of regulars and new (to me) riders on today's ride. It was a very sociable ride, and nice to catch up with old friends and meet some new people. Although my moving time was just over 4 hours, we had spent so long chatting over coffee and occasionally at the roadside that it was gone 3pm when I got home. Fortunately the rain that was forecast held off and none of us minded lingering in the warm sun.