Monday, 04 October 2021
Ray writes: For one reason or another I hadn't been able to join the last couple of rides Alex was leading, so I was glad to find myself free and able to join today's ride to Gamlingay and Baldock. I was surprised when I got to Brookside to find the only other person joining us would be Susan: ignoring the wind it was lovely weather and Alex had planned a nice route with two good stops; where was everyone else?
The three of us set off via Lammas Land to the Barton Road cycleway. I was a little ahead of the others coming into Toft and turned onto the back road past the church, my first deviation from the "official" route; I went off course again in Bourn, taking the back road via Caxton End. Alex joked that I was a ride leader's nightmare!
We turned in Great Gransden towards Waresley and found the road flooded after Saturday's heavy rain. It was difficult to tell how deep it might be in the middle, so Alex made the sensible decision to backtrack to the Longstowe road. (If you look back through the club's history, you'll see they were more intrepid in the past.)
Not long after this short diversion we arrived at Woodview Farm cafe in good time for elevenses, where we enjoyed breakfast sandwiches and tea. This was my first time in many months eating indoors at a cafe and I was extremely disappointed at their lack of Covid safety measures: no handwash, no social distancing, no masks, no ventilation.
Once we were back on the road we were riding into the wind pretty much all the way to Baldock. First the climb to Cockayne Hatley, then a descent to Wrestlingworth where we picked up the road to Guilden Morden, a segment I had ridden in the opposite direction on Thursday's club ride. This brought us to Ashwell and the hilly part of the ride through Bygrave to Baldock.
We stopped for a light lunch in the tearoom at Tapps Garden Centre in Baldock - it must be 3 years since I was last here, and it was good to see they are still going strong. They had a good selection of savoury snacks and delicious-looking cakes, but we all opted for a falafel wrap. The Covid safety measures here were much better, with a sign asking patrons to wear a mask, staff wearing masks, a protective screen around the food servery, and full sanitization of tables between customers. Although the cafe area lacked ventilation, it felt much safer with these other measures in place.
We left Baldock via Wallington Road and the cycle path over the A505, negotiationg some narrow A-frame barriers on the way. We had a tailwind now and it wasn't long before we passed through Sandon.
We enjoyed quiet roads all the way to Reed, where we crossed the A10, then on to Barkway to pick up the B-road to Flint Cross. After a hard ride out it was nice to have the wind behind us now and we were travelling at 20mph with hardly any effort. Shortly after Newton, Susan turned for Shelford while Alex and I made our way home via Hauxton and Trumpington Meadows. The lovely route Alex had planned coupled with the autumn sunshine made for a great day in the saddle.