Monday, 03 May 2010
Ian Driver writes: Sunday afternoon was cold and blustery, but the rain had stopped by 1 o'clock, so at least the afternoon ride to the Crown at Litlington would be dry. The strong ewind had dried the roads remarkably quickly, always a bonus.
Eight riders were at Brookside for the afternoon ride. Two people I had not seen before (so I thought); apparently one had stamped our cards at the Mildenhall Audax last year. Another a Sustrans Ranger around the Ely area, so a delightful mix of familiar and new faces.
We headed out of Cambridge via the DNA path to the Shelfords, then Newton and on to Thriplow. The daffodils have all died back now pretty much but it's still a pretty village and the hedgerows gave us some shelter from the fierce wind on the surrounding roads. We continued on to Fowlmere, turning right to cross the A10 and on to Shepreth and Meldreth. 2 riders left us here to do their own thing, meeting us later at tea.
At Meldreth, we took a right turn to take us to Orwell. This was a right turn on to exposed land with the full force of a strong wind straight into our faces. This strung us out so we took a breather at Orwell while the group reassembled.
From here we made our way to Wimpole Hall. This was oddly quiet for a bank holiday weekend. This suited me fine as it allowed us a peaceful passage through to see the lambs and cows. We exited the far side of the Wimpole estate, joining the quiet roads from Croydon, Shingay and Abington Pigotts through to tea.
We had a vary welcome surprise at tea when we were met by Mike S and his wife who had driven him there. Mike was on crutches, but seems to be making an excellent recovery with his partial hip replacement.
Tea was as good as any I've had anywhere with home made cakes, plenty of sandwiches and picky bits. We were joined by two from the super day ride giving us, I believe, 13 at tea.
After tea, we took a direct route back via Bassingbourn, Melbourn and retracing our route from Fowlmere.
45 miles on the clock at the finish.
Ian Driver.