Sunday, 15 December 2013
Nigel writes: Today was the day of the club's Christmas Lunch at Bourn Golf Club, so our usual rides today were replaced by a single ride from Cambridge to the Christmas Lunch and back. The ride started at the leisurely time of 10am, and I arrived at Brookside to find about ten members waiting.
I was the leader for today's short ride. We set off west out of Cambridge along Fen Causeway, across Lammas Land and then along the Barton Road cycleway to Barton. The weather was excellent: dry, mild and sunny.
Lammas Land, Newnham
On the way to Barton, Terry decided that he would be more comfortable riding at his own pace and left the group, making his own way to Bourn. This left the remainder of the group to continue to Haslingfield and then climb Chapel Hill to Barrington. The pace was gentle to accommodate the spread of capabilities within the group and, as always, we stopped periodically to make sure that no-one was left behind.
At Barrington we turned right for Orwell, crossed over the A603 and continued to the gates of Wimpole Hall, where the trees were wrapped in festive red wrapping. We paused briefly and had a short discussion of where we should go next. I had originally planned to ride west through the grounds of Wimpole Hall and on through Croydon to the Hatleys but we were going a bit slower than I had planned and I decided to shorten the ride. Our revised route took us north, along a lovely narrow lane that climbs up past the Wimpole Estate before turning west to meet the A1198.
Wimpole
We turned right onto the A1198 and followed it for two miles to Longstowe. I normally try to avoid this road but the traffic was light and we had no problems. At Longstowe we turned right onto the B1046 and a couple of miles later arrived at Bourn Golf Club. It was 11.50am and we settled down in the bar to enjoy some pre-lunch drinks and wait for everyone else to arrive before the meal itself was served at 12.30pm.
The Christmas Lunch itself was excellent. There were 38 members present in total, making this the largest club event for some time, and I think the strong turnout reflected the popularity of the venue which we were returning to after a year away.
Towards the end of the meal our Chairman and President stood up and announced the award of the
Len Nice Memorial Trophy to Ian Wright and Julia. This trophy is presented in recognition of service to the club, and there was general assent that Ian and Julia were worthy winners.
After the meal we returned to Cambridge along the B1046 through Toft, Comberton and Barton. I arrived home at about 3.30pm, having cycled a modest
28 miles.
View this GPS track on a larger map. Download GPS track (GPX).