Thursday, 21 May 2015
Nigel writes: We're going through a spell of unseasonably unsettled weather this week, with rain, hail, blustery wind and quite cool temperatures. This evening, however, was quite pleasant: dry and with bright sunshine, offset by a strong and cold westerly wind.
The first thing I discovered when I arrived at Brookside was that Cambridge City Council have cleaned our bench, no doubt in response to requests from the club (Mike CC) last week. All the pine needles and litter around the bench have been swept up, and the bench itself has been given a bit of a sand-down and now looks much better. Thank you to the City Rangers. Let's hope it stays tidy.
"Our" bench at Brookside
Our destination this evening was Hemingford Abbots, and my companions for the ride were John R, Neil and Alex. We set off from Brookside and rode through the city centre, up Castle Hill and along Huntingdon Road to Girton Corner. We turned towards Girton, rode through the village, and joined the busway.
Joining the busway
Cycling along the busway is always a pleasure, though this evening the pleasure was offset slightly by a strong headwind. Half an hour later we reached St Ives and continued west along the Thicket Path to Houghton.
On the Thicket Path
We crossed the Ouse Meadows to Hemingford Abbots where we stopped for drinks at the Axe and Compasses. It was 8pm and still quite light. A few minutes later we were joined by John E who had made his own way there.
After a very pleasant three-quarters of an hour in the pub we went back outside and set off back to Cambridge via Hemingford Grey, St Ives and the busway. The sun had set ten minutes earlier and, despite the wind having died down, the temperature was now really quite cold. The lack of a headwind meant we had an easy ride back, and I arrived home at 10.10pm, having cycled
35 miles.
Download
GPS track (GPX).