Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Nigel writes: On what was nearly the longest day of the year, we had our largest turnout for an evening ride, with no fewer than ten riders enjoying a warm and dry evening. For tonight's ride I had planned one of our classic evening loops, although things didn't turn out quite as planned.
We set off down Hills Road towards Addenbrooke's. With such a large group, and several junctions and traffic signals along the way, we kept getting separated into smaller groups which required repeated pauses to regroup. However we were all together when we turned onto Wort's Causeway for the gentle climb over the Gogs to Fulbourn.
Near the summit of The Gogs Photo: Gareth Rees
After another pause to regroup I set off once more, only to find that no-one was following me. I sheepishly returned to ask what the problem was, and was informed that we were still waiting for one final rider. Oops. That rider soon appeared and we set off through Great and Little Wilbraham and then along the road to Six Mile Bottom.
However just after Little Wilbraham we spotted flashing blue lights in the distance: there had been some kind of crash. A group of oncoming cyclists informed us that the police had closed the road and were not letting people through, so we stopped whilst we decided what to do. Gareth pointed out that if we retraced our route for a few metres we could follow the unsurfaced byway that leads to Westley Bottom.
I briefly assessed whether an off-road section would be suitable: I had ridden this section before and was pretty sure it was navigable on a road bike. It was also very dry, with no trace of mud, and it was still broad daylight. So I quickly asked whether anyone had any strong objections (which wasn't really a fair question) before leading the group on an off-road excursion of nearly 3km, reaching the A1304 about 1km north-east of Six Mile Bottom.
Unplanned off-road diversion Photo: Gareth Rees
Although it was fairly straightforward it was rather slow and bumpy and it was a bit of a relief to reach the main road. We crossed over the A1304 and continued along a rather potholed track to the level crossing at Westley Bottom. After dismounting and crossing the railway we continued along a very pleasant quiet road until we reached the road to Dullingham. We were now back on our route, and the speed of the group increased noticeably for the final section of the ride: into Dullingam and across to Swaffham Bulbeck. Here I decided to skip a short loop round Commercial End and instead took the group directly to Lode.
The level crossing at Westley Bottom Photo: Gareth Rees
We arrived at The Shed in Lode just after 8.30pm, only a few minutes later than planned. As usual the pub was virtually empty when we entered, but a full food service was on offer and the staff were unperturbed by ten cyclists appearing and asking for food. In some places the staff would have muttered that we should have booked, but not here. Our food arrived promptly and we had a pleasant half hour in the pub before returning back to Cambridge.
Setting off home from the pub
I arrived home at 10pm, having cycled 49km (44 miles).
Nigel Deakin
Download
GPS track (GPX).