Sunday, 24 June 2018
John S writes: Five of us (Mike K, Liz, Clive, Dennis, John E and John S) met at Brookside this afternoon to ride to Ashdon Village Museum and meet up with Alex's all day ride for tea. We were amazed by the almost complete lack of traffic near the start, as most of Cambridge seemed to have stayed at home to watch some football match or other. There was none of the usual conflict with traffic at the double roundabout, or along Trumpington Road. We set off towards the DNA path, and then took the usual route through Shelford to meet Sue H in Whittlesford, after briefly seeing Dave W, who was travelling at high speed in the other direction.
Clive turned off for Ickleton Barns at Duxford, and the rest of us continued over Coploe Hill and descended towards Audley End. Here John E left us to return. Passing through Saffron Walden, we met lots of riders with various Essex cycling club tops trying to fathom out crumpled route sheets, and correctly guessed that they were riding Chelmer CC's "Windmill Ride".
This had been my first Audax ride, twenty years ago, and I remember being excited to explore far off exotic-sounding places like Castle Camps and Helions Bumpsted, many miles from my home in North Essex. This was also the fateful ride on which I first joined CTC. I was overtaken on the ride by a group of CTC Suffolk riders in a layby near Elsenham, and was interrogated and press-ganged into trying riding with them on the follwing Sunday, and from then on my cycling turned from a solitary into a group activity. So, I have a particular fondness for the Windmill Ride!
From Saffron Walden we took the long climb up to Sewards End, and then turned off onto what is one of my favourite roads that we use – Will's Ayley Lane (See
here for details of the monastic community that gives the road its name), that then becomes New House Lane. This is a quiet and narrow road with great views. I stopped to take a photo, and in doing this I found that my handlebar end mirror had somehow been absorbed by a hawthorn bush and was nowhere to be found.
Riding along New House Lane
We continued on to join the Ashdon-Radwinter road, and descended into Ashdon to explore what has happened to the Village Museum while it has been closed for a few months. I'm very happy to report that the tea and cake side of the operation has been further improved, while still retaining everything that made it great before – the low prices, great cakes, and individual knitted tea cosies are all still there. The museum side of things has been improved, but the essential character has been preserved.
Enjoying tea and cake at Ashdon Village Museum
When we arrived, we found Adrian, who had made his way there from morning coffee via an impressive range of off road tracks. Adrian then moved on just as the first wave of all day riders arrived. After an hour or so, we left in two groups to head back to Cambridge.
The football mania gripping the country continued to benefit us. For the first time I can remember, we were able to cross the normally busy A1307 between Bartlow and Linton without waiting for traffic. After passing through Great Abington, Sue left us in Pampisford, and then Liz and Dennis took pity on me and allowed me to cut my ride short and head for home in Shelford.
I only picked this ride up to lead the day before it took place. I didn't have a route and didn't have much time to plan anything new. Instead, I did a quick search on the CTC Cambridge website for "Ashdon" and was able to pick up a tried and tested route used on an earlier ride. I've heard some members say they are put off from offering to lead rides because they think planning a route is going to be difficult. There are details of hundreds of past rides on the CTC website, so it is quick and easy to adapt bits of routes others have used, or as in this case, simply re-use a complete ride that has already been enjoyed before. Planning rides can be quick and easy if you make use of the information we already have on the website. So, if you fancy an easy introduction to leading our rides, why not start with a Sunday afternoon ride, and use a route that has been ridden before?
John Seton
Download
this route (GPX).