THE (SUPRISINGLY!) JOYFUL JUNE JOY RIDE….
Following the autumnal gales and rain of this week, Esther was facing last Sunday’s Joy Ride with rather a sense of trepidation. Luckily enough, the BEG gods were shining and a small window of summer sunshine and hazy heat greeted the Joy Riders on their June ride… Here’s how they got on;
Full of the joys of spring/summer/autumn, whatever season we’re supposed to be in, we happy band of cyclists met at the car park at Newham Road in Cambridge on Sunday 10 June.
From there, we cycled along the A603 cycle path to Burwash Manor for the first tea stop of the day at the Barn Tea Rooms. It was such a novelty to be able to sit outside for tea and cake, basking in lovely sunshine and enjoying the sound of bird song and and, frankly, a good chin wag! Feeling refreshed after an Earl Grey and a cream tea (and trying to avoid the lovely things at Burwash Manor that kept whispering ‘buy me’), it was time to continue our journey towards Haslingfield.
It has to be said that the downpours of rain have done wonders for the lush green Cambridgeshire countryside and it was wonderful to see everything in full bloom!
From New Road in Haslingfield, we turned into Cantaloupe Road and then followed the bridlepath and footpath (bumpity bumpity!) to Grantchester, emerging from the fields close to The Orchard – tea stop two! For those readers thinking of coming along on a Joy Ride, I hasten to add that it is not usual for us to have two tea stops! However, being so close to The Orchard, it would have seemed rude not to pop in. So a happy second stop was enjoyed in The Orchard’s famous garden, where time always seems to stand still. Not being greedy cyclists, we mostly just enjoyed a cooling drink at this point.
We then crossed the Grantchester Meadows and headed back to our starting point at the car park, just as the grey clouds started to roll in!
With many thanks as always to Malcolm Price for devising the route and to Kay, Malcolm, Sarah, Sally, Anna, Brian and Amanda for coming along on the ride and making it such fun!
A massive thank you to Sally from Cambridge Raincoats who loaned me a beautiful navy raincoat. If you’re a regular cyclist and want to stay stylish, warm and dry, do consider buying a Cambridge Raincoat, they are just lovely. And if you’re not a cyclist, you’ll just look super swish in one. http://cambridgeraincoats.co.uk/
(If you are really on the ball and wondering where our review of May’s ride is, your right; we’re a bit out of synch! It’s ready and will be posted in a few days!)
