03 Sept 2017: Sandy to St Ives

Arriving by train or car, a smaller group than is probably usual for a Sunday ride gathered in the car park at Sandy railway station for a ride out into the wilds of Cambridgeshire.

We made our way out of Sandy past an ancient hill fort known as Caesar's Camp (though not Roman!) and on to Woodview Farm Shop and Cafe near Gamlingay for elevenses. The route then took us north, with a not inconsiderable tailwind, through the Cambridgeshire countryside and on to lunch at the Wetherspoon’s pub in St Ives, a very pretty riverside market town.

St Ives

After the usual excellent value refreshments, we retraced our path across the pedestrianised river bridge, and on through the Hemingfords. The road petered out into a well-paved cycle path across the water meadows to Godmanchester, where by necessity we picked up a number of 'B' roads out to Perry and our final stop of the day in a pleasant lakeside cafe overlooking Grafham Water. This impressively large reservoir was built in 1965 and we resisted the temptation to cycle around its 10-mile circumference.

Water Meadows

Shortly after leaving Perry the previously encountered tail wind was now in our faces, which made the final leg quite tough going. The route made up for the hard work, being along quiet country lanes for the most part, through Colmworth, Great Barford and Blunham. As time was getting on by this stage, I suggested that the Sandy party would benefit from taking the cycle path back, rather than continuing on to Moggerhanger as originally intended. It was agreed this was a good idea, and we parted company, myself heading on southward towards Shefford and home. It had been a long day out, but most enjoyable nonetheless.

Adrian 03/09/2017