21 July 2019: Baldock to St Neots

The effects of global warming were evident as five people met at Baldock Station for our car-assisted ride, except that Phil had not needed any assistance having already cycled 25 miles from Bedmond. We headed off skirting the pretty village of Ashwell before heading north-west to our coffee stop at Sandy. On a very hot day it can feel like heaven to be in an air-conditioned supermarket and this day was no exception as Subway was operating as a concession inside the local Co-op. The feeling of paradise was enhanced upon discovering that a bacon roll & coffee was only £2. How can they make any money? They must know what they are doing as they have more branches internationally than any of their competitors, including McDonalds & KFC. Continuing north west for a few miles before turning sharp right at Colmworth, we sped through cornfields in flatlands almost devoid of trees and fortunately, cars. We followed the main road into St Neots, noting with pleasure that it was the sort place that had a Waitrose and would therefore be suitable for our visit. Even the Wetherspoon’s seemed fairly smart inside, although all the external tables were occupied, but probably by smokers anyway. Suitably refreshed we took a wiggly route to the tea stop at the garden centre at Waresley, again having to sit inside as all the outside tables were taken.   The most interesting thing we saw all day was this unicorn, modestly priced at just under £2000!

Teak unicorn

Suitably rehydrated, we continued vaguely South, crossing our outward route near Sutton and almost again at Ashwell getting back to Baldock at about 5 pm and cycling about 63 miles. But it was not the end for Phil, who still had another 25 miles to get back to Bedmond.
Steve B