Saturday, 11th August 2012:As I have been getting in a bit of a rut recently and tended to stick with short rides around well-pedalled-by-me paths every now and then I have to make a break for it. Unfortunately the break was not that far – but at least it took me along a path I had not cycled before. (Well around a quarter of a mile of it.)
The route is pretty flat, although there is a slight climb on the Roman Road. It also looks as if I might have run out of film (or rather battery power for my camera) as the pictures seem to stop well before half way around. I think I was just enjoying being out in the fresh air actually.
The route I took is fairly off-road/shared-use path although there is a stretch on the way back from the A505 through to the A10 that is just road. It isn’t busy though. It is 54Km/33.75miles long. Here is the Bike Route Toaster link.
As it happens my first stop was on a bridge over the A14 on the way to Little Wilbraham. To take yet another picture of the Wadlow Wind Farm – as this was a multi-exposure shot you can see which blades were turning – it was not yet fully commissioned.
Wadlow Wind Farm – seen from the Wilbraham Road bridge over the A14
Here is the map of my ride – one thing of small note was that NCN11 has now been re-routed around the Sawston area.
A circular ride from Cambridge to Whittlesford and back
On the other side of the bridge was a field being combined in a cloud of dust.
Combine Harvester at work
As I got to Primrose Farm Road I noticed a splash of lilac. My guess is Common Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) – although my book suggests the stems should be smooth and these are hairy.
Common Soapwort or Phlox?
As you can see it grows quite tall as well – around 60cm in height. I will have to have a closer look next time. Update – My wife reckons it is probably Phlox and escaped from a garden. It does look like the Phlox growing in a garden just down the road.
Common Soapwort or Phlox?
After Fulbourn the route becomes follows what we in the flatlands would call a bit of mountain single-track. Well it is pretty flat around here. This is the approach to the Roman Road or Worsted Street as it appears on the OSM map.
Mountainous Singletrack in the Fens (Approaching Worsted Street)
As I cycled along to Worsted Lodge where I planned to turn off there was the old Linton Water Tower off in the distance.
Linton Water Tower
After that I popped down to Babraham and then along to Sawston. Firstly on the Sawston-Babraham cycleway and then I joined up with the new NCN11 route that has been diverted through Whittlesford and Duxford before returning to the old path in Hinxton.
Sawston-Babraham Cycleway
You can see the Gog Magogs from the Sawston-Babraham Cycleway
Gog Magogs
I then cycled on the NCN11 (also part of the National Byway – the East is still in development.) Before heading along the Royston Road and then back to Cambridge along Hill Farm Road. There is a shared use path alongside the A505. (Farm Hill Road also becomes Whippletree Road. I carried along through Little Shelford and into Hauxton. Oddly the OSM map does not show the road over the M11 as a through road – it is interrupted.
Here is a link to the OS and OSM maps side-by-side – it is usually to see such an omission on the OSM maps – they are usually up to date around the Cambridge area.
I headed back via New Bit and Lammas Land – it was absolutely packed with families enjoying the weekend-sunshine. The Lammas Land access Road had people trying to park there cars – where you shouldn’t and there was a learner trying to squeeze through, past the illegally parked cars. It took them quite a while as you might imagine.
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