Back up the route of the Cambridge Guided Busway - thawed?

For some reason I had decided that it had pretty much thawed here in the Flatlands - pretty much all the snow has gone in the garden and on the roads and paths. There is a sprinkling in the fields. So, ignoring the fact that the South West of England has had a load of traffic-disrupting snow and we were predicted to get light snow in Cambridge I thought I would check out the route of the Cambridge Guided Busway (CBG) again.

My goal was to make the entire journey without resorting to riding on the concrete "rails" and to take a few more pictures of the route. Unfortunately by the time I set of it had already started snowing again and was pretty gloomy - not good for photography. I wore some sunglasses - not for snow blindness - but to stop the snow flakes going into my eyes. It is pretty unpleasant and almost impossible to keep the affected eye open. There was also a bit of wind that increased the wind chill factor - so I wrapped up well, but my feet weren't looking forward to the ride too much.

This time around I managed to find the entrance to the CBG off Milton Road. The reason I had missed it before was because the cycle path goes under the old railway line and yes I missed the obvious. Actually it is not that easy to get to from when heading out of town. On the way it was also an opportunity to get a picture of the "new" pedestrian/cycleway bridge across the Cam known as Riverside bridge and opened in June 2008. (See Wikipedia for Cambridge Bridges.) One of its features is that it separates cycles from pedestrians on the span across the river and it also serves to block Riverside as a through road for cars. This part of the Cam has quite a few boats moored up. One of the occupants of one of the boats seems to repair bicycles.

The first bit of the path from Milton Road to Histon is very chunky - I believe that it will have a tarmac surface and so this is a temporary layer. It is quite hard work. Not surprisingly you see a few cyclists on the concrete tracks along here. I was also surprised at how much snow there was still on the path. It was not too bad, I did not have any traction problems and I did stick to the path and not resort to the concrete track. This part also seemed popular with dog walkers - I hope they pick up after their little "friends"!

On my way out past Histon I followed a couple of horse-riders - the surface was not too bad at first and they trotted along - not quite as fast as I would cycle but not too unpleasant. Their trotting speed was around 15Km/10mph. Mind you when they got to a more snow covered surface they had to slow right down. Who would want to be a horse carrying someone and having to walk on ice huh? It is clearly a popular place to ride along though.

Soon the Tripod came into view - this bit of the track was pretty much covered in snow - but not too bad for cycling. I do not think this bit is getting any tarmac - it is slightly easier to cycle on - but still energy sapping. The people of Cambridge will be glad to hear that work has re-started on the CGB after Christmas - I saw at least 5 or 6 gangs along different parts. One group at the Milton end working on the car-trap areas. Out in the sticks there was some work on a nearby path with stuff being loaded onto a lorry for removal. I also passed two guys fixing a fence. The track serves as a maintenance track as well as a route for cyclists/pedestrians/horse-riders The Contractors were always very careful when they went by me and invariably waved. It was a cold day to be working outside digging holes in the ground.

The Parish Church of St Andrew in Swavesey soon came into view. It occupies some slightly higher ground.

I was soon approaching the lakes of Fen Drayton. This was impassable the last time I cycled along here. I was determined to do better this time. As it was snowing some of the flooded parts of the track looked more solid and I cycled over them only to realise that I was cycling on a thin layer of snow on top of an unknown thickness of ice on top of an unknown thickness of water. I was not worried it would be dangerously deep - I was worried about falling off into the cold water though. I tended to cycle at the edge of the path.

It soon got to the point where I did not want to risk falling through the ice. In places maintenance vehicles had crunched up the ice and it had re-frozen, that was even harder to cycle on and not as thick either. I ended up cycling along the concrete track for the last bit into St Ives. Being a weekday I only passed a handful of people out dog-walking and bird-watching and the track itself was pretty much free of ice except for a bridge near St Ives. I was hoping to suss out how deep the tracks were flooded - I don't mind cycling through water, as long as the surface underneath is ok and the water is not too deep.

A google map of the area only shows lakes on one side of the track, a Google Satellite view shows lakes on both sides. The lakes were also partly frozen.

I cycled along the snow-covered path here - but you can see this bird-watcher in the distance took to the concrete track. It seems as if the paths are bound to flood as they are so low-lying. Wherever a path comes into the CBG from the side it is generally on higher ground.

I cycled along this bit as well, it was not too bad - the ice creaked once or twice and I did jump off onto the side at one point. As I mentioned not the end of the world to get wet - but it would have been unpleasant. I was wearing waterproof socks - but only just past my ankles. Thinking back I am very glad I did not have any problems as even without dipping my feet in they were frozen by the time I got home.

When the weather thaws out I must start putting together some circular routes returning back through the lakes. In fact I must try and cycle this route at least once a month and photograph the changes. Unless I find it too unpleasant when the buses start running - I am hoping it won't be too bad though.

The Cambridge Buided Busway hits the news again and results from HDR

At the moment I am getting quite a lot of hits on my Blog post about my cycle ride up the route of the Cambridge Guided Busway (CGB). I am not very sure why - but today in the local newspaper - the Cambridge Evening News, well on their website actually, was an article on "Guided busway path hit by freezing floods". As you might expect I was not the only one to notice that in places the path alongside the Busway had both flooded and frozen in places. According to the article the cycleway/pathway/bridleway also has a role as a service path and that the path was not actually open to the public yet. Judging by the number of users when I was on it - not everyone is aware of that fact. Even the OS map is confusing as it shows bits around Fen Drayton as public paths which is where there is flooding. However other bits aren't shown as being paths at the moment. The Sustrans website does show it as being "open".

My two-pennyworth - the route of the CGB provides a welcome leisure amenity as well as a transport route. Rarely does something of this magnitude get built without some teething problems - the real test will be how the Council move forward from here. At least has a dual use and I am sure that the buses that use it will not be as unpleasant as cycling alongside a busy road. (Well I hope that will be the case). It also means that cyclists (and other users for that matter) will not have the worry of being passed with inches to spare by motorists.

I was always taught that it was better to focus on fixing problems that appointing blame - although a culture of learning from mistakes is also important. So let's hope that it gets sorted and maybe even tarmac'd and becomes a route as popular as the Bristol to Bath cycle path.

I have not been out cycling today - sorting out things, including problems with RSS feeds. However I did a bit more playing around with HDR - trying to squeeze more out of photographs by taking a range of exposures of the same scene and then re-combining the best bits. I tried using Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE8) - which has a Photomerge Exposure facility. I have set my camera to take up to 7 pictures with a range of exposures and as I have been taking pictures when cycling they have been handheld. So there is a little bit of wobble between subsequent exposures. I also noticed that as I was taking high resolution pictures and storing them in both "jpg" and "raw" formats my camera sometimes struggle to store the info on the memory card fast enough.

When combing these pictures using PSE 8 the effect was very blurry there might be a way to more intelligently combine the pictures but it was a bit disappointing. I then tried down loading a trial version of PhotomatixPro3. The results are shown below - although I have yet to really try all the bells and whistles. All I did really was open the program and read in the pictures. I am impressed with the results - the trial version watermarks the output - but I am thinking of getting a full copy. The one on the right is the HDR version. I have bought a licence and replaced the photographs.

The first one is the "ideal" exposure with some tweaking, the second picture combines the results of 7 different exposures.

I will try some different picture before I commit - but I think it does a good job of taking pictures in the snow. It is really only suitable for fixed scenes I guess - but even then there might be some interesting results.

Cycling on Ice - in the Fens

It seems that we are in for a cold spell - for these parts anyway. Overnight temperatures will drop to as little as -6C with daytime temperatures of between 1C and -1C over the next week. Whilst there are parts of the world, indeed parts of the UK, that have to deal with much colder weather it does present some challenges. Not all roads get gritted and certainly not the routes I take which don't always follow roads or commuter cycle routes. So it means having the right clothing and paying attention to the road (path) surface.

This is on top of the problems we face in Cambridge where apparently we are "Worst place in Britain for cycle thefts" with a theft rate 75% higher than Oxford. This comes on the back of Lily Cole (Cambridge University going supermodel) calling the cycle facilities at the Cambridge Railway Station as a "cesspit of bikes". I don't disagree with her. (For non UK residents that means I agree with her!) Mind you anybody would imagine it is the cyclists faults for not locking their bikes properly. A sad fact of life is that in these circumstances there is a tendency to offer advice - but of course it is only worth listening to law-abiding types. So the hard-done by cyclists are implicitly to blame for not locking their bikes up. And yes - I have had a bike stolen from the Railway Station - yes it was locked, yes I did report it and no I did not get it back. If possible I use Station Cycles to park my bike for times when I go to London by train - it costs around £1 or so for a day's parking.

Back to the icy roads - here is Commercial End in Swaffham Bulbeck - or the road to it anyway. It is shaded from the effects of the winter sun and so can be quite interesting - in turned out to be not too slippy - but there is a slight drop at the end where you really don't want to be out of control.

I have taken part in the odd shooting competition in my younger days - targets not animals - here is a pheasant I shot earlier this afternoon -photographically of course.

The road to White Fen - icy but crunchy ice which is not so slippy.

Today I went out in ordinary boots without cleats to test my theory that it is the cleat that drains away heat into the pedal. I did not wear an extra pair of leggings though - my legs felt cold - but they do most of the work and can stand it - it was pretty cold though. As I passed the Maids Head pub in Wicken Fen their were thatchers doing the roof - I do not envy them on a winters day.

Here is a thatcher wapping some thatch down - very sensibly he is wearing a hat.

When I pass horse-riders I sometimes offer to swap - after all sitting there is bound to be easier than having to provide the energy to keep moving. Not today - the cycling at least helps the body to generate some heat. Actually when it is sunny it is quite pleasant once you've reached a reasonable operating temperature. Mind you I have seen more horses and their riders over the last two days than I normally see in a month. Towards the end of today's ride I passed a pony and trap - that really must have been a cold way to travel.

The Water Pump at Wicken Fen - it did not being life here - but was a water pump.

The clear sky and setting sun tinged the sky an interesting orange colour.

The path I have been banging on about recently as being covered with ice, through Wicken Fen. I got there early enough for there to be enough daylight to take a picture. This looked worse than it actually was. Earlier on as I cycled through the village on one of the back roads I had to brake for some people walking along with their dog - unfortunately the road was covered with black ice and it was all I could do to stay upright. I did though.

The same path with the sun setting just around the corner. The path was not continuous ice just large patches every now and then. Sometimes I went up onto the grass and sometimes I just hung on and tried not to wobble.

If I am ever passing Baker's Fen at sunset I have to take a picture - and here it is.

There often has to be a zoom photo as well. I am sure the sun looks bigger on the horizon than it does when up in the sky.

Just to demonstrate how cold it really is - Burwell Lode under High Bridge - frozen over.

At this time if year in the Fens they often deliberately flood fields in order to facilitate ice-skating and they also hold competitions. Some pictures even made the National Newspapers.

Cycling along the Route of the Cambridge Guided Busway on a Winter's afternoon

Yesterday, just around the time I was thinking of going out for a cycle ride it started snowing - which was interesting and would have influenced my choice of route. Unfortunately it then turned to rain, which I am afraid to say put me off the idea of going out for a spin. Instead I had a look at the Sustrans website - and noticed that they now showed the Cambridge Guided Busway as an alternate cycle route "up North" - well up to St Ives. It is shown as an alternate Route 51 - with most of it off-road.

Last year in April I went on one of the buses adapted to run on the Busway as part of the trials being run to introduce the good folk (and me) of Cambridge to the joys of the Busway. You can read about my experiences here - it was pretty good - although I personally would have preferred to see the railway line re-instated - not based on any data though. I believe that the idea was that it would be up and running late Summer 2009. Well Summer came and went and November another possible confident handover date - but no buses and I am not sure when it will be ready.

So what with seeing it on the Sustrans map as ready for cycling and having missed a day's cycling and it was Sunday I thought I would head out along it to see what is what. Being a Sunday we normally eat our main meal in the evening so I filled a water bottle and put some Lumpy Road in my pocket (chocolate, fudge and marshmallow mixed up - a Christmas present) and headed off. More or less in the direction with some minor detours first. It was such a lovely sunny day that there were quite a few cyclists about. Here is one on the Sustrans 51 route, near Quy. The only challenge was that there was quite a lot of frost and ice about so you had to concentrate.

It was a good job as here by the Pub formerly known as the Prince Albert some kind motorist had dumped the contents of his/her broken windscreen - just after the Give Way artwork so that a cyclist would be ready to stop - how considerate.

I thought I knew where I was going to pick up the Busway - I've been on it in a Bus - but no I went through the Science Park to find that some cycle paths were only open during the working week and not Sunday lunchtime. In the end I headed for CRC - Cambridge Regional College which is off the Kings Hedges Road - infamous for its creative cycle path which weaves on and off the pavement and would test the skills of a competent cyclist. This photograph demonstrates one of the challenges in places you can cycle on the pavement or the road in special red areas - this motorist has cut the choices to avoid last minute cycling decisions by parking smack bang in the middle of the cycle path. The car further along has parked in a real parking spot - the cycling path detours off onto the pavement just after the red car. In fact there were quite a few spaces available 50m up the road - but hey if you've got a car you probably aren't into indiscriminate walking are you!

The delay in the completion of the Busway has also delayed the making up of the cycle path alongside it. Although I am not sure how much of the path will be made up or to what standard. Here is the path just approaching Histon. At the moment the path is flattened chippings and already you can see it getting chewed up. For a sunny Sunday afternoon it is ok, but it is quite hard work for a regular commute. I used to live to the North of Cambridge in Willingham and sometimes used to cycle into Cherry Hinton - this route would have been ideal - except I would have stuck to decent roads with flatter less energy-sapping surfaces - you waste too much energy on rough surfaces.

The view back down to the A14 bridge leading off to Cambridge - not the flattest of Busways is it.

I stopped at one of the Bus Stops to get a sense of what they will be like. One nice thing about this part of the Busway is that it passes through some pleasant countryside away from roads and road traffic. It's a pity that the Buses are so damn noisy. At least they were when I had my taster.

A bus stop, given how open this area is I am surprised that they will not be offering more protection, I guess the plan is that buses will be so regular that you never have to wait too long. Something does not look quite finished there!

Looking "upstream" you can see that there are more bits and pieces to be finished - the traffic lights work though. There seem to be some anti-car traps being added or at least being worked on.

A good supply of bike stands - it'll be interesting to see what the take up is for people cycling here and then catching the bus into Cambridge. It only works if they have a short journey the other end, or perhaps keep another bike at the office end.

A slightly worrying aspect the cycle path that runs alongside the Busway has been flooded here - I had to detour around onto the Busway as this was iced over - not easy or safe to cycle on. I wonder how they will deal with this; better drainage, raise the path or leave it and claim that it such a rare event that it will hardly matter.

The nice thing about taking a new route is seeing new sights and old sights from new directions. An interesting windmill.

One aspect that appeals to me is that the Busway runs along a disused railway trackbed which runs through Fen Drayton Lakes a complex of lakes with a number of paths around and about. A pleasant place to pass through. Here is the sun setting over one of the lakes.

At this point I could see why people were walking along the track - the path had flooded, so I also took to the tracks. There was quite a bit of ice around so I stuck to the one on the far right of this picture. At one point I found myself cycling on a thin layer of ice and with one foot down when I "stopped" I actually carried on gliding along the track. Most of the time it was ok though and certainly easier than the flooded and frozen path alongside the Busway. It got much worse in places.

One positive was that I must have seen around 20-30 cyclists out - ranging from older couples out together to entire families with the little one using stabilisers. There were quite a few walkers and dog walkers as well. It is good to see people getting some fresh air. The flooding here worries me though - it is not a cheap thing to fix and since the Busway has apparently already suffered a cost overrun and the making good of the cycle path delayed so who knows what will happen.

The path is wide though which is good - I passed several groups of horse riders - I offered to swap - cycling on the soft gravel saps your energy.

I was going to take the other Sustrans 51 route back but it was getting dark and my progress had been slower than planned and it was very icy so I headed straight back down once I reached St Ives. The open countryside made it easier to get a few sunset shots as well.

Here is an object that when we lived in these parts we referred to as the Tripod - not to be confused with Triffids - but about a post-apocalyptic world with Tripods. You'll have to read it if you want more. Mind you I'd not seen it from this direction before.

A cyclist managing to avoid being caught by the Tripod - phew. The path had patches of water on it - which had frozen to ice - so still had to keep my wits about me. The gravelly surface helped though.

The Council has thoughtfully provided some information boards - which I appreciate if no-one else does. It mentions the Cambridge to St Ives railway and also has some information on the Chivers jam making operation which used to bring in fruit on this railway line. (Chivers were (are?) based at Histon.) Apparently they employed young ladies to pick fruit to avoid undesirable types from flooding in! One of the young ladies can be seen towards the bottom right.

Despite all of the ice I only had one bit of excitement, heading along a bit of Sustrans 51 in the dark, it was off-road and quite narrow - but used by dog-walkers and cyclists. As I cycled along I was scanning the ground for ice when a black Labrador started chasing me and making nasty growling noises - its "owner" called it but nothing. Now you might say that generally Labradors have a good temperament and I would agree - although my brother was attacked by one as a teenager and bitten on the arm. This dog chased me twice and I was not too keen on either stopping or speeding up - fortunately it gave up - perhaps it was not very fit if the owner couldn't be bothered to train it then they probably don't exercise it properly either.

A pleasant track for a jaunt - but not one I would really want to use for regular commuting - unlike the Bath to Bristol cycle path. I covered around 64Km/40 miles with my meandering and returned home with my speedometer showing 71,000Km exactly. (This speedo records the mileage for my Marin and Longstaff bikes).

One final note - Windows 7 seems to have been tamed - my problem was that whenever I had Windows Media Player running, which is most of the time it would hog half of the CPU. After quite a few late night experiments it turned out to be some problem with the way WMP12 searches the disk for music and videos and pictures. I ended up pointing it only at my MP3 and picture directories and it managed to search and "update" them whereas before it had tried to do the who disk and stumbled and re-started or some such. I also use the Windows Journal to record handwritten notes so actually I quite like Windows 7 and it has freed up several hundred megabytes of disk space which is pretty good too..