2013-11-16 Cambridge via Duddenhoe End

^ what if the ride were today instead of Saturday?
Forecast I've seen for Saturday is cloudy/8c max/6mph westerly

^ what if the ride were today instead of Saturday?
Forecast I've seen for Saturday is cloudy/8c max/6mph westerly

Nope that was definitely a Saturday forecast, I did check.

Some weather services are more optimistic than others.

^^^^thanks Hefty!

I find accuweather is usually the most ahem accurate.

Is bagel bake actually going to be open for breakfast/cup of tea?

It's 24 hour.

Unless things have changed significantly since I used to drag myself there at 4am

It's 24 hour.

Unless things have changed significantly since I used to drag myself there at 4am

sweeet.

Are we doing the guided busway / DNA path at the end like this :

It may seem like I don't really need to know this yet. But I'd like to.

I think that would be the best way to finish the ride. It's what we did two years back. Last year, I was hanging back with the valiant Guray who had never before cycled more than a few miles on his knackered MTB and was really suffering over the last half of the ride, and I gather some of the other riders took a different route round Addenbrookes and up the Hills Road, but I came up the busway.

What I don't know is quite what the lie of the land is like where you have to make the transition from the DNA path to the busway - I seem to recall it involving emerging through a half-built road onto some very fresh tarmac before we got to that spur of the busway that leads across to the hospital, but things will have eveolved over the last two years, and when I was in Cambridge last week I didn't have time to check. So some local knowledge on this part would be handy, at the risk of being swamped with suggestions from the flatlanders!

I seem to recall it involving emerging through a half-built road onto some very fresh tarmac before we got to that spur of the busway that leads across to the hospital, but things will have eveolved over the last two years, and when I was in Cambridge last week I didn't have time to check. So some local knowledge on this part would be handy, at the risk of being swamped with suggestions from the flatlanders!

Half built road is now finished.

It's pretty self explanatory, you come off the DNA path, do about 300 yards on the new road then go left over a bridge onto the busway.

If I'm anywhere near the front I'll happily point the way, but don't rely on my legs holding out if the ride is pacey.

1. Ludd (nil seven 940 eight hundred 8 too seven)
   
2. Husy oh785 zero6 9 o458
   
3. Hoke
   
4. apollo
   
5. dbr - no lunch stop
   
6. cnkr - if no lunch stop (at least 1 gear)
   
7. Horro
   
8. keanulooser (geared)
   
9. Jurek
   
10. Indra: 07 double eight 9 73 eight 03 eight
    
11. Hesa
    
12. Hairnetnic
    12a. JohnDoe (geared) oh78668ohoh679
    
13. Elra
    
14. xsvcx
    
15. Clockwork_killa
    
16. ncjlee
    
17. Bernie
    
18. Allysse
    
19. sinan90
    
20. vunugu
    
21. chrisbytheway
    
22. Vanneau (geared)
    
23. Toastyoneuk
    
24. Merlar
    
25. Seraphinx
    
26. Distinctive Rob
    
27. Hefty
    
28. alfie - 07909093052
    
29. Seven04 (fixed)
    
30. Hugo
    
31. Big H
    
32. John Andre
    
33. Glen Husbands-Alex
    
34. Mehmet (geared)
    
35. Cafewanda (SS)
    
36. Woah Cats
    
37. Marlene (gea
    
38. Ian (geared bike)
    
39. LHL
    
40. shinkuu kiss
    
41. amey (geared +1 maybe a 'friend') Digits: zero 7 5 88 zero 9 two 0 1 two
    
42. arnolo
    
43. Eagle Glenn
    
44. JonathanJordan
    
45. Arnaud
    

1. Arnaud is the same person as 43. arnolo.
   Apologies.

2. Ludd (nil seven 940 eight hundred 8 too seven)

3. Husy oh785 zero6 9 o458

4. Hoke

5. apollo

6. dbr - no lunch stop

7. cnkr - if no lunch stop (at least 1 gear)

8. Horro

9. keanulooser (geared)

10. Jurek

11. Indra: 07 double eight 9 73 eight 03 eight

12. Hesa

13. Hairnetnic
    12a. JohnDoe (geared) oh78668ohoh679

14. Elra

15. xsvcx

16. Clockwork_killa

17. ncjlee

18. Bernie

19. Allysse

20. sinan90

21. vunugu

22. chrisbytheway

23. Vanneau (geared)

24. Toastyoneuk

25. Merlar

26. Seraphinx

27. Distinctive Rob

28. Hefty

29. alfie - 07909093052

30. Seven04 (fixed)

31. Hugo

32. Big H

33. John Andre

34. Glen Husbands-Alex

35. Mehmet (geared)

36. Cafewanda (SS)

37. Woah Cats

38. Marlene (gea

39. Ian (geared bike)

40. LHL

41. shinkuu kiss

42. amey (geared +1 maybe a 'friend') Digits: zero 7 5 88 zero 9 two 0 1 two

43. arnolo

44. Eagle Glenn

45. JonathanJordan

That's OK - it would be confusing to have an Arnaud, an Arno and an Arnolo on the ride!

That's the problem with living a double (triple) life.

it just dawned on me that I don't have any proper lights... only inner city fixie skidding blinky blinks.

is this gonna be a problem?

^ same

Why would it be a problem for a day ride though?

because they're 45 people on the ride and it won't go as expected.

and the sun sets at 1609 on saturday. It wouldn't take too many glitches or plates of cheesy chips on the way up for us to finish the ride in the gloom.

I'll be rolling with fiery beams of dynamo death

Hmm anyone doing the ride without a recess? Just a 10 min quick coffee/tea stop ..

That's kind of the plan amey, I really don't want to be stopping left right and centre for picnics, lasagne, pints etc, just a brief pause at High Beech and then perhaps a quick stop at Londis in Much Hadham if people are peckish.

Perfect, in that case we should be able to make it before 4 anyway.
I'll defo carry my city lights. Dont have bright lights as apollo mentioned.
Will copy the route in OP to garmin too.

Ta

as regards garmin etc, I should alert techy folk to the fact that I am planning to head straight up Mare Street to Lower Clapton Road, right onto Powerscroft Road and then across Millfields and up to the A104 at the Princess of Wales pub (thanks Oliver!).

and at the other end we'll aim to go direct from DNA path to guided busway, which brings us straight up to Cambridge station, from where it is an easy wiggle through the car park to Devonshire Road (as in the Devonshire arms)

I seem to have created a .gpx file in bikehike but haven't managed to upload it. PM me if you'd like me to see if I can email it to you.

Edit: I might even have a go at printing out some maps tonight.

I'll have city lights only too. I'll be sticking with someone who has a Garmin as usual no matter what their pace is.

Skully will have some one mile to one inch OS maps tucked into the waistband of his Tudor tights.

If I catch up with Laner before the ride I can bring a spare cree