In contrast to last year’s Cambridge ride, this one started from London, and followed the route we used a couple of years ago. It’s a bit busier at the London End, but quicker than the Lea Valley option. A twist in this year’s plan was the option of extending the ride to Ely – an extra 20 miles across the fens.

The forecast looked good, and a sizeable crowd gathered on the Green Bridge, with more joining on Lea Bridge Road, and then at High Beach, so finally there were 23. A slight flaw in the organisation was that the ride leader and back marker turned up on a tandem (the same tandem!), which would have required some very close-formation riding by the rest of the group. Colin HP kindly stepped (rode) into the back-marker position, solving that problem.

The first stop was at the High Beech tea hut, where – near disaster! There was no bread pudding or flapjack. Fortunately there were alternatives, but if you’ve never had the High Beech bread pudding, you’ve missed something and I’d recommend a visit asap.

On we went, via Epping and Royston, onto  Much Hadham for an early lunch stop. We were glad to welcome Ken Peters back to the fold at Lea Bridge Road, but then sad to lose him to a puncture (the only one of the day). He stopped for repairs, and briefly joined us for lunch at Hopleys Garden Centre. This is worth a mention as the newly-refurbished cafe is excellent - good food, and really nice gardens to wander around.

A couple more dropped off as planned near Bishops Stortford (you can catch a Liverpool Street train from there), and the rest of us pedalled on in the sunshine towards the Pelhams, then Shelfords, and on along the DNA path to Addenbrokes hospital, just outside Cambridge. Here we had a minor incident where one of our number rode into the back of another at a zebra crossing, and took a tumble. No damage done, but it happened right next to an ambulance, so the crew offered assistance anyway. All were soon back in action.

We ended up on Parker’s Piece, where people stopped for ice-cream or tea or beer. Most returned home from here, but an intrepid eight (after fortification by the best Chelsea buns in the world – thanks Nick) took up the challenge and cycled on to Ely – where we briefly visited the Cathedral before catching the train. Or at least six did – the final two on the tandem carried on, and ended up in Edinburgh six days later!

And – since Ken turned out, we’ll finish with his classic summary (you need to look back a few years in Wheelers' ride reports to find these):

Riders: 23
Fallers:  1
Deflates: 1
Miles :  65 (or 85, or 550)

Great Chishill - sitting in the sun

New Road, Great Chishill - a fantastic three-mile freewheel

Ely Cathedral - quality cycle parking!

Photos from Vivian and Dave A