Sunday 2 June 2019

Ely to Cambridge by Bike

Even though it was light at 4am, I slept soundly until seven, when the heat of the morning sun forced us out of the tent. After a slow breakfast laying outside, the thermometer inside read 33°C. Time to get moving back along the poppy-lined bike ways...


We were soon past Ely and heading south along the river. 



Once past the residential area we out in the open and facing a strong headwind. We set a steady pace and enjoyed the benches that we passed along the way.


The wildlife was quite remarkable. Passing through Wicken Fen, herds of horses were drinking down at the river's edge, not too unlike wilderbeast in Africa.


Then after negotiatong, a very steep footbridge, over which it took two of us to push the bikes up, Kites and Arctic terns swooped overhead.


The best spot was a small herd of Water Buffalo? who were congregating down by a watering hole.



Lillies were coming into bloom on every waterway we crossed.



The miles ticked by as we wound our way in towards the city centre...



A cycle route took us in alongside the River Cam.


Here we took a welcome rest in the shade as rowing boats passed us by.


And then, suddenly again, we were in the thick of it amidst the old historic buildings of Cambridge and it's old Colleges.



There were bikes and tourists everywhere as we made our way past some of the main buildings. An ice cream revived us a bit before we went back down to the river.


A small riverside wine bar offered the perfect place to watch the 'punters' go past on one side and the tourists on the other. Good spectator sport, once you're out of the main thoroughfare.



Happily, we weren't camping tonight, so rode slowly through town, over to our guest house for a good shower, somewhere to stash the bikes and then a short evening stroll to find a well earned roast dinner.



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