Cycling to Huntingdon and back.

Getting up a bit earlier today, I prepared to cycle to Huntingdon. I wore a loose T-shirt and shorts and, after packing a drink , banana and nectarine, notebook and netbook, decided to leave out a change of clothes from the rucksack for weight reasons. The journey commenced at 8:55.

I managed to maintain a minimum speed of 16 kmh until Swavesey, compensating for the occasional slowing down by other stretches of accelleration. The strategy fell apart beyond Swavesey because the macadamised stretch finished and turned into a dirt track. Also, whilst the guided busway that I was following stayed on a relative level, the cycle path began to undulate. This sapped strength and reduced the rate of progress.

However, I was still fairly confident by the time I reached St Ives after about 90 minutes. I acelerated through the market place and onto the main road out of St Ives towards Houghton where I encountered a Hill. This dramatically reduced my speed as my legs could not deal with extra effort without beginning to develop severe lactic acid muscle ache. The only way to get forward was to use the lowest gear possible.

Once over the peak of the hill it was again easier to cycle into Huntingdon, albeit at a more sedate 12 kph until I reached the Huntingdon Indoor Bowls Club for the HBN committee meeting and follow on HBN meeting. Fortunately, there was a sufficient supply of Jaffa cakes to do some carbo-loading.
Fortunately, Mr Foster and Ms Ekblom knew of a return route that avoided the hill, by going through Godmanchester and making my way to Houghton Mill and then into St Ives along a path closer to the River. Ms Ekblom, who had also arrived by bicycle, offered to show me the way and did accompany me through to the Church by the river in St Ives. A more frequent cyclist, she set a pace between 18kmh and 20kmh until realising that I was not really able to keep up.

I made it to Swavesey within 90 minutes, effectively exactly half way back home, but then diverted to Over for the Friday Tutorcloud meeting at Mr Beal's premises. The availability of copious supplies of tea and cake was also extremely welcome.

The journey back home was one of decreasing velocity with several stops as the balance of energy in the legs decreased. By the time I reached the Milton Cycle bridge, I had to dismount and walk up it.
I arrived home around 7:20pm, extremely glad that I had made it and also quite pleased that I had finished the 70km round trip (around 45miles) under my own steam.

I did not manage to make the journey in the same time as my trip by public transport last Friday. However, the fact that old ladies, fit young men and women on their bicycles regularly overtook me suggests that with suitable training, I could do so in the future. For the moment, I do not intent to repeat the exercise in the near future!