Cycling adventures in and around Cambridge UK

[azfiddle]

My husband and I are on our big travel adventure to Ireland and the UK. We didn't do any cycling in Dublin but have rented hybrid bikes for our 10 day stay in Cambridge.

I have never seen a place with more people using bikes as basic transportation. Ever. There is a bike counter on one of the main roads- one day it read 1810 bikes had gone by. There are 4 bike shops in less than a mile along the road into town from my daughter's house.

The hybrids we rented are very heavy, with just 6 gears, but it's quite flat here. Mostly we have used them for commuting but we took a one night overnight trip to Ely. It's only about 16 miles by car but about 25-28? by bike- if you don't get lost! We followed a posted route that took us along the River Cam, but then brought us to a public path that said: walking was allowed but cyclists needed written permission. To make a long story short we tried another route, had a big mechanical problem with Chuck's bike but he was able to fix it and got out of being lost, and eventually found the route. It was a 7 hour expedition to go about 35 miles (with the extra miles due to being lost). However it was all worth it as the ride through the fens and the cathedral in Ely were spectacular. Unfortunately, the seat was too low and my knee started complaining after a while. I'll try to raise it for our last two days. We found a more direct route for the ride back from Ely and didn't suffer any more mishaps.

The scenery is quite beautiful with farms and fields and hedgerows everywhere. A total contrast to Arizona.

I have a lot of pictures on my facebook pages - I can try to post a few here later.

So far, we have dodged rain except for about 15 minutes, while on the bikes.

[OakLeaf]

Very cool! Hope you get the mechanicals sorted and the rest of your trip is even better. Can't wait for pictures!

[Crankin]

It sounds wonderful!

[azfiddle]

No more mechanicals. We are having a perfect summer day cycling on the paths around town today.