Today I had a morning meeting, then I cycled 96 miles, and then I was reunited with a second cousin whom I haven’t seen since we were children. Not for the first time in this adventure, I am discovering (and rediscovering) not only wonderful places; but also really great people in some unexpected places. It is such a pleasure to be able to make opportunities for that to happen. I know that these will not be one off encounters. If I ever needed an excuse to return to the beautiful county of Suffolk, now I have it. And there is plenty to like here.
But first we must deal with Cambridgeshire, which I crossed for the opening 90 minutes of my ride today, having first hosted a face to face meeting at 9am in my airbnb! That was a novelty. They are all different, but luckily this self contained accommodation unit lent itself quite well to signing forms and discussing matters financial. Nevertheless, in these days of disappearing evening light, it was another late start. After riding through fairly unmemorable and mostly flat country along a very quiet B road east from St Neots, I suddenly found myself riding into central Cambridge without appearing to go through much in the way of suburbs. The only item of real note along the way was outside a commuter village a few miles beforehand, when I passed a stone marker by the side of the road that told me I had crossed the Greenwich Meridian line.
Having officially left the West and entered the East, I made an early lunch stop in the historic heart of Cambridge. Everywhere around you are old stone and brick university college buildings and elaborate churches. The iconic Kings College Chapel was rather obscured by scaffolding; but other fine gateways and green spaces were around every corner. The place has an atmosphere quite unlike any other place I have visited in this adventure. One reason for that is the abundance of bicycles. They are everywhere, moving and parked wherever there is a space. You have to keep your wits about you because they rule the road here and some move at serious speed. Many of the streets are closed to other forms of traffic; but it seemed that bicycles go in any direction on any street. So I joined in the fun. As a city, Cambridge is visibly thriving on the back of having one of the elite universities in the entire world. It also offers a unique melting pot of very clever people of all types. And tourists. It felt very cosmopolitan; but also quite free spirited, to me. All in all, I found it a positive experience, although I do find the area of the country outside Cambridge itself rather dull and lacking in natural beauty. Unusually, it is the man made stuff in these parts that are the bigger attraction.
I couldn’t think of a better place to visit a bike shop. I needed new cleats for my shoes again. This is my fourth pair this trip, although that is still significantly more than a thousand miles each. Hopefully these will now see me through to the end.
It was a challenge to find a way east out of Cambridge that didn’t go along busy main roads. In the end, after a couple of false starts, I picked up a country lane heading for Suffolk, where I wanted to be and, more specifically, Bury St Edmunds. This (Brechin take note) is a cathedral town, whereas Cambridge is a city without a cathedral. Just saying.
Town or not, Bury is full of interest and has a large and attractive centre that merits exploration. This was not my first visit (it was my second) but I had forgotten how lovely and ancient it is. In fact, the Cathedral of St Edmundsbury is almost a side show. Until 1914 it was simply the Parish church of St James, which stood close to the much larger ruined abbey complex, of which two nearby original Norman gateways remain fully intact. The cathedral has been enlarged only in the past 20 years or so, including the addition of a new (but very traditional looking) central tower, as well as chapels and cloisters.
Now I had the bit firmly between my teeth and was determined to reach my destination, still at least a third of today’s miles away, before dark. So I cycled with purpose and tried hard to keep to the most direct route I could without landing on a dual carriageway. It worked pretty well in the end. I enjoyed a succession of Suffolk villages and churches during an otherwise mostly rural and undulating journey. Once again the weather was playing along in a helpful way. The sun hung around for as long as it could manage, and at 6.40pm I realised I had got as far as I could on my own. It was time to call for directions. My long lost second cousin and her partner are renovating an old cottage in a tiny village about 10 miles from the coast. In the dusk, I might not have found it. But I am so glad I did. They walked out to meet me just as I picked up my third puncture of the trip. So we all walked back together and tried to decide if we remembered each other or not.
And so ended a long but lovely day of pretty hard cycling, time consuming interruptions, and lovely weather, to be replaced by discussions about family trees, fireplaces, kitchen design and skirting boards. And cats, which is another thing we found we have in common. Only theirs has just three legs. But it doesn’t seem to stop it. Except it can’t scratch behind one of its ears any more, so you have to do that. Which seems only fair.
