Huntingdonshire - How low can you go?

With the next phase of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions to be relaxed allowing cafe’s and pubs to welcome visitors inside I was looking forward to a day discovering historic county Huntingdonshire, now a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire.

Huntingdon and the surrounding towns of St Ives, St Neots and Ramsey were all new places for me to visit.

Whilst planning the route I tried to hit all four points of the compass in the County but couldn’t quite create a route less than 150 miles so settled for a comprehensive tour of the county covering 125 miles.

With the highest point of Huntingdonshire topping out at just 80m above sea level my climbing legs weren’t going to be required on this century ride, in fact I had planned the route so that I would scale the dizzy 80m summit which is the lowest county highpoint in the UK and also drop down to Holme Fen which is believed to be the lowest land point in the UK at 2.75m below sea level.

My usual evening preparations for a big day out on the bike were well and truly scuppered for this trip with a visit from an emergency plumber required to fix a water leak threatening to bring down my bathroom ceiling!

Fortunately traffic on the A14 was light so even though I was a little later than planned getting away from home I was still parked up and ready to roll out of the County town Huntingdon at 9am. Heading East out of town following the River Great Ouse the sun made a welcome early appearance justifying my decision to leave the leg warmers in the van.

Briefly passing through St Ives I didn’t stop as I would be passing through again later in the ride. Having consciously decided to utilise cycleways where provided in the towns and cities on these county tours (my own personal nationwide assessment of cycling infrastructure), I hopped onto the cyclepath just outside St Ives heading to Earith. Unfortunately similar to many I’ve encountered it has some excellent sections but failed where so many do in not joining the good sections safely and efficiently resulting in dangerous and frustrating crossing of busy roads, counter intuitive navigation of roundabouts and lack of right of way at junctions. It is so disappointing that so many cycle paths are poorly designed resulting in disjointed stop/start journeys with numerous traffic conflict points that could be corrected with better design at only marginal extra cost. It is evident these days that many councils genuinely want to improve cycle and walking infrastructure but a nationwide push to implement best practise and effective design would massively improve the utilisation of cycleways in our towns and cities.

Turning south in Earith I left the cyclepath and picked up delightful country lanes passing by impressive numbers of immaculately thatched cottages in the villages of Willingham and Over before stopping for the first coffee break at the Nook in Swavesey. What a treat it was after months of Covid-19 restrictions to actually sit inside this tiny little cafe as a few drops of rain started to fall. The owner couldn’t have been more welcoming and the capuccino and blackcurrant flapjack topped with white chocolate really hit the spot. Only 37km into the ride I couldn’t stop long but I would certainly head back to this fantastic little independent cafe if ever I was in the area again.

Having plumped for the Scott Foil for todays trip I had been careful to set the Komoot route planning mode to “road cycling” but I was guilty of ignoring Komoots warning that – “The surface along some of your tour may not be suitable” so once again my road bike was treated to some cyclocross action and the profusion of nettles certainly left me wishing I had stashed the leg warmers in the pocket of my jersey for nettle rash prevention!!

The market town of St Ives is a crossing point of the Great River Ouse and its 15th century bridge is unusual as it is not symmetrical and is adorned with a chapel in its’ centre. The quayside was an attractive and lively place and fortunately the aggressive swans the signs warned of kept themselves to themselves.

A short way along the river from St Ives sits the impressive 18th Century Houghton Water mill now owned by the National Trust, it is only currently open at the weekends but the grounds were open to cyclists and provided a picturesque route into the equally pleasant village centre.

Leaving Houghton the fenland countryside opened up with big sky views and little or no cover from a blustery wind, the weather had turned out less sunny than predicted with regular spits and spats of rain constantly threatening heavier showers. Abbotsley village continued the theme of immaculate thatched cottages and pristine gardens. The grassy bank to the side of the road at the village entrance was dressed with vividly coloured ceramic flowers handmade by the villagers to commemorate the work of NHS carers during the pandemic, a beautiful and poignant tribute.

Heading North East and back over the river Great Ouse I stopped briefly in the town square at St Neots and it struck me just how similar the town square looked to those in small villages in Belgium and Holland.

A short detour to Buckden Towers the home of the Bishop of Lincoln led me on to Grafham water and cafe stop number two. Disappointingly the Anglian Water run cafe at the lakeside was still not open for eating inside despite it now being permitted again. On the plus side the sausage roll was despatched quickly and with just over half the ride still to complete I was back on my way quickly.

Knowing the route was flat I had mistakenly thought the one hundred and twenty five miles would be tackled briskly with little effort. In part this proved to be true but the constant pedalling and nagging headwinds were having a cumulative effect on my fatigue, the lack of hills to coast down and few changes of body position from climbing or descending were resulting in aches and pains in different areas to those I normally experience on a century ride over rolling terrain. The regular open flat farmland was also proving to be mentally challenging as for many miles the view seemed to alter only fleetingly as and when the villages were encountered, even finding cover for a “nature break” was proving difficult in this terrain.

I headed up to Covington, the highest point of the county and picked up possibly the oldest Huntingdonshire church St Mary’s built in Saxon times and a memorial to the US Army Eighth Air Force 457th bombardment group whose B-17 Flying fortresses were based at nearby RAF Glatton during WWII.

My desire to visit Holme Fen and the lowest land point in the British Isles was not helped by possibly the most cratered stretch of tarmac in the country and a level crossing that I had to wait at for a good ten minutes before one of LNER’s finest came hurtling through, but it was a peaceful spot inhabited by plenty of birdlife including numerous Red Kites.

Belton Hill and the St Ives CC Hill Climb course delivers an average gradient of just 1.1% over 2km, surely the Strava KOM with an average speed of 46km/h is a record for hill climbs in this country! This would not be an iconic climb that lasted long in the memory.

With 187km in my legs, the rain still threatening and a sign in the opposite direction saying Huntingdon was just six mile away I was sorely tempted to miss out the turning towards Woodwalton and to head straight to the van, century completed. But the lure of the “best views of the Fens” as promised by a fellow Komoot user was too much. I’m glad I didn’t skip the extra 8km, the view was nothing spectacular, I didn’t expect it to be, but the sky was impressive and the marginal elevation gain left me with a nice flowing cruise back down to Huntingdon, always the best way to end a long day in the saddle.

So, another great days riding completed and a county I had never visited before ticked-off.
Birthplace of Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys and Henry Royce of Rolls Royce fame, Huntingdonshire may not be a county I will be rushing back to for the scenery but the towns and villages were generally, busy, interesting places and many provided the quaint, pristine thatched cottage vistas American film producers portray as typically English.

I finished the ride mindful that whatever the terrain a ride of one hundred and twenty five miles will always have its’ challenges and should be respected. Whereas this ride had no lung busting, leg breaking ascents to conquer the constant pressure on the pedals and few chances to coast had provided its own form of fatigue and mental challenges to overcome.

The ride in numbers

202.40 km

995m Elevation gain

8hrs 19 min moving time (24.3 km/h)

6 Torq Rhubarb and Custard gels

1 Blackcurrant and white Chocolate Flapjack

1 Sausage Roll

2 coffee stops

5 bottles of water

0 beer

0 punctures

https://www.komoot.com/tour/370121802

Finally if you got a spare quid in your pocket my justgiving page to raise vital funds for the Midlands Air Ambulance is now live Keith Jones is fundraising for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (justgiving.com)