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. . . a white elephant it may be, but it's a very useful white elephant if you have a bicycle ;-)
This afternoon Cliff and I packed our bikes into the car and headed over to the outskirts of Cambridge to The Daily Bread Co-op where we stocked up on essentials. We then parked the car in the industrial estate just around the corner from the co-op and hopped onto our bikes; a short ride to the end of the road and then we were whizzing along on the white elephant.
We then joined a cycle path leading to a foot and cycle bridge over the A14 and we were soon peddling through a busy country park. On we peddled to the river . . .
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We sailed along beside the water, passing willow trees exploding with fungi . . .
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Eventually we reached the bridge at Clayhithe, and The Bridge pub where we had lunch before heading off further into the fens. The little building in the photo below houses a pumping engine, essential for keeping the Fens drained – without the pumps this land would return to the water.
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We crossed the river at Bottisham Sluice . . .
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And meandered our way back to the river path, barges chugged along at a stately pace, dragonflies and swallows skimmed the water . . .
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Eventually we'd left the countryside behind and we were back on the white elephant, whizzing along on the smooth concrete past unused bus-stops and the brambles and wild flowers which are gradually taking over the tracks.
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I had to work this morning to keep my freelance illustration projects on schedule and I felt as if I was going down with a cold but agreed to Cliff's bike ride idea – and I'm so pleased I did! Riding the white elephant to the river has blown all the cobwebs away, the cold has blown away too.