From: Central Cambridge.

Distance: 6 miles.

Summary: Pleasant riverside route, though busy in term-time.

Fly over this route in Google Earth (find out more…)

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The village of Waterbeach lies just to the northeast of Cambridge, and can now be reached by bike on the well-surfaced river towpath. In the early evening during term the southern half of this route can become quite busy with the coaches of rowing crews cycling alongside, but it is an extremely pleasant short ride, and a good way of reaching the excellent Bridge pub just outside the village.

In detail:

• Start out by heading down to the river at Midsummer Common or Jesus Green. Follow the path alongside, heading out of Cambridge, keeping the river on your left-hand side.
• After you have passed Midsummer Common, the path takes you along the road, past the back of the Newmarket Road branch of Tesco, and into Stourbridge Common. Continue down here to the bridge over the river at Chesterton (position A on the map).
• Walking over this bridge with your bike, you will come out directly opposite the Green Dragon pub. Turn right as you exit the bridge, cycling down to the bollards at the end of the road. Turn right again, and you will pass the Penny Ferry pub (formerly the Pike & Eel), and a small carpark by the edge of the road:



• These cars mark the start of the towpath on the west side of the river, so join the path here. The towpath is an extremely good surface on which to cycle: kept clean and in good condition, and of course without any steep hills.
• You will probably pass a number of student rowing crews, often with coaches accompanying them on bikes along the path. This is the route over which the Bumps rowing races are held twice a year. Six years ago, when Trinity College were ‘Head of the River’ (that is, deemed by virtue of their Bumps results to be the best crew in Cambridge), residents woke up the next day to find the A14 road bridge suspiciously daubed with a smug slogan in the College’s colours:



• Members of Trinity’s boat club at the time denied all knowledge of how this came to be, but the bridge proclaims “Back Where We Belong” to this day, as you will see as you cycle under it (position B), half a mile down the river.



• Shortly after this you will pass by Baitsbite lock, which marks the start of the Bumps races, and the end of the key stretch over which most College crews train. If you’re cycling in the evening, you will notice that up until this point you have seen either men’s or women’s crews on the water, as use of the river is tightly restricted to prevent overcrowding.



• After the lock, the towpath narrows, as from here to Waterbeach the path is less well used. These final two miles are along a particularly picturesque stretch of water.




• Eventually, the towpath curves to the left, beside a road bridge (position C). This marks your arrival at Clayhithe — the hamlet just outside Waterbeach. At this point you can clamber up by the bridge to stop in at the pub (although there is another, less steep, path through a gate a few metres later on the right-hand side), or you can follow the path left and away from the river, towards Waterbeach.



• This path takes you past the newly-planted Cow Hollow Wood. A local millennium project, and extending over 16 acres, this is starting to mature well, and contains trees as diverse as oak, willow, ash and maple. If ever you’re waiting for a train at Waterbeach, it’s worth stopping by to have a wander around.



• The footpath finally leads you to the station carpark. From here you can either get a train to Cambridge or Ely, or continue straight ahead along the road, and into Waterbeach village itself.

This is a short but pleasant ride for a weekend lunchtime. Thanks to Espen for mentioning this route along to Waterbeach; all other suggestions of local cycle rides appreciated — just leave a note in the comments, folks! Later this week, I will post an extended version of this route, continuing over the A10 and into Ely along the back lanes.