Comments on: Cambridge to Ely — scenic route

By: Stuart Bell

Stuart Bell — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:14:15 +0000

This sounds really excellent Rohan — thanks so much for posting about it. I haven’t cycled between Cambridge and Ely for a little while now, but I look forward to trying this out.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:47:47 +0000

Hoping to do this over the lovely Bank Holiday weekend. I’ve used cycle-streets.net to plot the Ely > Cambridge option, and it provides Fast / Balanced / Quiet routes.

The latter two include Rohan’s option, I think, which I’d like to try out!

http://www.cyclestreets.net/journey/647379/

By: m.s.

m.s. — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:36:56 +0000

Almost one year later, today I took advantage of the amazing sunny and warm day and I did the route you adviced in this blog post. It was really good! a bit less scenic than going along the river, but easy, fast and nice. My muscles weren’t well warmed up since I didn’t use the bike too much this winter (about once-twice a week) but this has been a really good start for the season!

By: Rohan

Rohan — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:06:21 +0000

A NEW route Cambridge – Ely: not yet shown on any map (except on Sustrans’ website) are two new cycle bridges… they neatly link the villages of Lode and Wicken, straight through the fens, north-east of Cambridge. This connects the National Trust properties of Anglesey Abbey and Wicken Fen, and makes cycling between Cambridge and Ely easy, using quiet roads and off-road paths.

In short: Midsummer Common – Bottisham – through Lode to turn right into White Fen Drove – a huge new cycle bridge across Reach Lode – Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve – Wicken Lower Drove – Barway – Ely. It’s all indicated by National Cycle Network signs.

Use it for Reach Fair: in 2011 the Fair is on Monday 2 May, and every year the Cambridge Cycling Campaign organises a ride out – very sociable, family fun.

I hope to do it this year at a modest pace from Ely (set off about 10:30 from Cathedral Green) – contact me if you’d like to join.

Has anyone tried the historic route on what are now byways via Histon, Rampton and Aldreth? Away from it all, it could be rough going, but presumably no worse than the banks of the Cam north from Waterbeach…

By: Stuart Bell

Stuart Bell — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:38:09 +0000

Ouch — sounds like quite an adventure Ally, but probably not one that you wanted on a cold winter day! I guess you could always cycle to Waterbeach along the towpath, then at The Bridge turn left past Waterbeach station and cross the A10 into Landbeach. In Landbeach, if you bear right (into Green End) and then take the left into Cottenham Road, you’ll eventually reach the route on this page, at Cottenham. You could then turn left and head back into Cambridge that way.

It’s also possible to extend this a little: just before reaching Cottenham there’s a long drove on the right-hand side. You have to be a little careful, as it’s a bit bumpy and it ends with an abrupt left turn at a ditch, but you can build up quite a lot of speed along there, as it’s so quiet and there are no bends in the road! The drove eventually joins Twenty Pence Road, just beside the Ouse, a little further north towards Ely.

By: Ally

Ally — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:19:28 +0000

I decided to cycle from Cambridge up the river towards Ely last week – upon reaching Waterbeach I was disappointed to see the towpath ended, so decided to venture further on the footpath. Crossed over at Bottisham Lock in hope of a less muddy / bumpy path, only to find myself in worse conditions on the dyke between Waterbeach and Upware. By this time it was closer to Upware than to go back, so I plodded on (mostly by foot as cycling was just not possible). Sun started to go down, extremely desolate which in most cases would be welcome – but with no sign of life for miles was more disconcerting, especially as the terrain levelled out, the ground became a lot more boggy and some gypsies appeared and silently watched my go by, luckily from the other side of the river bank! Upon reaching Upware I then discovered there was no bridge to reach the village, so I had to continue for a further few miles to the A1123, which I took to Stretham before taking the busy A10 in rish hour back to Waterbeach and back home to Cambridge.

So in summary, I wish I’d read this first – not much fun at all! Anyone aware of a more circular trip to Waterbeach via the river and then back via another route, avoiding fenland and main roads??

By: Ana

Ana — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:30:01 +0000

I would like to commute from Little Thetford to Ely Railway station by bicycle. Has anyone cycled along the river to Ely (along the west bank?). Is it legal to cycle along that bank?

By: Ana

Ana — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:20:51 +0000

Would anyone know if it’s possible to cycle along the river from Little Thetford to Ely?

By: Stuart Bell

Stuart Bell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:25:45 +0000

Glad you enjoyed it and didn’t get too lost One of the best things about cycling is the guilt-free pint at the end…

By: Anil

Anil — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:42:37 +0000

Hi All, I cycle the route above about 4 times a week (Ely to Cambridge around 6:15am-6:30am and Cambridge to Ely around 4:00pm to 4:30pm) it would be really nice to have some company along the ride. If you’re interested please let me know. It take me about 90 mins each way; depending on wind direction.