London to Cambridge with wild swims
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London to Cambridge with wild swims

A cycling route starting in Hackney, England, United Kingdom.

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Overview

About this route

3

Quite flat scenic route (once you are out of London) to Cambridge with a splash across a ford, or sensibly accross the footbridge if you prefer, and opportuniies for wild swimming in the River Rib and the River Cam. Also the final 18 miles are all downhill...

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Duration
93.9 km
Distance
292 m
Ascent
302 m
Descent
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Avg. speed
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Avg. speed
crispinread
crispinread

created this 13 years ago

Route quality

Waytypes & surfaces along the route

Waytypes

  • Busy road

    56 km

    (60 %)

  • Quiet road

    13.6 km

    (14 %)

  • Road

    13.4 km

    (14 %)

Surfaces

Paved

39 km

(42 %)

Unpaved

1.6 km

(2 %)

  • Asphalt

    38.8 km

    (41 %)

  • Ground

    0.8 km

    (<1 %)

  • Gravel

    0.6 km

    (<1 %)

Route highlights

Points of interest along the route

  1. Point of interest after 51.7 km

    You will enter some woods, and see a metal guard rail on the right. If it's a warm day, park your cycle against this guard rail, scurry down the bank to the river Rib, and jump in. (There's a deeper bit underneath the large overhanging tree, whose roots make good handholds for getting back up the bank.)

  2. Point of interest after 66.7 km

    From here to the end is pretty much downhill all the way

  3. Point of interest after 84 km

    The Cam runs past the end of Shelford recreation ground, where the bylaws require ‘proper swimming dress’ to be worn and give away its heritage as the training pool of the village children in decades past. There is a wooden piled bank, with easy entry to the river which has a gravel bed and is plenty deep enough to swim, but is prone to lillies and weed in the summer. The publicly accessible riverbank is about 200m long. Tea and cakes are available at the bakers over the road, although don’t expect much in to Saturday afternoon or on a Sunday.

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