THE WINDS OF CAMBRIDGE

Cambridge is one windy city, let me tell you.

The entire county of Cambridgeshire (in which, unsurprisingly, Cambridge is located) is in a very flat region of England known as the fens. Ages ago the fens were actually boggy marshes and the neighbouring town Ely (pronounced "eel - lee") even derived its name from the eels that used to swim in the low lying areas around it. No joke. After the water table dropped, the flat fens proved handy during WWII for the building of plane runways and as a staging point for many of the troops pre D-Day. But in current times, the most notable feature of the region's flatness is that it provides an ideal geographical framework for wind.

When we first arrived in Cambridge, I was delighted to see that it is basically flat; I anticipated all the cycling we would be (and are) doing and hills are not your friend when one is riding an old three-speeder. But the wind proves a foil to the lack of hills, because it is windy almost every day, and - this I swear - the wind is always a headwind. It doesn't appear to be so simple as riding against the wind in the morning and with it in the evening; I could work with that. But today I noticed as I was riding along the edge of town (through some open fields which did nothing to cut the wind's blasts) that even though my journey took me West, then South, and then East, I constantly had to peddle like mad into the wind. Just as I anticipated turning a corner and taking advantage of a tailwind, my hopes would be dashed. Tell me, fellow cyclers, is this a common phenomenon in Vancouver and other parts of the world?

At least I can console myself with the thought that I will have some kickin' calves when I come back home.