It was a blustery day when five people gathered outside Asda in Hatfield for the 9am start to Baldock. Christine joined us for the first time on a Sunday ride and had no problems keeping up even though her bike did not have low gears. After leaving urban areas we cycled along quiet lanes via Ayot Green, Codicote and west of Stevenage making good time as we covered the 22 miles to arrive at Cafe Plus in Baldock by 10.50. Peter joined just as we were leaving and as we crossed the Baldock bypass heading east we realised how strong the now headwind actually was. It was really hard crossing all the open fields with no trees or hedges to keep the wind away. We stopped for the obligatory viewing of the George Orwell plaque in Wallington before continuing east through the very pretty North Hertfordshire villages to reach our lunch stop in Great Hormead.
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| George Orwell's house in Wallington |
On the way down into the village we spotted a war memorial dedicated to a USAAF pilot who died in WW2 in 1944. More information here.
The Three Tuns was a great lunch stop with good quality and well priced sandwiches and as it wasn't warm enough too sit outside we were pleased to find an almost-private dining room indoors.
After lunch Peter returned to Baldock and the rest of us took a direct route to Hertord via Sacombe Green where we had a quick tea or coffee in Rose cafe followed by the usual Hertingfordbury and edge of WGC route back to the start. We did about 74 miles round trip on a very windy day but it didn't rain.
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