On the first day of October in
the dense autumn mist we set off heading north,
avoiding St Peters Street which was occupied with stalls, including a
Routemaster bus, in preparation for the annual St Albans Food and Drink festival, By the time we got to Bedmond Lane there was heavy
drizzle so we stooped to don rain jackets. Continuing through Chipperfield and Belsize, we stopped again near Hollins Hall as Peter had suffered a sudden
deflation. The culprit, a sharp flint that would have penetrated even a Marathon
Plus, was found almost instantly, but the inevitable delay caused us to be late
arriving at Masterchef in Amersham. A parked Roberts bike nearby betrayed the
presence of Richard who claimed he had recently arrived after “just missing” us
at the start. Snacks and coffee were quickly served by a charming young
waitress who made the riders reluctant to leave the cafe. Continuing on through
Hyde Heath and the HS2 NIMBY boards at Great Missenden we passed through Great
Hampden and Parslows Hillock to arrive at the Black Horse at Lacey Green at
12:25. The timing turned out to be fortunate, for all tables except the one by
the patio, were marked as reserved. We swiftly occupied this and ordered
baguettes and beer and managed to leave at 13:20. Working off lunch over the
steep hills at Darvillshill and Speen we called in at Ray and Rhona's Open Day at Prestwood. This is an annual exhibition of ancient
bikes that Ray, of the South Bucks CTC, inherited from his father-in-law.
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| Ancient Bikes |
A very unusual bike was this wooden one with skis.
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| Wooden Ski Bike |
After
marvelling at the weight of some of the bikes from the early 1900s we ploughed
on through Great Missenden and towards Little Pednor, ignoring the
the signs that the road was closed even to
pedestrians. Cyclists coming in the opposite direction assured us that the
obstruction was navigable which indeed it was; a subsequent notice proclaimed
that it was due to “conducter pulling in progress”.
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| Engineers' Spelling! |
Despite the
bizarre spelling, we deduced that this was something to do with the electricity
cables attached to the nearby pylon. Passing then through the medieval Little
Pednor farm we continued through Chesham, climbing up to Pinner Green, followed
by the steep dip after Ley Hill, and along Venus Hill to arrive at the
Mediterranean Garden Centre at 3:45. Anticipating to be brushed off so close to
closing time, we were warmly welcomed by the staff who said we were the only
cyclists to have visited them after a very quiet day and were pleased to see us.
Leaving at 4:10 we returned taking the usual route via Rucklers Lane and Bunkers Lane. We had done about 58 miles.
Steve B
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