The forecast was for a dry day as five riders met for the 9 a.m. start in Wheathampstead. There would have been six but one person got lost en-route in the Hatfield cycle paths so missed the ride. We reached Baldock quite early, as a tail wind, left over from the previous day's hurricane Ophelia, pushed us along the back lanes via Ayot St Lawrence, Kimpton, Wymondley and Willian. Adrian met us at Cafe Plus where it was busy, so for the first time ever we had to sit downstairs in the basement.
After coffee we headed north-east for a loop out into Cambridgeshire via Ashwell and the Mordens. There seemed to be two types of rally on these roads, as first we saw three old Rolls Royces and then a series of steam rollers and traction engines.
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| Puffing up the hill |
The Crown in Biggleswade is a new J.D. Wetherspoon hotel and we managed to find a sunny sheltered spot outside to enjoy the very reasonably priced food alongside some of the beer-festival ales on offer. They have made an effort to showcase some local information on the various pictures and storyboards inside the pub, and one in particular caught our interest, referencing the Ivel bicycle invented by
Dan Albone, a Biggleswade resident.
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| 294 miles in 24 hours! |
(Sorry about the reflected lamp above looking a bit like a spaceship. )
After lunch we turned back south and followed a country route via Broom, Ireland, Shefford and Pirton before a short spell on the extremely busy B655 before Adrian showed us a quiet route to miss Hitchin's busy roads and reach our tea stop. We had coffeee and large bits of cake courtesy of the Three Moorhens and sat in the sunny garden so long it was getting dark before we reached home in St Albans after a 65-mile round trip. You couldn't have had a better October day for cycling
Carol
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