3 Dec 2017: St Albans to Caddington

This was our first winter ride of the season, with a later start time and a single stop at lunch.  Fortunately the weather was mild and, despite some light rain on the way to the start, dry.

We welcomed two new riders: Richard from Harpenden, who had recently given up commuting for a local job; and fellow EU citizen Ronny, an astrophysicist from Germany currently living in St Albans.  Ronny told us he had come here for love and work, so let’s hope the funding for science does not disappear in the next few years.

There were a lot of charity Santa runners around the pub forecourt for the Jingle Bell Jog, so I took a slightly circuitous route to the Market Street and then headed out towards Redbourn before using Hogg End Lane to skirt around the edge of Hemel.  There was a lot of motor traffic in the narrow lanes near Hemel, perhaps a consequence of our later start.  The wider route along Gaddesden Row was welcome, as the cars had room to overtake.

After Gaddesden Row, we cut cross country, up and down a couple of hills to hit the outskirts of Dunstable.  A back seat driver interfered at one stage, but then admitted my route was correct.  From Dunstable, a short stretch of the A5 took us to the turning for Caddington.

Carol had checked with the Chequers at Caddington, that they would be able to serve us sandwiches, and they had said there was no problem.  Once we were there, the pub decided they had too many bookings for lunch to cope with us.  Fortunately we had reached the pub in good time and a quick phone call by Carol to the Plough at Woodside, confirmed they would welcome us.

After lunch, we took a reasonably direct lanes route back through Slip End and Annables Lane to Harpenden and from there over Nomansland Common.  Richard left the group at Harpenden to put in a fast circuit before he got home.
Judy 03/12/2017