4 Feb 2018: Hatfield to Wareside

It was forecast to be extremely cold and possible snowy weather so we weren't too surprised to find only four people gathered for the start in Hatfield. Neil lead us along a familiar route through WGC and then Panshanger climbing up through Tewin and an interesting loop through the mansions of Tewin Wood, where Barry Norman (the well known film critic) once lived. From Datchworth we cruised downhill to Watton then climbed up the cycle path to Whempstead, down to Dane End and a steep  ascent to Whitehill and its golf-club. Here we had a panoramic view of the golf course while consuming well-earned refreshments & deciding to change our lunch destination to Wareside as we thought Brent Pelham might be a bit too far out.  Following a route towards Standon, we approached a ford, where a motorist assured us that the footbridge was negotiable, before at the small village green a sculpture swung into view which appeared at first sight to be one of the less grotesque works of Henry Moore.

Henry Moore?

However, on examination of its accompanying plaque, it turned out to be the Standon Puddingstone, a natural example of sedimentary rock.

Puddingstone

We continued on to loop round Much Hadham (the location of some of Henry Moore's works) and while climbing a steep hill towards Perry Green my chain jammed solid after some warning clicking of the rear gear cage touching the spokes. Fortunately I was only going at about 4 mph so after dismounting and inspecting the damage I found that the jockey-wheel cage had jammed in the spokes and, with the super-human force of my legs driving the chain, had distorted its angle of dangle so that only one cog of the rear cassette could be used.  With only 3 gears in use controlled from the front changer we limped on, taking the direct route to Wareside.

We arrived at about 1 pm and all ordered their sausage baguettes, as we knew the fillings were from Fox Hills Farm from previous visits. Then we took the direct route back through Hertford & WGC and along the old A414, this being flatter than Neil's planned route through Bayford, as my bike desperately needed attention in a workshop.

Altogether we did just under 50 miles on a very cold but dry day.

Steve B