We had another good turnout today. Two new riders and it
was great to see a face that hadn’t been out for a while. After my
normal preamble I made sure that everyone had water; the day was
going to get hot and water was a must for everyone.
Our route took us
down the Alban Way, then through the estates over to the Watford
road, but instead of following this we took a trip around Greenwood
Park, with a murmur of surprise from one of our riders as they didn’t
know it was even there. I love it when that happens, people
discovering stuff is the best.
We went over the
footbridge and into How Wood, then meandered around the streets which
eventually led us to Bricket Wood and Drop Lane. It’s funny how you
can do a route and there is nearly always someone new to the roads.
This time it was a rider from Barnet who was familiar with Smug Oak
Lane but had never been down the next lane on and he was pleasantly
surprised with it.
Making good work
of Hanger Lane we were soon onto the climb that is Black Lion Hill.
About a quarter of the way up we headed off to the less steep side of
the hill. This hill, although not a challenge to most seasoned cyclists, can be a real pain for those that just aren’t used to
hill climbing. The reward for this effort is a relaxing cuppa at the
Shenley tea rooms.
This place was as busy as ever, there was also
another group of cyclists there (a Watford group), we pushed up
tables and all enjoyed the sunshine, then at some point a tandem
arrived.
After the break
we headed onto the lovely lanes that are around Rectory Lane and by
this time the sun had well and truly started to shine, so we did a
couple of quick roads into London Colney, then we hopped over the BIG
massive bridge and took our lives in our hands as we navigated the
junction on the BIG roundabout to safely make it onto Nightingale
Lane (once a main road).
It wasn’t long
‘till we were back at the start before the sun did its stuff later
in the day.
A great ride out.
Our next ride is exploring the lanes that populate the Ridgeway as we
head off to Potters Bar.
Neil 01/06/2019
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