23 June 2019: St Albans to Hedgerley

Our planned route on Sunday started with a detour as the setting up of the St Albans Festival was in a full swing. Nevertheless we found our way out of the city and onto small country lanes to Bedmond. My three fellow riders were surprised by the nice areas in Abbots Langley around Hazelwood Lane, a way we seldom take. We continued our way to Loudwater.

In my planning I didn't take much care of the hilliness at this place and so we took the scenic route along Chorleywood common and the woods up to Berry Lane Estates, adding 50 meters of elevation to the tour. As our stomachs became already noisy, we had our breakfast stop a bit earlier than planned at the cafe in Maple Cross.

The hill to Horn Hill helped us to get warm again after breakfast, but then we also enjoyed the ride down into Gerrards Cross. Our route continued to be hilly through Fulmer and Stoke Poges, until we finally headed to our lunch stop in Hedgerley. We ordered our sandwiches just in time before the White Horse became busy.

The way after lunch continued on quiet lanes. We were surprised to see how much grass and other plants were growing in potholes and cracks of the road parallel to the M40. The blackberry bushes were in full blossom, which was nice to see and added some colour. The sky remained cloudy for the whole day, but it was dry and the temperature warm. We then crossed Beaconsfield, which was more busy, but soon we found ourselves back on quiet and empty lanes. The valleys of the rivers Misbourne and Chess added some more elevation to the tour, so we all looked forward to the coffee stop in Chipperfield.

There we got entertained by the youth on their bicycles (back-wheel riding). Eventually we had to go back on our bikes and took the direct way back to St Albans. When we arrived there, I had 86 km on the bicycle computer.

Ronny (PS see below the map for an update on the Welwyn Hatfield fitness festival event)




On Saturday 22nd Rona, Jean and Neil represented the club at the WelHat Health Festival where they had a stall.

Smiles all round!