The new starting place East Lane car park in Wheathampstead proved to be a good meeting place, where five of us ponied up for this ride into the countryside around the Ayots. We welcomed a new rider Allan and then promptly made our way along Cory Wright Way and made a bee line for Ayot St Lawrence, taking in the quiet, tranquil lanes. Passing Shaw’s Corner and the old church, we headed into the grounds of Ayot Manor along a gravelly track, which meets up with Tanyard Lane (I thought this was Lord Mead Lane, but upon looking at a map I saw my mistake).
We shot down the lane to do a little wiggle through Kimpton Bottom then back out to the lovely meandering lanes of Three Houses and what I can only presume is Langley Lane,. These two lanes happily wander all over the place and make for some lovely, peaceful riding.
Passing The Hitchwood bluebell forest was as pleasant as ever, as we headed towards Preston, where the little village was a hive of activity as they prepared for their village fete: scarecrows, tractors and all sorts everywhere. We followed the road that takes us past the Frogmore Livery Stables and then dropped to Lilley Bottom, leading straight into Whitwell.
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| Emily's Cafe |
The delights of Emily’s Cafe never fail and we enjoyed sun, cakes, cream teas and a bit of drizzle: lovely stop.
Our route home was simply straight across to Wheathampstead, via the farm road (cows decided to follow us for a quick jog) that leads to Kimpton. Then the delights of Ballslough Hill, where one of our group surprised herself by completing the hill with no trouble at all. Then the reward for that is a lovely downhill almost to Wheathampstead.
A really successful ride from a new start.
On the 20th our ride is longer as we go to Roydon Marina.
Neil 06/07/2019
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