20 July 2019: Hatfield to Roydon

With the deluge of rain over the last 12 hrs this mainly off road route had to be changed at the last minute. As for the weather on Saturday, it was unpredictable. Rain was in the air as I waited for the ride to start and by ten O’clock only one rider had joined me, so without further ado the pair of us set off for the borders of Essex.

We were soon hitting the undulating road that is Grubs Lane and as we rode the hint of rain never quite left us. It was at the end of this lane that our route had to be changed. The original plan was to head onto the path that is on the land of Woodside Farm and then tack across to Newgate Street via the bridleway skirting Millbrook golf course. I called this off as I thought it would be far too muddy for us. So instead we took a more familiar route down Tylers Causeway, a really winding, undulating affair of a road. We had only just reached the rise when we had to pullover and let some people-squashing tractors past. White Stubbs Lane was as pleasant as ever, going through the Broxbourne nature reserve is always a treat and somehow looks better when it’s not so sunny.

Roydon Marina

After a wiggle around Hoddesdon and the Rye House sewage works we eventually got to the Marina, which looked superb in the sunshine. They served a great breakfast and proved to a success. As we left the Marina the sky darkened over, the wind picked up and the clouds produced a short, sharp and heavy downpour with accompanying thunder. Taking shelter under what trees we could find, coats went on. A few minutes passed and the downpour stopped but the wind didn’t go away.

We made our way back to the sewage works and took a bridleway that leads into and around RSPB Rye Meads. We scooted past Abbots Lake and saw the mist rising off the pavement as we took our jackets off.

The tow path proved to be a sploshy affair, up near Stanstead Abbots it was quite doable and pleasant, but as got nearer Ware it became evident that they had had more rain than us as small puddles gave away to greater puddles and the pair of us got covered in mud. To be honest I found this to be quite a lot of fun, even Swans got in on the act by having a quick nibble at us. The path between Ware and Hertford was seriously bumpy though and not quite as pleasant. As we were already muddy we carried on with the off road theme and took the old train line to WGC, all the while battling a steady head wind.

After reaching Welwyn it was a small task to get back to the start and complete the longest of our Saturday rides so far.

A fun, muddy and bumpy ride out.
Neil 20/07/2019