It was a sunny morning when we arrived to meet Gareth and Peter outside Asda for the 9.15 start. Richard arrived in his car and croaked that he would not be able to lead the ride as he was unwell. After a quick map-check we set off towards the planned Hitchin coffee stop. I forgot to switch my GPS tracker on so stopped in Hatfield Garden Village to remedy this. As I stopped Gareth realised he had a puncture, so we waited until he replaced the tube before setting off again. He threw away the old inner tube which was then retrieved as Steve warned him that he might have another puncture and need to repair that one as he didn't have another spare tube. As we'd lost some time we decided to divert to Old Stevenage for our 11's stop.
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| Four of Stevenage's Six Hills |
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| Puncture no 2 |
A northerly route west of the A1 took us into Old Stevenage via the cycle path that starts at the Six Hills Roman barrows; not just landscape gardening but real roman relics
We used Subway which provided a bacon roll and coffee for the grand total of £2. Fantastic value. Unfortunately when we came to leave, Gareth discovered he had another puncture. After fixing this one using Steve's spare tube we decided it was too late to get to Lilley so just headed back to Hatfield and the Harpsfield Hall for lunch. As we left Stevenage on the cycle paths towards Bragbury End we encountered half-marathon runners (and walkers), some of whom seemed very reluctant to move out of the way even when we politely rang our bells.
After Datchworth it started raining so we took the most direct route back via Tewin and WGC before having a chat and some food in the rather busy pub. We only did 30 miles but better than nothing on a damp dull day.
I'll schedule another ride to Lilley in the new year.
I'll schedule another ride to Lilley in the new year.
Carol
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