10 Nov 2019: St Albans to Ivinghoe

Little Gaddesden

A bright forecast saw nine people at the start in St Albans. Ronny led us north up the old A5, then most of the group turned left into Hogg End Lane as Jon and Judy carried on north on a flatter route via Redbourn.
I got a puncture by the Old Jerome's turning, so Steve mended it while the rest of the group carried on, as it was a cold day. It has been a great Autumn for leaf peeping as the photos show.

We tried to take a shorter route so went via Water End and Little Gaddesden. There was a huge flood on the road towards Ivinghoe Beacon so we walked along a verge to avoid it.

Ronny texted to say the cafe in Ivinghoe was closed so they had gone on to Pitstone Wharf cafe instead.

Jon and Judy had gone on to Berkhamsted for their coffee stop, and Gary and Nick had turned back at Hudnall, so there were only five of us at the elevenses stop

Blue skies!

After a long wait for the food, we headed back towards Berkhamsted along the valley route back, passing more attractive scenery. Ronny assured me his photo hasn't been edited it really was an azure sky!

Three of us stopped off for a quick snack in Berkhamsted, as we hadn't ordered much food at the cafe.

A good turnout for a shorter ride and we still covered just under 40 miles.

Map below