29 Aug 2021: St Albans to Hitchin

A dull and rather cool late August day found 8 riders assembled at the start in St Albans for a northerly jaunt to Hitchin and back. We went up the main road towards Harpenden before turning off to use the quiet road through Ayers End, then skirted the edge of Southdown and descended to the Lea valley using Leasey Bridge road.  Just after Mackerye End we saw two separate groups of cyclists we know from the 40+ Tuesday rides. After a couple of navigation hiccups near Kimpton we were on the way to Breachwood Green when my front gear cable broke, closely followed by Philip nearly falling off as he couldn't get his right shoe out of his cleat. After dismounting and much pulling he managed to remove a stone from his shoe that had been causing the problem.

Philip and his shoe

We went through Ley Green and the edge of Preston before dropping down to Charlton then went into Hitchin  via Gosmore to reach the Hitchin Kitchen café at about 11.15

The café was very busy so the service was a bit slow but the coffee is well worth the wait for both the price and quality.

Al fresco coffee

As we were late leaving the cafe we took a direct route back via Preston, Whitwell, Kimpton and Wheathampstead. We thought Steve was stopping to photo us near Coleman Green, but he was really taking a photo of a fly-tip to forward to Herts CC using the FIX MY STREET app. As the phone was out he took the photo below too. No David Bailey awards for this one I think.

nearly home

We got back to St Albans at 2pm after a 40 mile round trip on a day that was great for cycling, but a bit disappointing for a Bank Holiday weekend. We welcomed new rider Simon and hope to see him again.

Carol

22 Aug 2021: Hatfield to Dane End

Peak holiday season and a dubious weather forecast resulted in only five of us at the start in Hatfield. It was a morning only ride with a refreshment stop at Dane End golf course. So we headed east to the Old Coach Road leading to Hertford via Hertingfordbury. Then avoiding most of the main road into Hertford by a side route we subsequently climbed up to Bengeo and then had a fast run all the way to Wadesmill.

From here a climb up to Thundridge and then the nice bit along a very quiet and pretty lane running up the valley of the river Rib. Part way along one goes through the hamlet of “Cold Christmas” which I always think is a very evocative name.  Turning back west we headed for Barwick ford which some of the party forded in style. Then after a few more miles we were at the golf club which was well organised for outdoor catering.

From here normally we would go down the steep hill into Dane End, but knowing that further ahead the usual junction onto the A602 was completely closed due to road works we went partly back to Sacombe Green. On through the parkland setting at Sacombe across the A602 and back via Bramfield.

Sacombe Park

Shortly afterwards the party split up. Those returning to the start at Hatfield at about  1o’clock covered  the total distance of 36 miles at around 12.5 mph average speed.

Despite looking a bit ominous at times, there was no rain, although there must have been heavy rain overnight as the roads were very wet and almost flooded in a few places.

Peter

(Note from Carol, no map this week)

15 Aug 2021: St Albans to Amersham

 On a rather dull but warm morning, six of us met amidst the debris of Saturday night’s revelries outside the Blacksmith’s Arms. 

Gossiping at the start

As St Peter’s Street appeared fully occupied with a junk (whoops! antiques) market I led them down Catherine Street, up Bluehouse Hill and along Bedmond Lane where at the tin church, Phil and Sue joined us in a pre-arranged rendez-vous for their first Sunday ride with us. We went hurtling down Harthall Lane then through the wood in King’s Langley and along Barnes Lane, which I was pleasantly surprised find to be devoid of the usual fly-tips, to join Rucklers Lane. We continued through Flaunden and its Green Dragon pub, which has just won CAMRA’s Refurbishment Award. After passing through Latimer we climbed Bell Lane and turned right along the shared-use pavement along the busy A404 turning off at the railway bridge to take a quiet route into Amersham and the Masterchef cafe. The outside tables looked tempting in the full sunshine, so we deposited ourselves there but had to order coffees and snacks inside.

Café culture in Amersham

Here we were surprised to encounter concrete evidence that the cashless society is not yet here: it was cash only, which sent two of the riders scurrying to nearby hole-in-the-wall machines. 

Ready for departure

Departing from here, I led them through the up-market Chesham Bois down the hill and to Latimer Bottom, After passing the sewage works we turned up the very narrow Blackwell Hall Lane. I had just explained to Phil that we were unlikely to encounter any motor traffic here when we dutifully pulled in to a passing place to let a car behind through. Then 3 more cars came towards us, one of them driven at excessive speed. After turning off right there was a shout from Sue who had a puncture in her rear tyre. We were by the entrance to a large house which was a convenient place to deal with this. Sue had fortunately thought about this before coming out and had brought here husband along for this very purpose. 

Sue's first puncture

While Phil almost instantly found the cause, a large flint, and impressively quickly replaced the inner tube and inflated it, Philip took the opportunity to prostrate himself in the front garden for a quick nap, which turned out to be shorter than he had hoped. 

Philip napping and trespassing!

I then led them back to Flaunden Bottom and after climbing the hill and passing the Green Dragon again( which now had many customers), I then went straight on the the cross-roads to get to Belsize and then Chipperfield. Leaving this village I was behind Sue who slowly came to a stop complaining that her rear tyre was spongy. I confirmed that it was indeed, but Phil had also stopped only a few yards ahead so we managed to join him on the verge where I delivered the news that his marital duties were again required. The others were no longer in sight, so I leapt at Phil’s suggestion that I carry on as they were only 4 miles from home, recalling the club motto (every man for himself) and caught up with 4 of the others at the top of the hill in King’s Langley; the other two had gone on to St Albans. We then climbed up Tom’s Lane to Bedmond and took Sergehill Lane to Chiswell Green and then back to St Albans. I subsequently found out that Sue's 2nd puncture was another large flint.

A round trip of about 36 miles using the route below

Steve

08 Aug 2021: Wheathampstead to Lower Stondon

A poor weather forecast of rain put people off joining us at the Wheathampstead start. As we left our house in St Albans at about 9am the rain stopped and indeed we cycled the whole ride with only a few drops of rain throughout. 

The roads were quite wet as we headed north through Gustard Wood and the edge of Kimpton before passing through Breachwood Green and freewheeling down to Lilley Bottom. We whizzed along through Lilley and climbed easily to the top of Hexton Hill helped by a strong tailwind before going through the wonderfully named Higham Gobion to reach the Mount Pleasant Golf Club at just after 11am. Here we found Steve and Jackie sitting on the balcony. They had planned to ride down to the start but had decided to wait until the rain passed through so went straight to the coffee stop.

Steve smiling on the balcony

We admired Jackie's new electric gravel bike which allows her to overtake Steve on the hills now.

After toast and coffee we headed back into the wind via the edge of Hitchin and Charlton. Ronnie turned off near Whitwell and the others went back via the private road near Kimpton.

Steve not smiling

We got back to St Albans just after 2pm as we had spent quite a while chatting at the golf club. 

It was a shame some others were put off by the forecast which turned out to be wrong. 

Carol