20 Feb 2022: St Albans to Great Offley

 There’s  no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. That’s what the Fearless Foursome thought as they rode out across the precinct of the doomed Alban Arena, past the discarded bottles of the previous night’s festivities, on a distinctly cold and damp Sunday morning. I was already handicapped by only having 3 gears; I had noticed on my way to the start that my rear changer wasn’t working and inspection at the Waterend Barn showed that the outer casing of the gear cable had burst. Perhaps fortunately, I was using my touring bike with triple chainrings, so my lowest gear was 22/11 x 26 = 52 inches and steep hills would be a challenge. 

Steve's gear cable housing

We headed out through Nomansland and Marshalls Heath, and courteously pulled in on a narrow lane to let through a trailing Land Rover. To our astonishment, it was followed by at least ten others, all with shoulder-level exhaust pipes spewing their noxious contents into our lungs. Next time we wouldn’t be so generous. Continuing through Breachwood Green and Lilley Bottom we arrived at the café at Great Offley in a small complex of industrial units next to the Farm Butcher shop. The persistent rain meant we would not sit outside, as during our last visit; but inside their new internal seating area. This was in a separate building and had a rather Spartan barn-like ambience, and was definitely not warm. 

Barn Café

After consuming some rather watery and expensive coffees, we left heading south and immediately encountered an apparition of 5 warriors dressed in chainmail and carrying swords and round shields advancing across a field. Was this part of the British Army on manoeuvres?  We knew they were always complaining about having to use out-of-date equipment! (No, we looked them up later on the internet to see they were the Swords of Penda - an Early Saxon re-enactment group rehearsing.) The light rain persisted in being persistent, so we took the shortest route back through Whitwell & Kimpton. 

Windswept Gary near Kimpton

 

I anticipated having to get off on Ballslough Hill to Gustard Wood, but managed to ride up with a very low cadence and much honking (that means standing on the pedals, not making a donkey-like noise). After that everything seemed easy and we arrived home at 1:30pm after a short ride of just about 31 miles.

Steve B