27 Feb 2022: St Albans to Hawridge

 Six riders met at the Waterend Barn on a dazzling bright morning with not a cloud in the sky. Tim proudly displayed his new titanium bike from Spa Cycles, a Christmas present to himself, rivalling Ben on his titanium Croix De Fer from Genesis. In contrast, Philip was riding his steel-framed Sun bike from the 1970s with its 5-speed block. We headed north up the Redbourn road, negotiating the humps and bumps on the road surface  near the Prae Hotel, hoping they would be eliminated in the resurfacing work scheduled for March. Turning west into Hogg End Lane, we passed the usual flytips by the motorway bridge to enter the Maylands industrial area and went through to Piccott’s End.We went through Berkhamsted before climbing the hill to Hawridge and the new Cafe Velo, hoping it was not already overwhelmed with cyclists. It was busy, judging by the number of bikes hanging from the bike bars, but there was room for us both inside and out . 

Chiltern Velo terrace in the sun 

We also met Phil and Sue who had cycled directly from Bedmond to meet us. We sat outside facing east with a beautiful view over the valley, with the sun shining and complete absence of wind. After coffees, the eight of us cycled together until Tim left us to go home via Berkhamsted while the rest of us continued through Ashley Green, Bovingdon Green, and down Rucklers Lane.Most of us turned up Hyde Lane to Bedmond, but Phil and Sue chose to go home via Tom's Lane. We carried on to Potters Crouch where Ben pointed out that Gary’s rear tyre looked soft and it was indeed a puncture. As he was only a mile from home he decided to walk there and the rest of us got back to St Albans at 2 pm after around trip of about 36 miles.

Steve