12 Dec 2010: Hatfield to Ley Green (or Weston)

Neil writes: The day started off wonderfully with Simon, Jon, Judy, Tracey, Jackie and new comer Steve and I meeting at ASDA at 9.15.  It was a bright chilly morning and we had a warning of ice out by Ascot's Lane.  So off we set out of Hatfield to Welwyn, then down towards Tewin as a few spots of rain made their presence felt, but this didn't last too long at all.  Along the B1000 a bunch of healthy buggers passed us, which included Jacki's husband Steve.  They motored on ahead while we took the more scenic route to Tewin.

From here it was a nice ride over to Bull's Green then Datchworth, where we made a right and cruised down to Watton-at-Stone.  We pottered along the high street and made our way up Walkern road where I spied a sign for Aston.  Judy and Jon had decided to make their own way to the café, so we took this left, which turned out to be very nice.  The countryside looks lovely covered in frost, and there were several small iced-over streams.  The road led us to Frogmore Hill, from there to Aston, then Aston End and the wilds of Stevenage.  The frozen lake in Fairlands Park made a picturesque scene while we refuelled at Costello’s. 

Fairlands Park, Stevenage

Costello's Cafe

Jackie decided to wait for Steve to join her and go home, and Jon and Judy decided to make their own way to lunch via the Stevenage cycle tracks.  I think that was a cunning plan and they knew what was going to happen.  I decided to avoid Stevenage as I thought the hardest part of the ride would be going through it; how wrong could I get?  Yep, you guessed it, we got lost and I led the team into the wilds.  In fact, Stevenage was easy as we kept to the cycle paths.  Just outside Stevenage, Simon found a road that led into Graveley with relative ease.  From here on in, I was relying heavily on the map and checked it as much as I could.  The plan was to go to Great Wymondley, but I took the road in the opposite direction leading to Weston instead.  Once we had realised the mistake (when we were at Weston) a decision had to be made - do we carry on or stop for lunch?  Steve got a puncture so the decision was made for us and we were soon having lunch in the Red Lion, a lovely pub with nice food, an open log fire and a lot of friendly people.

After some chat we decided to go back via Preston, so we headed to Great Wymondley.  Here we should have turned left on Arch Road down into St Ippollitts, but that didn't happen because I stuck to my guns and dutifully read the map wrong, going full steam ahead into Hitchin!  This wasn't such a great disaster as it seemed, because we were just around the corner from the London Road, which leads right into Old Welwyn.  At the B651 Simon left us and made his way to Hemel via Kimpton, while myself, Tracey and Steve motored into Old Welwyn then WGC, where Tracey left us, then we made it back to Hatfield.  A great days ride - really good fun that tested my map reading skills, but showed me that I should be more confident and take a little more notice of my surroundings.  As was pointed out to me, where I was reading there were no houses and we had just gone through an estate. 

Jon adds: I just kept the sun on our left through Stevenage (brown route on map) and ended up on cycle paths passing Aldi (where we did a bit of xmas shopping).  We found the road out via Redcoats, where we found Richard lurking about, then reached the pub in good time.  As per my txt back to Tracey, they were lucky in stopping at Weston as the Plough in Ley Green had beer, but no food (the freezer had broken down).   It’s worth phoning ahead next time to check.   Carol & Steve joined us at the pub, having explored an off-road part of the Chiltern Cycleway near Hitchin, so we were not alone and starving (just starving).

Chiltern Cycleway near Hitchin

Their bikes had been covered in mud, but as were leaving, the pub dog was kindly doing its best to wash the mud off Steve’s front wheel, panda fashion! 

The Plough, Ley Hill

Ley Hill Post Office (cafe)

Carol noticed the Post Office in the Ley Green had a sign up and, on the way out, we asked the owner, who confirmed they were opening on Sunday mornings for coffee and cake (new cafe for the map).  We pressed on to Whitwell, where Steve and Carol stopped for a meal at Emily’s cafe.  It was getting late so Judy & I carried on and I picked up a snack in Wheathampstead to fuel up for the journey home to London.  It all made for a varied and interesting ride.


12/12/2010

05 Dec 2010: St Albans to Asheridge

Would a ride on 5 December be possible? The whole of the previous week had seen cold, ice and snow, traffic chaos, schools closed, etc. The week ahead was due to be just as bad. I was fully expecting to cancel because of the weather, but decided to go to the start, see what the conditions were like, who turned up and take it from there. In the event the morning was much warmer - foggy, but with the feeling that the sun could break through. A gap in the arctic conditions and seven non-wimps were there ready to go.

Although there was not much ice around in St Albans, we would have to climb up into the Chilterns where conditions could be worse, so it did seem a good idea to cut the planned route a bit shorter. Instead of heading for the wildlife centre at College Lakes, we aimed for a coffee stop at Berkhamsted. So straight up the A5 to Redbourn, then Gaddesden Row and Water End. Then to get at bit of a loop in, we climbed to Little Gaddesden, doubling back through the Ashridge Estate. It was misty with the sun breaking through - spectacular scenery through the woods. 

Then down into Berkhamsted to a new venue for us - the Olive Tree Cafe in the High Street. After refreshments, Steve, Jacki and Judy headed off back home. I had originally planned to climb out of the valley by way of Dancers End and the Crong from Tring, but we were now too far down the valley for this to be a good route. Getting out of Berko to the southwest is going to be a climb, so we headed off towards Wigginton. After a couple of miles, my narrative of the route comes to an end; for me Tommy the ride is over. A regular noise from my back wheel - have I lost a spoke? No, worse, the rim is bulging and possibly about to go off bang. I had known the rims were well worn and had bought new wheels ready as replacements some while back, but had not quite got round to putting them on. I let the tyre inflation down to just rideable, said goodbye to the others and headed off home.

I wondered if there would be a bang any minute and I would be walking. But there wasn't and I cycled back fairly normally. I have now put my new wheels on. Rim wear in winter conditions is a serious problem and a major design fault. Why are rims made of an extremely soft metal - aluminium? If I buy a new bike for winter use, it will certainly have disc brakes. However, it could have been worse and I believe the others got to the Blue Ball at Asheridge and enjoyed the rest of the trip.


47 miles
05/12/2010

28 Nov 2010: Hatfield to Rye House

I don’t normally venture out on icy roads and a good ride leader knows how to delegate.  It was minus 4 degrees overnight, but Judy was happy to take her three-wheeler up to Hatfield to collect the five stalwarts gathered there, while I went straight to Trent Park (all of 10 minutes from home)!  

It was a slowish ride from Hatfield to Trent Park following NCR 12 - caution being needed where icy surfaces were suspected.  You can’t always rely on pushing hard to keep warm and there’s no substitute for wearing plenty of layers on a prolonged ride.  Exposure to the cold had also caused brake and gear cables on the Trice to ice up, so a quick phone call led to me bringing a flask of boiling water to free them.

Arriving at the cafe in Trent Park

Trent Park Animal Centre

Taxidermy display

Good tracks in Trent Park

There are two cafes in Trent Park and we prefer the less-crowded Animal Centre in the middle of the park, with its taxidermy displays in the café.  The sun was providing some warmth as we followed good tracks through the park to Hadley Road.  Then it was a direct route across the northern edge of Enfield, past Forty Hall and along Turkey Street to Enfield Island Village.  Here we turned north to follow NCR 1 into the Lea Valley Country Park and through Fishers Green - no risk of ice on these well-surfaced tracks.  The biggest risk was from the low flying Canada Geese. 

Leaving Fishers Green

28/11/2010

Emerging on St Leonards Road there was a minor rebellion against doing any more off-road (as it meant a climb over Clayton Hill) and time was pressing, so we followed roads to Dobbs Weir.  Here we took to a deserted towpath, tranquillity briefly interrupted by a noisy race on the karting raceway, before reaching the Rye House Tavern. 

Partly frozen River Lea Navigation

Towpath near Rye House

Right opposite is a moated gatehouse, which is all that remains of a once extensive manor house, built in 1443.  Rye House became notorious in 1683 when it was the centre of a plot to assassinate Charles II.

Rye House Tavern

The ancient Rye House Gatehouse

We were reluctant to leave the warmth of the tavern, where we enjoyed the good value meals and friendly service, but the sun was still shining as we made our various ways home after an enjoyable winter ride of just over 40 miles.
Jon.