06 Oct 2013: Hatfield to Allens Green

Twelve of us gathered in Hatfield and we welcomed Mike from London Colney on his first club ride.  As I can only count up to ten, Neil volunteered to be back-marker, as I didn’t want to lose anyone.  

Regrouping near Babbs Green

Spot the difference

Hertford is only eight miles by the shortest route, so we started by heading west for a change and through Lemsford and Ayot Green.  Crossing the A1 we saw a bunch of the Lantern Rouge appearing from the dead-end road down to The Waggoners.  Maybe they had found a way through from Brocket Hall? 

We zoomed down to Old Welwyn and along the quiet B road then up to Tewin and Bramfield and came into Hertford through the park by the River Beane.  I slowed on the narrow exit path for a dog-walker, but the bitch decided to squat for a pee right in front of me (the dog, not its owner) and I managed to knee it in the head trying to put my foot down.  I hope the dog doesn’t develop psychological problems.

A very busy Rose Café coped admirably with our demands.  Richard joined us (after another lie-in) and a few left us, but most decided to carry on to lunch on what could be the last warm, sunny Sunday ride this year.

The route was now up to Cold Christmas and down to the ford at Much Hadham, then up to Green Tye and our destination in Allens Green.  No beer festival this week, but great value at the pub and a sunny break in the garden.

Judy in Hadham Ford

Tea stop in the Lee Valley

We then followed some deserted lanes to Gilston and through Harlow Town Park, passing the children’s zoo, and followed the cycle route to Roydon and the Lee Valley.  The café at Broxbourne Old Mill is hidden away on a side turn off the Lea Navigation and provided a welcome mug of tea.  I needed that for the long climb up White Stubbs Lane at the end of our 55-mile circuit.

Jon  06/10/2013

29 Sep 2013: Hatfield to Nuthampstead with Havering CTC

It seems I’m a popular leader when there’s a strong head wind and the seven who joined me in Hatfield soon formed a neat line astern as we headed straight into it on the first leg to Ware.  We were due to meet a contingent from Havering CTC, on a return visit following our ride with them in Essex earlier in the year.  We had picked a morning stop near Ware railway station, but it was only Stephen who chose to arrive by train.  Three others from Havering (Alex, Gordon & Chan) impressed us by cycling the 30 miles – perhaps we should have chosen somewhere a bit further south.

River Path to Ware

With Havering CTC in Ware

We headed north on some narrow lanes through Barwick Ford, Puckeridge and Furneaux (pronounced Furnix) Pelham, Great Hornmead and Anstey.  I was keen to show the ‘Essex Boys’ a scenic route, but it turned out to be quite hilly and there was some muttering in the ranks.  Evidently the only hills in Essex were a few humpback bridges.

We arrived at the pub at 1 pm and Judy had let us go on, but I was a bit concerned when she hadn’t arrived 30 minutes later.  Admittedly, the left turn in Great Hornmead is easily missed and she had put in an extra loop to Brent Pelham and stopped there for refuelling.  Meanwhile we were enjoying beer from the barrel and some excellent sandwiches in the sunny garden.

Leaving Nuthampstead

The ride to tea was sublime.  The sun was out and the wind behind us as we coasted through Wyddial, Buntingford and Nasty.  The Havering bunch left us to catch the 4:30 train back and we enjoyed tea on the golf club patio.  Then it was an easy ride home to finish off a great day out in good company.

Jon 29/09/2013

22 Sep 2013: St Albans to Flitwick

This ride was planned to visit a new coffee stop and a new pub for the South Herts group. The first leg to coffee was quite a long stretch of 25 miles, and six riders were at the start – Craig, Richard, Roger and Diane together with leaders Carol and Steve.  We took a direct route along the A5183 through Redbourn, then along the old A5 to Markyate, before going up the long haul to the edge of the Chiltern ridge by Whipsnade Zoo.  After passing through Eaton Bray and the edge of Leighton Buzzard, we found the entrance to Rushmere Country Park and climbed up a fairly long tarmaced driveway to find a spanking brand-new cafe.  It has a terrace and beautiful views over the canopy of trees, hence the name ‘Treetops cafe’. 

But it was not cheap.  We all gasped at the extra £1 for jam with a scone, to be told it had ‘strawberry and champagne’ in the ingredients.  It transpired that I incorrectly assumed the Stockgrove Park cafe had been re-badged.  I was unaware this was a new business run by the ‘Greensand Trust’ and Stockgrove Park still exists with its (presumably) cheaper cafe. Anyway the view was worth paying for, but we decided not to pay the £3 charge to ride on their paths.  I looked on the website afterwards and they dress it up as a ‘health and safety’ liability issue.

On the way to Whitwell

Judy takes a wrong turn up the LD Busway

Leaving the park we followed cycling signs for the ‘Greensand Cycle Route’, via Brickhills, Woburn Forest and Aspley Guise, to cross the M1 near Steppingley before arriving at the Blackbirds pub to find Jon and Judy.  They had taken a direct route via NCR 6 and Luton to check out the new Luton-Dunstable Busway – which currently has a poorly surfaced afterthought of a cycle track next to the ultra-smooth bus track.  The pub was cheap and rather down-market by our refined Hertfordshire standards; it was full of men with stratospheric BMI indices watching football on televisions in the “Sport Bar”.

We are not used to sitting in a garden (we were the only occupants) looking at a man bellowing at the kitchen staff through a wall ventilator!  There was even a television in the garden, fortunately not turned on.

Diane and Roger caught the train back home, avoiding our interesting verbal exchange with a member of the lower orders with a limited vocabulary, who overtook us with only microns to spare.  The rest of us climbed the ridge at Sundon before following a well-ridden route home via Whitwell, getting back to St Albans after 72 miles.

Carol 22/09/2013