10 Sep 2017: Hatfield to Tawney Common

Just five of us at the start in Hatfield set off for Roydon in Essex as our first stop. We went on a usual route through Broxbourne Woods, which were as delightful as always. We also skirted ‘Paradise Park’ the zoo near the woods where it seemed more like being in the tropics (not because of the temperature) but rather because the monkeys in the zoo were howling and screeching very loudly. Then more down to earth, after going past historic Rye House, we went past the large sewage works and so after about 17 miles from Hatfield we reached Roydon Marina.

There we used the pleasant timber cafe overlooking all the boats for our elevenses stop.
Lunch was to be at Tawney Common away to the east. Because rain was forecast for later we went by a fairly direct route to Epping and then out through more countryside to ‘The Moletrap’ pub at Tawney Common. Excellent pub, nice setting and as a plus it often has classic cars and motorcycles meeting there.

Richard

Then heading back via Upshire and its church, where we often stop for their afternoon teas, but not this time as it was too close to lunch. So on to Cedar Park Cheshunt. There is a cafe here in the interesting grounds of what was an Elizabethan mansion.

After that it was a dash homeward to try to beat the imminent rain.  Two of us went back to the start at Hatfield,  having done about 52 miles in total and just beating the rain, but the other three had further to go so may not have been so lucky.

peteR

09 Sep 2017: Hatfield to Potters Bar

It was a nice crispy morning as five of us met in Hatfield. The route I had planned was a bit windy and nicely undulating. As we set off and just going up Woods Avenue Emma joined us, so we had a crew of six pootling around on the mornings ride. I chose to visit Welham Green and then make our way over to South Mimms via Waterend and up Swanland road. We were soon going through Ridge and heading down towards the A1 where there is a large tri-bridge crossing the major roadway. After that we rode up Trotters Bottom and headed along Dancers Hill. Dali, one of our newer riders, found this quite challenging, but she made it and that really is credit to her. Emma’s confidence is coming along as well, this is a nice thing to see.

We headed into Potters Bar and at the junction took Mutton Lane to get to our café. This road surprised me as I wasn’t expecting it to be a hill with a bend, but hey we all dealt with it. The café (Potters café) was a lovely, well run place which will be getting many more visits from us.
Soon it was time to head off home and we took the rather quicker route of going through town and down through Brookmans Park and then back through Welham Green. It was a lovely 19 mile ride.

03 Sept 2017: Sandy to St Ives

Arriving by train or car, a smaller group than is probably usual for a Sunday ride gathered in the car park at Sandy railway station for a ride out into the wilds of Cambridgeshire.

We made our way out of Sandy past an ancient hill fort known as Caesar's Camp (though not Roman!) and on to Woodview Farm Shop and Cafe near Gamlingay for elevenses. The route then took us north, with a not inconsiderable tailwind, through the Cambridgeshire countryside and on to lunch at the Wetherspoon’s pub in St Ives, a very pretty riverside market town.

St Ives

After the usual excellent value refreshments, we retraced our path across the pedestrianised river bridge, and on through the Hemingfords. The road petered out into a well-paved cycle path across the water meadows to Godmanchester, where by necessity we picked up a number of 'B' roads out to Perry and our final stop of the day in a pleasant lakeside cafe overlooking Grafham Water. This impressively large reservoir was built in 1965 and we resisted the temptation to cycle around its 10-mile circumference.

Water Meadows

Shortly after leaving Perry the previously encountered tail wind was now in our faces, which made the final leg quite tough going. The route made up for the hard work, being along quiet country lanes for the most part, through Colmworth, Great Barford and Blunham. As time was getting on by this stage, I suggested that the Sandy party would benefit from taking the cycle path back, rather than continuing on to Moggerhanger as originally intended. It was agreed this was a good idea, and we parted company, myself heading on southward towards Shefford and home. It had been a long day out, but most enjoyable nonetheless.

Adrian 03/09/2017