17 Dec 2017: St Albans to Hatfield

Through the swirling mist on a cold morning six riders gathered in the welcome warmth of the Waterend Barn. Coffee, and for some, breakfast was consumed in preparation for the twenty-mile jaunt to Hatfield. Taking a roundabout route to get to the King William on Sandridge Road, Carol complained about a noise emanating from her front wheel, After stopping for inspection & removing her front wheel, her disc-brake pads promptly fell out. Taking this as a bad omen, she decided to return the half-mile home to take the bus to Hatfield.  We continued through Sandridge, across Nomansland and down Leasey Bridge Lane and through Marshalls Heath with the sky brightening. I had intended to go via Peters Green, but after a descent to the Lower Luton Road & looking at my watch I aborted this plan & headed for Kimpton to take the shortest route from there to Hatfield.  Promptly at mid-day the rain started; it was light at first & I made the mistake of not donning my waterproof shorts. The rain slowly but steadily intensified, so by the time we had traversed along Kimpton Bottom, up to Ayot Green and down to Lemsford & Hatfield Garden Village to Hatfield we were all rather wet. John E arrived at the same time as us (1 p.m.) having cycled straight to the pub. 

Harpsfield Hall

All the others, including Jon and Judy who had ridden from Barnet were already sitting in warmth and dry at a table for twelve in Harpsfield Hall where we all enjoyed a Christmas Lunch, one of us having the traditional dish of vegetable curry. Jon presented Carol with "The Jon Crosby trophy for best South Herts ride leader".


Steve

3 Dec 2017: St Albans to Caddington

This was our first winter ride of the season, with a later start time and a single stop at lunch.  Fortunately the weather was mild and, despite some light rain on the way to the start, dry.

We welcomed two new riders: Richard from Harpenden, who had recently given up commuting for a local job; and fellow EU citizen Ronny, an astrophysicist from Germany currently living in St Albans.  Ronny told us he had come here for love and work, so let’s hope the funding for science does not disappear in the next few years.

There were a lot of charity Santa runners around the pub forecourt for the Jingle Bell Jog, so I took a slightly circuitous route to the Market Street and then headed out towards Redbourn before using Hogg End Lane to skirt around the edge of Hemel.  There was a lot of motor traffic in the narrow lanes near Hemel, perhaps a consequence of our later start.  The wider route along Gaddesden Row was welcome, as the cars had room to overtake.

After Gaddesden Row, we cut cross country, up and down a couple of hills to hit the outskirts of Dunstable.  A back seat driver interfered at one stage, but then admitted my route was correct.  From Dunstable, a short stretch of the A5 took us to the turning for Caddington.

Carol had checked with the Chequers at Caddington, that they would be able to serve us sandwiches, and they had said there was no problem.  Once we were there, the pub decided they had too many bookings for lunch to cope with us.  Fortunately we had reached the pub in good time and a quick phone call by Carol to the Plough at Woodside, confirmed they would welcome us.

After lunch, we took a reasonably direct lanes route back through Slip End and Annables Lane to Harpenden and from there over Nomansland Common.  Richard left the group at Harpenden to put in a fast circuit before he got home.
Judy 03/12/2017

26 Nov 2017: Hatfield to Benington

We welcomed new rider John and set off around a familiar route to Hertford. Taking in the delights of Tyler’s Causeway, Cucumber Lane, Little Berkhamsted, Bayford, and Brickendon. One of the great and satisfying things about leading a ride is introducing folk to new countryside, so it was with a bit of pleasure that this aim was well and truly achieved. At Brickendon I took a light bridleway near the Celtic Harmony camp. This track wheedles its way over to Monks Green and then onto the Mangrove Green road that drops into Hertford.

Tea break was a rowdy and sociable affair, with Rose’s in full swing, and here we met Jon, Judy, Richard and Peter and we introduced new people plus gave a quick report on the state of ice-less roads. We lost two of our number, and gained a puncture. I guess doing the light off-road didn’t agree with Steve H’s front tyre, but the situation was resolved extremely quickly and efficiently.

Haultwick Library

We headed out towards Stoney Hills and over the busy A602 to Sacombe Park. Here Jon and Judy took the lower route to Dane End to avoid the nasty crossing and the gravelly track in the park, while we did the gravelly track and zipped down White Hill in style. We didn’t have to wait for long before our party reunited again, then we traversed a wiggly, undulating route that took in Haultwick, Wood Green, Ardeley and made its way down to Walkern. At Haultwick, we stopped to inspect a great bit of community spirit. An old telephone box had been turned into a lending library of sorts, with some rather recent books on display.

In Walkern it was my intention to go on to Clay End, but the road I needed to take was before a pub on the OS map. I got to the pub with no road in sight, but luckily one of our number came to the rescue and found the lane was right after the pub and very easy to miss. So off to Clay End we toddled. We also toddled straight on at a crossroads where we should’ve gone right, so we dipped down and came back on ourselves to take a bridleway to Benington.

The Bell is a wonderful Grade II 500 year old pub, with a very friendly team running it. It features a Trinidadian and Caribbean menu, plus some good old staples. Curries were chosen by some of our gourmets, and I have to say they smelt lovely and everyone enjoyed the food and the relaxed atmosphere of the establishment.

The Wednesday evening gang would love this pub.

All that was left to do now was go home and we did this via Bragbury End and Datchworth to finish a lovely day’s ride.
Neil 26/11/2017