Saturday 10 June 2023 #BikeWeek #SustFest

The leaders were rather wary of the forecast for very hot weather, and had contingency plans to shorten the rides.  However, the care taken to plan routes with shade in mind meant that full distances were ridden.  With this being our SustFest contribution, we were delighted to welcome two riders who had not been with out with us before.  Our meeting point is in the shade of Morrisons Hatfield Road frontage.

There were two riders in the shorter ride group.  We headed along the Alban Way and turned off at Hixberry Lane into Highfield Park.  We admired the first of many wild rose flowers on today's outing.

Through Highfield and down Nightingale Lane, nice and shady.  In spite of traffic on the A414, the cycle path is quite nice, especially if you cycle slowly enough to admire the grasses.  More dog roses along here too, including some white ones.

Up Highfield Lane and in to the farmyard, where we actually met the farmer!!  He was resetting the coffee machine.  We bought some eggs, the hens were all staying out of sight though.

Back towards St Albans through Winchfield Wood and on to West Lodge, we paused to enjoy the Rose Garden.

As neither rider needed to return to the start point, we carried on through the Camp Cycle Route and down Camp Road to turn westward onto the Alban Way.  We were very aware of the coolness in the shady cutting - a very marked difference in temperature.  A clear demonstration of why we need lots of trees on our streets. From the end of teh Alban Way we delighted in using the re-opened link to Leyland Avenue, that got us to Prospect Road and through Verulamium Park.  The long queue of cars exiting Westminster Lodge was a clear demonstration of the advantages of active travel.  We formally finished the ride at the Verulamium Museum, nine miles at easy pace and still home before it got really hot.

The Further Faster group of six (selfie above) headed north, encountering very few motors and many cyclists as we headed out by Valley Road, Sandridgebury Lane and Coleman Green Lane to Nomansland. Then up to Ayres End Lane, and down and up Pipers Lane. We went left along Wheathampstead Lane and right down Leasey Bridge Lane, then left along Lea Valley Walk, enjoying the shade and calm along the old railway line.

The challenge of going up Crabtree Lane was risen to. The coffee stop at Simmons in Southdown was welcome, although we didn’t get any shade there.

The homeward route was Grove Road, Cross Lane (pictured above), East Common, and the Harpenden Road cycle path. We diverted in Childwickbury to see the Rhododendrons, then back to Harpenden Road. We split off home from the Ancient Briton, having ridden 16 miles.