Weekend 6/7 September - Fabulous Tour - Luton to Milton Keynes to Bedford

 A new adventure for our group - a weekend away!  Five of us assembled at St Albans City station and whizzed up to Luton on the Thameslink.  We hope Luton station gets another lift soon, it is a bit of a palaver carrying laden bikes up stairs.

Five cyclists outside Luton station getting ready to go

Soon we were on heading north on the path alongside the guided busway.  We were glad when the busy road curved away and it was just buses and active travellers, much more peaceful.  A little bit of jinking through Dunstable and we were on the Sewell Greenway, a long downhill run along a former railway to Stanbridgeford.

Group selfie at Stanbridgeford

Then we were on road through Stanbridge, where the church fete was just getting going, looked fun but we carried on, up Mill Road - with a pause to admire the old windmill - and through Eggington, a splendidly named and very picturesque village.

A short stretch along the A4012 through extensive new housing developments on the eastern edge of Leighton Buzzard, then off to wend our way through quiet streets and parks to emerge in Church Square at the western end of the High Street, and there was our lunch destination.

Cafe Sorelli is recommended by the Cycle Coffee and Cake Facebook group and map, and it did not disappoint.  We asked if we could bring our bikes into the courtyard, a quick check and then a yes.  The staff clearly expect cyclists to be able to fit their bikes into small spaces!  It was a lovely courtyard, an interesting old building and friendly staff serving a great menu.

Perusing the menu

After lunch we turned north on the Grand Union Canal towpath and wended our way, ducking low branches at times.  It was delightful.  We had a refreshment stop at Three Locks, no boats going through but a very determined looking heron stalked along the opposite bank.

Just north of Willowbridge the towpath becomes very narrow and we diverted to ride through  poplars on the adjacent walk before we left the canal at Water Eaton.  Our first glimpse of Milton Keynes housing was a beautiful thatched cottage, we wiggled through less exciting residential streets between Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and then we were on Redways. V6 took us past Stadium MK and various retail parks, navigation became easier once we realised we just had to spot the signs with CMK on them.  V6 took us through CMK and dropped us right by the Travelodge. 

After a good meal at an adjacent tagine-serving brasserie we turned in for an early night, our bikes safely with us in our bedrooms.

Next day we sauntered into the very centre of Milton Keynes, we were a bit too early so mooched by the fountain before enjoying an excellent breakfast at the popular Bogota Coffee Company.  Then back to the hotel to load up and check out.

We had got the hang of the Redways now, so were quickly along V6 and onto H6 which took us through woodland and past varying residential architecture and then alongside roads to the edge of the city.  Yesterday we were mainly on NCN6, today we were mostly following NCN51, and this section was on fairly busy lanes to Cranfield.  We peeped over the hedge at the airfield as we made our way into Cranfield village which has some very interesting old buildings and a Co-op, which gave us a breather and some water.

We now entered the Forest of Marston Vale, riding on a bridleway through Marston Thrift nature reserve on a bridleway, a delightful descent into the valley.  We popped out at the hamlet of Wood End.

A climb to get over the A421 dual carriageway and then we were wending our way traffic-free through former gravel workings and new housing estates and older parts of Marston Moretaine and into the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park for lunch at the visitor centre.

We decided against adding the three mile circuit of Stewartby Lake to our ride, so emerged from the country park to duck under the A421 and continue on NCN51 through Lower Shelton, Upper Shelton and Wootton Green.  A fun mechanical to sort at Wootton, a chain well-wrapped around the axle was carefully disentangled with a Rehook tool and we were on our way through Hall End and Keeley Green and after we passed under the A428 we were in Kempston.

A well-signed route wiggled us through housing then brought us out at the Saxon Centre, the route now on shared footway along the B531. 

A possible route option was denied by a 'footbridge closed until further notice' sign, so after consulting the map we continued along the B-road and then A Road and County Bridge.  At which point the shared footway stops being shared and we had to insert ourselves into the continuous line of traffic on Prebend Street.  Once we got into the flow we were certainly not holding up the progress of those behind us as we inched along. But soon we were through the horrible roundabout and whizzing up to the station.

We didn't have much time to catch the train, but the station staff were friendly and helpful and we were soon ensconced and heading home after our adventure.

We rode 27 miles on Saturday and 24 miles on Sunday.