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.

Saturday 23 August 2025 - Fabulous Day Out

Usually we have a break in August, but this ride was postponed from July, when we decided to not go riding in a storm.

Seven Further Faster regulars met at St Albans City station on a bright morning and made full use of the cycle spaces on the 0911 service Bedford, disembarking at Harlington.  This time next year there should be lifts, but for now we lugged our trusty steeds up and down rusty stairs.

The first part of the ride was taken briskly, being one of those slightly busy roads you don't want to spend too long on.  Even so, we took in the fabulous views of Sharpenhoe Clappers.  Once through Barton we were on quieter lanes through Higham Gobion and Hanscombe End and along to Ion Bridge Farm for elevenses at Disco-licious, a very friendly farm shop and cafe.

Onward through scenic villages.  We were very taken with the churches at Lower and Upper Gravenhurst, the brown ironstone and the building style is so different from our Hertfordshire flints and spikes.  St Mary's dated from around the 1350s and is Grade 1 listed.  St Giles (pictured) is even older in origin but has been much rebuilt, most notably in the 1900s.

On through Campton, and an underpass spared us a tussle with the A507 and dropped us into Shefford, quite the bustling town.  The B658 is to be endured rather than enjoyed, but we were soon on little roads again, twisting and turning through Southill and the woodland of Warden Warren.

Through picturesque Old Warden and on to lovely Ickwell Green, where the cricket pitch was being prepared across the road from the maypole.  We had a little rest to soak up this quintessential Englishness.

Through Northill, then a steady climb up the Greensand Ridge to Deadman's Oak.  The Tour of Britain will be coming past here on Wednesday 4th September, doing a loop on its way from Milton Keynes to Ampthill, the yellow sign deatils the road closure.

We came over the crest of the ridge and admired the view, the Cardington Airship Sheds really are rather huge.  We whizzed down into Cople and then along to The Barn farm shop and cafe on the outskirts of Cardington, where we enjoyed a leisurely and very tasty lunch.

We stopped off to visit St Mary's Church where there is a display of artefacts telling the story of the R101 airship, which set off from Cardington on 4th October 1930 on a flight bound for Karachi.  The weather deteriorated and she crashed in northern France, 48 died and 6 survived. After lying in state in Westminster Abbey - 90,000 people queued to pay their respects - and a state funeral in St Paul's,  the dead were buried together in St Mary's churchyard.

Having crossed John Smeaton's bridge over an Ouse tributary, we negotiated the junction at Cardington Cross and wiggled through the business park and wended our way through Priory Country Park.  We took this last part of our day out very gently, as there were plenty of people out strolling on the shared paths.  We continued our easy pace along NCN 51 along the old railway line and then along the Ouse into Bedford, over the river on the new bridge and through the back streets to the station for our train back to St Albans.

1000 ride participations

Today's 'Further Faster Day Out' took our recorded participations to 1000!  Well done us!  We have welcomed a total of 97 riders since we began in 2007.  One woman who came on the very first ride is still riding with the group.

Our most-visited cafe is Ayletts (15), with the Inn on the Park (11) in second place, closely followed by Notcutts (10).

Saturday 26 July 2025 - fed by farmers

Considering how dark the grey skies were, we did well to just have a a few drops only of rain.  The six Further Faster riders set off first:

We went north via Valley Road and Harpenden Road to Ayres End Lane where we encountered some hedge trimming in action.

Up Pipers Lane and a quick flick along the Wheathampstead Road before we plummeted down Leasey Bridge Lane, across the eponymous Lea then over Marshalls Heath and up to The Slype. Eastward now to Ayot St Lawrence via Bibbs Hall Lane. 

We admired the old church as we cycled right through ASL and down Hill Farm Lane, then  along Codicote Road to Wheathamstead, admiring the neatly trimmed hedges and checking the map.

In Wheathampstead we met with temporary traffic lights.... and only some of the group got through in one turn of the lights.  The two groups did not quite manage to coalesce thereafter, glimpsing each other but not re-connecting, and so they arrived separately having both followed a broadly similar route via Dyke Lane and Nomansland.

The longish outward ride meant that the slower group had already had their coffee and sausage rolls / scones and we just had a brief chat before they left.  Arriving late in the morning meant that the café was quiet!

We returned along the Nomansland bridleway to Sandridge, then split, with some going up Sandridgebury Lane, and others House Lane and Jersey Lane. It was a longer ride than usual - about twenty miles - but the weather was not too hot, and there was no wind or rain to speak of!

So how did the Fabulous ride go:

If the Fabulous ride leader had done a more thorough bike check before we set off it would have been obvious why one of the Fabulous trio was behind schedule at the start.  Tip for forgetful leaders: if one of your riders is going slower than you expect, are the tyres soft?  The answer was yes, and the issue was soon remedied, Rona's first proper use of her new pump and a resounding success in restoring pace and comfort.  We went gliding easily down Jersey Lane after that.

Sandridge was delightfully motor-free as we passed through, care was needed on the Nomansland track though, the prolonged dry weather means extensive loose fine gravel.  Some generous horse droppings in the middle of the twisty section gave extra challenge to bike control, we were fine though.

Given the dry conditions we decided to ride across the common, cycling is permitted on paths.

Into West End Barns, we enjoyed our food and drinks and a good chat.  We forgot to take any more pictures.  We wondered whether the Further Faster group were still heading our way or had been so speedy that they had been and gone.  Well, by the time we got up to make a homeward move, we had the answer - it was the former.  They arrived as were were retrieving our bikes.  A quick chat ensued, but we needed to be moving, and off we went.

Back along Ferrers Lane and Drovers Lane, Sandridge again very quiet, we turned off up Sandridgebury Lane and bimbled along to the Harpenden Road.  The gap in traffic came along reasonably soon, a quick nip and a quick zip along Green Lane got us to NCN6 and then the Green Ring, which we followed anti-clockwise through Ladies Grove, St Michaels and Verulamium Park, where we said our farewells and headed off.  Eleven miles covered together.

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100 miles to Fabulous

 One of our leaders, Rona, took herself off to Cheshire in early July to ride the CTC Triennial Veterans 100 mile ride with the Chester and North Wales CTC.

"It was a great day out, good weather and good company.  Participants are split into groups and I was delighted to be in Sue Booth's group.  In case you don't know, Sue runs the Chester Fabulous Ladies, find the blog here: Chester Fabulous Ladies

"This is one of the joys of belonging to a national cycling organisation and I was not the only rider to have come from some distance for the ride.  The event ran super smoothly and the catering was of course fabulous, chapeau to all the volunteers who made it happen.

"We set off from the village hall in Duddon and went roughly south, along the eastern edge of the Dee floodplain and soon after we crossed into Wales we enjoyed an elevenses stop in Overton.  

We continued southward through Ellesmere and after some wiggles and not long after we crossed the Severn / Hafren we had lunch at Four Crosses.  Then we were heading north-ish, with a stop to admire St Peter's Melverley on the banks of the Vrynwy. 

We were grateful for the two strong riders who steadily towed our group up the A road back to Ellesmere, the morning's tailwind now in our faces.  Afternoonses at Overton gave us the oomph to get back to Duddon.

"It was lovely riding in a group and ours was quite a mixed group of individuals, we all got on very well.  I enjoyed exploring a part of the country I had never been to before."

Chester & North Wales CTC organise this ride and others every year.  Other larger CTC groups also organise annual 'event' rides, Rona has enjoyed a Trivets and a 100km Challenge with Coventry CTC in previous years.  Easily accessible by train from Watford Junction and if you have a slower LNWR-only ticket, you don't need to reserve a bike space, although you'll likely have to change at Milton Keynes!

Saturday 28 June 2025 - a roundabout ride

We brought the start forward by half an hour to give us time to get most of the ride done before it became uncomfortably hot.  Nine riders today, all wanting to go on the Further Faster ride, and no wonder as it was a cracker.

You may have heard of the new 'Dutch style' roundabout on Boundary Way in Hemel Hempstead, which opened on 3 June.  It is an Active Travel Fund project, ie government funded to help get more people choosing to walk, wheel and cycle for their short trips.  There is a lot of squawking on social media from people who haven't grasped the concept of reducing traffic congestion by enabling more people to choose more efficient modes thus freeing up space for people who do have to use a car for that journey.  Also shrieking about why build a cycling route next to HGVs - that's exactly why you build segregated infrastructure so that the HGVs and the cycles do not have to tussle for the same bit of road-space.  Well, come with us and have a look and see what you think....

From Fleetville we headed along the Alban Way and up NCN6 to the Watford Road, then up Ragged Hall Lane.  We enjoyed some male company on part of this section of the ride, a friendly runner matched our pace on the uphill to Potters Crouch, but we left him out of the picture.

We sped along the A4147 as fast as we could, one or two drivers could have been a bit more patient but they were outnumbered by the caring and competent drivers.  Even so, it was a relief to gain Westwick Row.  Being cyclists we naturally ignored the Road Closed sign as it was only closed to cumbersome vehicles.  Our tyres got wet but our feet stayed dry.

Now we joined the Quietway, first section is Buncefield Lane south, traffic free.  Then we used the signal-controlled crossing to get over the dual carriageway and onto Buncefield Lane middle section up to Boundary Way and round - all the way round - the roundabout.  The drivers today seemed to understand how it works we are pleased to say.

There they go!

Here they come!

Only one lane of the two-lane cycle lane was closed, the works are alongside the lane, it's not been dug up already!

Along the northern section of Buncefield Lane, through the bollards and along Cherry Tree Lane and Holtsmere End Lane to get over to Gaddesden Row and down into Redbourn, where we piled into the Hub.  This is a really lovely cafe with excellent coffee and superb cakes. We didn't chat too long, we needed to get on our way home before it got too hot.

Getting ready for the off

 Along the A5183, some of the group preferred to ride on the road, now with a 50mph or lower speed limit, hmm.  Some of the group preferred to get scratched and stung on the overgrown footway, and one of them enjoyed this so much she overshot the Redbournbury turn-off and had to be retrieved.

It was lovely to cross the fords and saunter along the gravelly track.

Then it was up the hill and back in the A1081 cycle track with riders peeling off for home along the way.

Distance ridden about 19 miles.

Saturday 31 May 2025 - hilly lanes and flat tyres

Sunny and warm, eleven riders out today.  Let's begin with the account of the Further Faster group of seven:

We did a big loop over to Ayot St Lawrence. From Sandridge we took the bridleway across Nomansland, then cycled on the lanes through Amwell. We were on the busy Wheathampstead Road for a short while then went down Leasey Bridge Road, being careful of the gravel. 

Crossing Lower Luton Road to Marshall's Heath, we experienced more traffic than usual, all the way to Gustard Wood, where we discovered that the road into Wheathampstead was closed! These drivers were short-cutting the official diversion route.  You can check for roadworks at One.Network, but we tend to forget to do this when route-planning, oops.

After this it was much quieter, along the lanes to Ayot St Lawrence, past Shaw’s Corner and down Bride Hall Lane,  more gravelly bits to look out for.

Not far now, along Codicote Road and down to get coffee from a very busy Loafing in Wheathampstead. We had our coffee in the gardens by the Crinkle Crankle wall.

We were eventually joined by the other group for a chat and a full group photo.

Then we returned via Beech Hyde Lane and Coleman Green Lane. Our group split up from Sandridge, with some going up Sandridgebury Lane, and others going via House Lane and Jersey Lane or Oaklands. Our ride was 19.5 miles.

The slow and Fabulous group of four headed off up Woodstock Road and then down to Jersey Lane, which was delightfully shady and cool.  Through Sandridge and onto the path over to Nomansland, enjoying fabulous daisies, the picture does not do them justice.

We continued across Ferrers Lane on the path, then took Dyke Lane then Caesars Road and Conqueror's Hill into Wheathampstead.  Oh no! a flat tyre.  Two went ahead to bag seats in Loafing's shady riverside terrace, the other two walked along.  Much fettling and faffing, the patched tube was not holding air and the pumps - yes, three of us got our different pumps out - were being recalcitrant.  Eventually coffee and buns were consumed, a spare tube was found and order was restored. And swans and cygnets were admired.

Shout out to The Electric Bike Vault who kindly loaned us the shop track pump to get full pressure.  We joined the faster group in the garden for a chinwag and group selfie, before returning via our outward route.  Just as we approached Sandridge, oh no! another puncture, rear tyre this time.

Swiftly patched, unfortunately not entirely effectively, we crept back to St Albans with intermittent stops for reinflation.  Twelve miles covered.