Further Faster February

Last Saturday (8th February) four riders enjoyed the calm before the storm with a gentle season-opening relaxed ride of about eleven miles around Symondshyde and Sandridge, with a coffee stop at Carpenters Nursery.
For this Saturday (15th) the weather forecast is being scrutinised, liste for announcements
After that, our next scheduled Further Faster is 29th February and we start our Fabulous 2020 programme on 7th March.

Happy New Year!

Eight fabulous ladies met for a 'Christmas' meal last week and took the opportunity to present Teresa with the Jon Crosby Ride Leader Trophy.

Teresa came on her first 5MTF ride in October 2013 and her confidence and enthusiasm for going further and faster developed quickly. She began to develop ride leader skills, often taking up the back marker position on rides - an important element of ride management. She also took to organising her own informal rides with friends - this is actually the whole aim of 5MTF, getting women confident enough to ride of their own accord on rides of their own devising.  

In September 2016 Teresa and Angela completed the Cycling UK Ride Leader course.  Having three registered ride leaders meant we could start arranging Further Faster Fabulous rides, either splitting the regular Saturday ride into faster and not so fast groups, or as standalone rides.

Thanks to Teresa's efforts we have been going from strength to strength as a women-only cycling group, and it was a pleasure to present this award in recognition of her contribution to the expanding success of South Herts CTC women-only cycling.

This is an opportune moment to thank Jon Crosby for all his support and encouragement to Five Miles to Fabulous, not least in teaching me about blogging (and sorting me out when I get in a muddle) and keeping our web-page in good order.

Saturday 16 November 2019 - mystery tours to Marshalswick

Bit grey and cold, but twelve well-wrapped women mustered for our closing ride of the season.  Bearing in mind that weather in November can be not nice, we had decided that the St Mary's Marshalswick Christmas Fair was an excellent destination for all eventualities.  We split into two groups, with Teresa leading seven on a further faster route and Rona and Angela taking a group of five on a shorter meander.

The FF ladies shot off eastward, heading along the Alban Way, through Oaklands College, then looping to Sandridge via Nashe's Farm (they all got up the hill without walking) and Woodcock Hill.  They were surprised to meet the fabulous five coming towards them on Sandridgebury Lane.  

The five had meandered along the Green Ring, the Sandpit Lane section through the trees is lovely, all golden leafy today.  But the dismounts and barriers are such an irritation, especially to those with mobility impairment.  Yes, for plenty of people, including several of our group, cycling is easier than walking.  They peeled off the Green Ring at the Ancient Briton, slipping through to Sandridgebury Lane by Ellis Fields.  They were surprised to meet the faster seven coming the other way on Sandridgebury Lane!

The faster group headed on round by way of the King William junction, the fabulous group carried on via Jersey Lane and Hazelmere Road, and were greeted with "Aah! More cyclists!  Welcome!" as they proffered their 50ps at the church hall door.  The faster group had got there first and were just polishing off their coffee and cake, which was convenient as the fabulous could nab their seats.  The fair was going very well, and we can give a highly favourable report of the coffee, the tea, the cakes, the stalls and the knitted village

We all dispersed from Marshalswick, most of us with bulging panniers and baskets full of goodies.  The further faster group had completed 11.5 miles, the fabulous group had covered 6.5 miles.

Wednesday 6 November 2019 - Further Faster Ayot St Lawrence

Teresa reports: Six of us set out on a cold crisp morning to go to Ayot St Lawrence. We went via Sandridge, Ayres End Lane, Pipers Lane, Leasey Bridge Lane, Marshalls Heath Lane, Ballslough Hill and Bibbs Hall Lane. It was a beautiful, still day, with only a few puddles! And the sun shone for most of the morning. We came back along Bride Hall Lane and Codicote Road to Wheathampstead, where we stopped for coffee. We returned to St Albans via Marford Road, Beech Hyde Lane and Coleman Green Lane into Sandridge. Four of us split to go back along Jersey Lane, and two of us returned along  Sandridgebury Lane. We had completed 22 miles, but I enjoyed the ride so much, I forgot to take any photos.

Saturday 12 October 2019 - rainy ride

Seven of us gathered at the start point.  We have moved the meeting place slightly, we now congregate under Morrisons canopy more or less opposite the Woodstock Road junction, which keeps us dry and avoids causing congestion around the cycle stands.  For the ride we split the group into a Further Faster trio and a Fabulous four.

The FF group went sprinting off along the Alban Way, although they had to slow down a bit to scramble over the fallen tree.  They went up through Chiswell Green and Potters Crouch, crossed the Hemel Hempstead Road and along Beechtree Lane towards Gorhambury.  Oops, we had completely forgotten that Gorhambury Walk is closed to the public on Saturdays from 1 September to 1 February.  Fortunately, several Land Rovers drew up at the gate and disgorged people with guns, so our riders then remembered about the shooting season and instead of getting into trouble, headed back to the A4147 and hightailed it to Verulamium Park.  They were well ensconced in the Inn on the Park by the time the Fabulous four arrived.

The Fab four were actually five for much of the morning, as they picked up a late-running rider as they headed east along the Alban Way.  The quintet then wended their way through the orchards of Hill End and Cell Barnes Hospitals, now encompassed by Highfield Park.  There were still quite a few apples on trees and on the ground, but it was rainy and the group opted to keep riding.  They went all the way up London Road as far as the shared footway goes, crossed over at the toucan and headed down to the Watercress Wildlife Association nature reserve at the end of Riverside Road.

We almost don't want to tell you about this hidden gem, it is so secluded and peaceful.  It includes an orchard, and there were apples on sale.

The group parked up at the lovely cycle stands and headed for a wander, taking in the mere, the orchard and the various other habitats.

One rider opted for a shorter morning and headed for home at that point, the remaining four carried on to the Inn on the Park for coffee and chat.

The rain never quite let up but we still had an enjoyable morning.

Saturday 28 September 2019 - further faster to St Paul's Walden

The South Herts CTC Saturday Fun Ride is a good step up for fabulous women who want to stretch their ride effort, but this Saturday's was the very strenuous one to Chipperfield, which the further faster fabulous riders deemed a little too strenuous for the time being.  However, they have been itching to go out a day ride for some time, and on Saturday they quietly and informally ventured out on this ride organised by themselves.
This is absolutely brilliant, one of the aims of Five Miles to Fabulous is to give women the confidence to go cycling independently.
However, we have now created an official Further Faster Fabulous club ride, on Monday 7 October.

Teresa reports:

Seven of us met at Morrisons for our longer ride to St Paul’s Walden. We saw Neil assembling for his ride as well.  We went through Sandridge, Nomansland, Leasey Bridge, and Kimpton, a route which we had ridden previously. Then we took a new route (for us) up Claggy Lane and down into Whitwell where we stopped at Emily’s for a brunch. There was a gymkhana taking place there so lots of horse riders. We also saw a black squirrel in the field  - they are common around Hitchin / Letchworth*. We cycled up to St Paul’s Walden and went into the church where the late Queen Mother had worshipped. The photo is of some of the group on the memorial celebrating her life as Duchess of York, the Queen and Queen Mother.

Two of our group decided to return home, so waited for lifts back.  The rest of us took the route around Bullocks Hill, Crouch Green, Nup End and Rabley Heath, before skirting the edge of Codicote along the delightfully named Cowards Lane, to Codicote Road and Wheathampstead, then Sandridge and home.  The weather was fair, with a few light showers. We rode along some lovely quiet lanes north of Codicote, and felt a great achievement at completing this long ride of 33 miles.

* First black squirrel sighting was Letchworth in 1912, not sure why latest report from BBC says Woburn.  

Saturday 21 September - Open Studios

The Indian Summer continues, another warm and sunny day.  Eight of us went in search of art. 
There was a higher than usual number of idiot males out today.  We won't sully our blog with those idiots and the inadequate, inconsiderate  <rude noun of your choice>s.  Brickbats to them. 
Bouquets to the competent, considerate and charming gentlemen and women we met along the way, be they walking, cycling or driving.
Our route was a loop through Sandridge, out Sandridgebury Lane and back in by Jersey Lane and the bridleway across Oaklands.  Sections of the tarmac on Jersey Lane have been re-laid, across the full width of the highway, which shows just how much available width has been lost to encroaching vegetation.
Having given you lots of floral pictures from our last ride, here is an animal this time, an Oaklands alpaca.

Our Open Studio this year was the Green Kitchen on Hatfield Road.  We heaped up our bikes outside, and went in.  How wonderful, the central table was just the right size for our group, and the food and welcome were lovely.

The featured artist is Claire Miles, a very interesting and varied set of prints on display.  More information here: https://www.hvaf.org.uk/galleries/claire-miles

We returned to Morrisons along the Alban Way, having covered about eight miles.