Saturday 4 September 2021 - Autumn Celebration

 Nine riders today, we split into a Further Faster quintet and a Fabulous foursome.

The Fabulous riders headed off along the Alban Way, but turned off at Hill End Lane and looped through Highfield Park, down Nightingale Lane, along the A414 and up Highfield Lane.  We had a short chat with the chickens at Highfield Farm, then continued up to Highfield Park again, and worked our way west along Highfield Park Drive and Herons Way and down to Ayletts.

Having enjoyed the dahlias we repaired to the Tea Tent for refreshments.  Be advised the tea tent can take card payments only.

The Further Faster riders also headed off along the Alban Way and toured through Roestock, Colney Heath and Tyttenhanger, joining the others at Ayletts Celebration Garden for elevenses.

After coffee and chat we regrouped for the return to Fleetville, via the Camp cycle route.

Saturday 3 July 2021 - Sandridge

Eight riders gathered at Morrisons and split into a trio going Further Faster and a quintet going not so far considerably slower.

Our outward route took us along the Alban Way then through Oaklands College.  The quintet admired alpacas, looking very smart and freshly shorn, and also paused for some botany.  The tall blue not-a-cornflower that does not show up in the photo has been identified (we think) as chicory.

From Sandpit Lane the further faster sped up past Nashe's Farm and through Simonshyde Woods.  The merely fabulous wiggled up to Jersey Lane and glided down to Sandridge, and got to the meeting point first.

We had chosen this quiet corner of the churchyard as it has a bench, a tree for shade (not required today) and plenty of walls and trees to lean bikes against.  Those without flasks popped over to the shop for a carry-out. The booking instructions had said to bring a plastic bag or some such in case the grass was damp, we are very impressed that one of our riders brought a camp chair that folds right down into to a small bag 14" long and 4" diameter, made by Trekology.

We reformed into one group for the return leg, reduced by two who wanted to ride further / take a more direct homebound route.  We ambled up Sandridgebury Lane, splitting off in various directions for home at the junction with Valley Road.

Another shorter, easier ride - the planned routes were seven and twelve mile loops.

Saturday 5 June 2021 - 5MTF is back

It's been a while!

For our first ride in over a year we kept it simple with a tour of Highfield.  Beautiful blue skies and lush verges.  Eight of us gathered at Morrisons and sorted ourselves into two groups of four.  

Rona led the Fivers up the road and through the Camp Greenspace, through the western side of Highfield Park and down Nightingale Lane, along the A414 and up Highfield Lane.  We called in at Highfield Farm to say hello to the chickens, and one of our riders had been astute enough to bring a lidded cup for a carry-out coffee.

We carried on up the lane, looped through Winchfield Wood and back through the orchard and were first to the appointed rendezvous by the Visitor Centre.

Teresa and Angela took the Further Fasters on a loop along by Nast Hyde and Wilkins Green, and arrived only slightly behind the Fivers at the Visitor Centre.  The building was not open but we know about the large outdoor picnic table!  There are quite a lot of benches scattered around the park, well done Highfield Park Trust, celebrating 25 years this year.  Having had our chat and refreshments we posed for our group photo.

Then we split off for home.  The Fivers covered nearly six miles.  Further faster distance to be advised.  It was super to be out riding again.  The pre-booking worked well and helped with the smooth running of the ride.  We are happy that we did manage a SustFest ride, even if it was not an official event.

May update

Sadly, 5MTF does not feature in the SustFest programme this year.  We hope to restart our ride programme in June, but we are still sorting out our protocols and there are a few other factors that mean we are not yet publishing a schedule of rides.

There are quite a few cycling events in the SustFest programme, including some Zoom sessions with the Verulam Cycling Club aimed at novices, including a bike maintenance one and a 'how I got started in cycling' one.  Check out the programme at Sustainability Festival 2021 – 100+ events building environmental sustainability – across St Albans, Harpenden and the villages (sustfest.org)

 

 

 

#ChooseToChallenge - International Women's Day 8 March 2021

It's been a year since our last 5MTF group ride.  We did not anticipate that our traditional International Women's Day season opener would be our last group ride for twelve months and counting.  My initial reaction to the theme for IWD 2021 was somewhat jaundiced - we have had to face a huge challenge that we had no choice over.  But then I looked up the IWD website and became a whole lot more optimistic.

IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge

A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.

From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge.

IWD: IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge (internationalwomensday.com)

Let's celebrate our achievements and help bring about change for the better.  

One way of doing just that is to comment on the Hertfordshire County Council Active Travel proposals.  No detail is given, so when commenting you can make lots of positive suggestions.  You have until 15 March to respond.

Active travel fund | Hertfordshire County Council

No group rides yet.  We knew how to organise and lead rides before Covid-19, it will take us a wee while to develop procedures and protocols to enable us to set up a safe and legal ride programme for 2021.  This is frustrating I know, and oh! how we miss our sociable rides.  We are sad that we can't yet meet in person the many women who have enquired about cycling with us over the last year.  We are all individuals and have different experiences through the pandemic - some groups may be riding together sooner or later than others as each group needs to carry out its own particular assessment, depending on various factors.  

One thing I need to consider for routes is that my favoured traffic-free routes are now much busier with people walking.  On my solo rides I have been going out on the lanes rather than the old railways and bridleways.  Even the lanes are popular for walking these days! 

Cycle Touring Festival

Yay!!!!  I am off cycle-touring, I expect to be cycling from the dining room table, the sofa and quite possibly from my cosy bed.  And you can too, join me at the https://cycletouringfestival.co.uk/

January 2021 update - proposed St Albans Cycle Hub

As we continue to do our best to keep going through this grim winter, here is some very good news to raise our hopes of better times and more cycling and coffee and cake ahead.

Cottonmill and Sopwell Hub (CaSH) have been doing many wonderful things, and one of their long term campaigns has been to get the Marlborough Pavilion redeveloped into a community centre.  The excellent news for us is that the intention is to include a Cycle Hub and a Cafe in the Community Centre.  And you can help bring this about!!!

St Albans District Council and Herts Sports and Physical Activity Partnership are supporting the project and have applied to British Cycling for funds.  Part of the application is to demonstrate local interest in cycling...  Over to CaSH:

We hope you are well and staying safe.
Please could you help us with our campaign for a community hub in Sopwell by completing this short survey about potential cycle facilities & activities?
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ur7mk6rEMUevXdc1sJfq2zHqsQgnOKBOmWnolbmu8vBUREY1QlVGSE9TVDJLWERTSlBKMEJEOU0wMy4u&fbclid=IwAR3Ts3MXwHGc3rpmF2h87E5mYA8F7UhipGPlyS7VUFGXAsleuFFwZTo0Q8w
As well as amenities to support community use, there are plans for a St Albans-wide Cycling Hub at the Marlborough Pavilion site, off Cottonmill Lane in Sopwell.
As part of a funding application to British Cycling, a community consultation by Herts Sports Partnership is underway to identify how the site may be used regarding cycling, including new and existing cyclists.
Let’s support this to encourage increased physical activity and sustainable transport.
This will be fantastic for our youth too, who so badly need local facilities.
Please share with friends and family.
Don’t forget to encourage any children in your household to complete the survey too. It would be great to get their views!
Deadline for completion of Survey – Friday 29th January
Many thanks for your help and best wishes from The Hub team

Great stuff!  I have already filled in the form, it was very easy to do.  If you would like to see more of CaSH, they have a website: Cottonmill and Sopwell Hub – Resident-led campaign – working to provide a community centre in Sopwell