Saturday 5 March 2022 - International Women's Day

Through the week the weather forecast was changing every time we checked it - bad, not so good, ok, bit dodgy.  As we gathered in Fleetville there was dark clouds filling the sky and a cold northerly wind.

This is our International Women's Day ride.

We were riding in two groups today, but given the weather we scotched the plan to rendezvous in the park for a chat and went our completely separate ways.

The Fabulous foursome warmed up by going straight up Campfield Road and across the Camp cycle route.  Not many other people about!  Through the Cell Barnes orchard, then down Nightingale Lane, along the A414 and up Highfield Lane.

The Highfield Farm coffee machine was a bit temperamental, but we were kind and patient with it and once it had done a cleaning cycle and an accounting reset it served up very nice coffee.  There were brownies in the automat today, very delicious.  Also eggs and honey for sale.  Also chicken feed, but we rather disappointed our feathered friends, we  were too reluctant to stand around in a cold wind chucking corn at them.  They were happy to let us take their picture though.

We were also reluctant to ride for very much further, the very dark clouds had gone but there was a blatter of rain and it was chilly, so we left out the extra little loop and headed straight through the Hill End orchard and back along the Alban Way, exactly five miles!

The Further Faster six zoomed off along the Alban Way to Hatfield, and south through the College Lane campus and under the A1 to ride a loop around Roestock, skirting some extensive puddles.  Back up to the Galleria, where three headed in for coffee in the warm and three headed straight home.

It was good to be out but we are hoping for warmer weather on our next ride.

Saturday 4 December 2021 - West End Barns

Hertfordshire County Council works on Jersey Lane were over-running, which meant Plan B was being considered, but they obligingly got on with it and re-opened the route on Friday.  Our last ride of the season, and it was bright but correspondingly cold.

We were a group of ten today, we split into two groups -Teresa took three and Angela and Rona led the other four.

The Further Faster foursome set off on a loop around Oaklands and Symondshyde.  The Fabulous six headed for Jersey Lane and enjoyed shiny new tarmac between Sandringham Crescent and House Lane.  There were a couple of highway workers tidying up the verges.  Through Sandridge and onto the multi-user path along the edge of Heartwood and Nomansland.

As we crested the rise and dropped down across the common we spotted the FF riders dashing along Ferrers Lane.  They were a bit far ahead for us to catch them up, so we did not get to tuck in behind them but had to bash into the headwind ourselves.

There is plenty of cycle parking at West End Barns, we didn't quite fill it all.

And there was plenty of seating out the wind in the barn, we didn't quite fill that either, even allowing for only seven of us in the picture.

This was a first visit to this award-winning weekend cafe in a farmyard for most of our group.  If you plan on a return visit, get there next weekend (11/12) as they are closing for the season after that.  Open Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm. More about West End Barns on Facebook.

There was a bit of group-shuffling for the return ride, depending on where people were planning to peel off en route.  We enjoyed a tailwind across Nomansland.

It was so enjoyable that the slower group decided to carry on along Drovers Lane, bit puddly.

We enjoyed the fresh surface on Jersey Lane again, in contrast the track through Oaklands was .... textured.

This was quite a long ride, especially for the slower group, we covered eleven miles to and from Morrisons and the faster group did about fifteen miles.

We now take a break from organised rides, so compliments of the season to all our friends.

We traditionally get going again in early March, celebrating International Women's Day - click here for info, the 2022 theme is 

Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow

Cottonmill Community and Cycling Centre

For years people have been saying 'if only St Albans had a cycle hub'.  And now, the Cottonmill and Sopwell community, with support from Verulam Cycling Club (who organise youth cycling at the Hub site) and other local organisations and St Albans District Council, are making it happen!  Years of campaigning and consulting and the building is now being built.

However, in spite of all the fundraising effort and successful grant applications, because of rising costs there is a budget shortfall.  If you would like to help with closing the funding gap, head over to the Cottonmill and Sopwell Hub website for details of the Crowdfunder and also contact info if you are a business that would like to donate rewards or sponsor the project.

The target for Crowdfunder (ie donations from individual people) is £20,000, and this will pay for:

- a Changing Places toilet

- kitting out the Community Kitchen

- creating the Quiet Room

- building the all-ability Cycling Track

The Hub will be a boon for Five Miles to Fabulous, giving us a starting point further west and also access to a cycle workshop and refreshments.

Saturday 13 November 2021 - Further Faster Lazy Llama

Seven of us set out along the Alban Way to Verulamium Park, where the Park Run had just finished. We all managed to cycle up The Causeway, although we were panting at the top! We went along the King Harry Lane path to the Hemel Hempstead Road, then up Bedmond Lane to Potters Crouch. The ride was a figure-of-eight, as we went past Potters Crouch Farm and down Blunts Lane, over the motorway to Whitehouse Lane and Sergehill, turning right into Bedmond Lane. Then back up to Potters Crouch Farm and this time going past Plaistows Farm and along Noke Lane. We cycled on the path at the Noke and joined the road into Chiswell Green. We cut down to Greenwood Park and stopped at the Lazy Llama café, where the service was very efficient. Aly split off there as she lived close by, and the rest of us cycled through the wood, joined Watford Road, then down Robert Avenue to Vesta Avenue. We then went through by the garages onto Abbots Avenue West, then Berners Drive and back on the Alban Way to Morrisons. We cycled nearly 15 miles. The weather was dry with no wind. Everyone enjoyed the ride and was pleased to be out in the fresh air.

Saturday 6 November 2021 - Hatfield

Our simple booking system did its thing again, coping well with a little flurry of late adjustments.  Planned leader was Rona, but she was on the sick list.  However, with a squad of 'regulars' booked on and a late leader substitution courtesy of Angela, the ride went ahead in a spirit of fabulous capability.

It went quite a way east in fact:

5 of us had a gentle cycle ride to Hatfield
Plenty of time for a nice coffee stop (Erols)
And home easy by lunchtime.

That is the ride report.

No photo attached, but submitted along with the ride report was an instruction to arrange good weather for an season-closing ride in early December.  Check your emails in due course....

If you fancy stopping off at Erol's, here is the gen: Erol's Cafe - Cafe (business.site)

Saturday 23 October 2021 - Further Faster Southdown

 It was a lovely morning for a Further Faster ride led by Teresa.

Six of us set out from Morrisons. Most of us had not been on a formal ride since lockdown, so it was lovely to catch up with everyone.

We went via Sandridgebury Lane to Sandridge, then up Coleman Green Lane. Here we were harangued by a woman in Heartwood Forest about the rubbish that had been dumped in the layby. We took some photos and will forward them to the Council. We managed to curtail the ranting and moved on.

Going left at Drovers Road then across Nomansland we were surprised at how little traffic there was, although it was half-term.  We then went down Pipers Lane, along Grove Road and to the café in Southdown.

Afterwards we cycled back along Grove Road, then up Cross Lane past the stables. We came out on East Common, headed along and then right onto Ayres End Lane. Crossing Harpenden Road we cycled back to St Albans on the cycle path, which was muddy and overgrown in parts. We split at New Greens Ave with some going to the centre of St Albans and some to Marshalswick. The rider who returned to Park Street did the furthest ride! Most of us did about 12-15 miles on a cool, dry day with no wind. 

We forgot to take photos of the group, so here is a picture of the rubbish instead!

Reporting fly tipping: Sadly, we see so much rubbish dumped on our local lanes.  It helps if you report it, and it helps if you take a picture for the report.

Here is the link to St Albans District Council with contacts for reporting fly tipping:

Fly Tipping | St Albans City and District Council  

If further afield, this is the Hertfordshire County Council reporting page:

Report littering or fly tipping | Hertfordshire County Council

If you are not sure who to report to, the ClearWaste website or app will sort it for you:

ClearWaste.com - The Free app for licensed waste removal & Fly‑tip reporting

If you see a fly-tip in progress be vary careful, these can be dangerous people.  Keep yourself safe and dial 999.

Saturday 2 October 2021 - Sandridgebury

For various reasons this ride was scheduled at short notice.  Four riders mustered, with Teresa leading and Rona back-marking.  It is a while since we have ridden north, and we knew that there was a canopy at John The Butcher at The Bothy in Sandridgebury, which was an attractive asset given the weather forecast.

We headed for Jersey Lane, we rode very gently and had very cheerful interactions with the many walkers and their dogs along the way.  We boldly embarked on a loop along Coleman Green Lane, Drovers Lane and back across the edge of Nomansland and Heartwood on the newly installed path.  Rather than tussle with the traffic on the High Street, we rode up to the Heartwood Car Park, hopped over the horse hop and onto the bridleway up to the Scout Hut.  This turned out to be an easier climb than we expected, but we were nonetheless ready for a cuppa.  

We timed our arrival just as a group were moving on, so we got seats under cover.  This was also good timing as the rain got heavier.

Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and a very delicious bacon roll duly arrived.  It was very pleasant to relax and watch the horses going to and fro. We couldn't chat for too long though, more rain on its way, so off we went, one of our baskets heavier by a marrow, very nice veg for sale.

At the back of STAGS we split, two heading off towards Batchwood, the other two ostensibly returning to Morrisons. But they did a little diversion to Botox Bikes, resulting in a bike booked in for a service and one rider completing the course on shank's pony!

Since everyone finished their ride in a different spot the distance ridden can only be indicative, but it was around ten miles, which is pretty good going for a gentle ride.