Central London CTC blog

Autumn slipping into winter today, and we six enjoyed a relaxed start to our ride with a coffee stop at Cafe Roma on St Peters Street .  Two cyclists from Shenley already there.  Off out the Sandridge Road and down Sandridgebury Lane, you get a lovely view of the village nestled below Woodcock Hill, church spire in the middle.   Then over Nomansland heath and down over the Lea at Leasey Bridge.  Up by the lanes, down into Kimpton and immediately off out and up again.  Leader made one of her infamous junction mistakes, but this was no problem, we enjoyed a ramble over the plateau with a quick dip down and up , then finally down the valley of the Mimram and into Whitwell.  Ploughed fields and autumn colours, and loads of cyclists out today.  After a stop at the watercress beds to buy the eponymous crop and other veg besides, we realised that most of the cyclists had probably been to Emily’s Tearoom.  About a dozen bikes and riders there when we arrived, including the Southgate CC with Ken Peters.

This was our lunchstop, we enjoyed soup and baked spuds and toasties. The breeze dropped for a while, in one of those afternoon calms that you seem to get in the shorter days, but then it whipped up again off some rather dark clouds, so we thought we had better head off while the going was good, not that we need have worried as it turned out.  Leader perhaps made another mistake in opting for Tanyard Lane up to Ayot St Lawrence, it’s a bit steep for tired leaders, but as we are the section that walks as well as cycles, not a problem.  Into Wheatampstead on bridleway, and the promised play stop.  But to our dismay, the teenage play equipment that we had been looking forward to was not there.  In June leader and daughter had enjoyed an amazing exhausting sort of swing that you hang onto and run round and round until you fly.  Perhaps it went into orbit with some particularly energetic teenagers?  Well, at least the little bucking bronco roundabout thing was still there, and we made ourselves horribly dizzy.  After that interlude, back on the bikes, and a quiet amble back in to Sandridge and up Jersey Lane back to the railway station.