Author: beardyrod

A day of weather contrasts, leaving home in fog and wondering what the day would bring, the sun appeared past Reed and The Golden Fleece was was bathed in golden light. We gathered in the bar too a warm welcome from Jess and Peter and free coffee, what was not to like.

Jeremy was warmly welcomed, to tell us of his adventures in Antarctica, although he had travelled in style. Clearly modern Antarctic travellers are not hewn from the same cloth as those earlier adventurers, such as Scott or Shackelton. Should cruise ships be allowed in the pristine world of Antarctica, shouldn’t we be satisfied with armchair travel. Why risk an ecological disaster?

The sun was still shining as we departed, in two groups, for the ride, was all that warm weather gear needed, time would tell. Into Puckeridge and the first of the Road Closed Ahead signs, fortunately not on our track. Crossing the ever busier A120, we headed onto the quieter lanes, with only the usual gravel, water and mud to contend with. Making steady progress as the sunshine slowly dwindled and before long we were back in a damp gloom, winter gear was required. Our coffee stop was the Old Brewery Tearooms in Walkern, voted Hertfordshire’s best independent coffee shop. The warm welcome for coffee more that made up for the gloom outside.

The downside to the coffee stop is that there is not a lot of space inside, not usually a problem as we can use the marquee outside, but not on a cold winters day. So we had to spread ourselves around the vacant tables. not helped when another group of cyclists arrived, but the staff and customers are understanding on the needs of cold cyclists. When group 1 left not all were ready but our Leader decided the stragglers were capable and would catch-up, we did eventually!

An uneventful ride back, although again the dreaded Road Closed Ahead sign appeared, this time it was closed and only a diversion up a grass bank got us round the blocking vehicle, all in a good cause though, pot hole filling. Many more to go though, but I think slowly they are winning the battle.

However, group 2 had a less easy return with both Deborah and Roger puncturing, as a result Group 1 were well into their meal before the others returned.

Back to the pub and birthday boy Jeremy, of Antarctic fame, bought the beer. Thanks Jeremy.

The riders were, in no particular order: Maurice, Howard, Nigel, Paul, Ken, Andrew, Deborah, Jeremy, Alan, Roger, Charles, Rod.

What sane person would choose to cycle on a cold foggy winter day, only a Windmiller. Windmiller’s are built of sound stuff and come rain, shine, frost of fog, on a Thursday morning you’ll find a group of old friends pedaling their local back lanes. This Thursday, as we assembled at the Fox and Duck in Therfield, it was a gloomy foggy morning and we knew that the usual long views as we left Therfield would be lost in the cloud. Lights were needed and those without were advised to pedal within the peloton.

Setting off in 2 groups, group 1 were misled by their leader and took the long route to the Wallington road, group 2 led by Keith, who followed the correct route reached the Wallington turn first. The road was CLOSED but the workmen, understanding that any diversion for cyclist would be unsafe, allowed us through, provided we walked past work in progress. They were fixing the potholes and drains. No cyclist should ever stop pothole filling, any workers doing that need our thanks. It was a pothole that was Graham’s downfall, fortunately he’s now on the mend.

Wallington is famous for being the village where George Orwell lived for 4 years prior to WW2, and the local village church is where he married his first wife Eileen. It was the local Manor Farm that provided the setting for his most famous book Animal Farm, which was set in the village of Willingdon. Although there may still be pigs who walk on their hind legs at the farm, it was too foggy to see any.

For those of us wearing specs, these soon became wet and steamy, restricting visibility and making the fog appear thicker than is was, my excuse for getting lost. Fortunately Martin has found the solution, although how practical these would be on a bike remains to be tested:

Keith identified an alternative solution, although his could prove tricky on some of the narrow styles we had to negotiate:

I digress, back to the ride. Leaving Willingdon, sorry Wallington, the road became a tarmac race track, the smoothest and newest tarmac we’ve seen in the many rides we’ve had this year. Why a very minor road leading to a small hamlet should have such a surface is a mystery, but maybe that’s the future for Hertfordshire lanes.

Pressing on through Baldock the next obstacle was Weston Hill, a long and steep climb, but then a fast run to our coffee stop at Church Farm Ardeley, where Group 2 had already arrived. First to the coffee stop though was Martin, who arriving late at the pub, had taken a more direct route cutting out Wallington and Baldock. He was fortunate to arrive as, as far as I’m aware, he is the first cyclist to collide with a Red Kite, which flew out from a hedge and almost knocked him off his bike. He’ll have had birdies in golf but this must be a first for cycling.

The return to the pub was uneventful, Group 2 taking the plotted route along a gravel trail, Group 1 choosing to stick to the muddy lanes. I must look more closely at what is plotted in future, less rush more care. But Jeremy did say the gravel was good.

A warm welcome back at the Fox and Duck, for what might be our last visit while Ivan is the landlord, he leave the F&D at the end of March for what he says will be some time out after over 12 years at the pub. A well deserved rest.

Considering the day, it was a good turn-out of riders: Martin, Gareth, Geoff, Howard, Jeremy, Keith, Neil, Nigel, Paul, Roger and Rod, with Maurice, Graham and Ken joining for lunch.

Rod – who has yet to workout how to copy the route into a blog!

The last Monday ride of the winter and for once a dry and slightly milder day saw the four e-bikers Maurice, Charles, Iain and Rod joined by man powered Simon, our migratory cyclist who had over-wintered in Central America, but was now safely back in his home territory. Wisely he hadn’t told his hosts of his chemistry skills or he’d probably have been kidnapped and set to work in some narco lab.

This was the last of our winter rides as with the clocks springing forward next weekend so will the Monday riders, going back to the 16:00 start time and probably goodbye to The Pheasant for now as our regular pub. As Alan excused himself with a dental appointment, not as I thought meeting his bank manager to pay in his Cheltenham winnings, I was leading. I must remember though that those following don’t always pedal as fast as I do! With 4 e-bikes, Simon had his work cut-out to keep up.

After last Thursday’s wet roads it was good to see roads drying out, although still much debris and potholes to avoid. Will we ever see pothole free roads or are the quite lanes we use doomed to slowly degrade, until they become byways unsuitable for most traffic, after a long a frosty winter there is much work to do. With the daffodills blooming, the crops growing well and water back in the streams, Spring has sprung, at least for now.

Those hardy/stupid/brave (delete as appropriate) riders who have been out on Monday’s have enjoyed many good winter rides and some new roads, thanks to Alan, although we have had our share of frost, wind and rain. We can now look forward to warmer rides and all of us back to shorts, not just Victor who joined us a The Pheasant for lunch.

Let’s look forward to better cycling conditions and new pubs to visit over the summer, happy cycling to all. I’m now off to Madeira for a short break so see you all in early April. Rod

An earlier start for our Monday ride from The Bull at Lower Langley and only 3 e-bikers present on a sunny autumn afternoon. Iain with his mighty German steed, the Range-Rover of e-bikes, with it’s multiple suspension systems, massive battery and an electrically operated Rohloff hub gear with belt drive, Nick with his carbon Specialized more suited to a race track than our bumpy lanes and myself on the sturdy Haibike. Departing in the direction of Little Chishill the first disruption was when the top of my water bottle flew off, very odd but I blame the bumpy road, retrieving it the chain then jammed in the chain guard, soon freed but investigation required especially as it happened again later in the ride. The only common event was a very rough and bouncy road.

The route took us through Green End and Mill End and as we passed John Bagrie’s abode we spotted him seemingly checking the fallen leaves, so we stopped for a chat. John was concerned about Maurice and Lawrence’s health and I was able to update. I saw Maurice on Friday and he was making good progress and walking with a crutch. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to provide such good news on Lawrence, with whom John had been hoping to take a ski trip early next year. It also turned out that Nick and John had been near neighbours in Meesden so Iain and I left them reminiscing, Nick did join us again, eventually. Having dropped Nick at his home in Meesden, all these stops made us late back to the pub, where Iain kindly bought the beer.

Apparently the speed I set was a little faster than either Iain or Nick was comfortable with, they need a BadAss on their bikes, not something anatomical but the name of the dongle which can speed up an e-bike.

A rather late Blog of our 10 October ride, but better late than never. 5 Windmillers, Victor, Simon, Nick, Alan and myself, left the Red Cow on a sunny but breezy autumnal afternoon at the earlier hour of 15:30. It was a good ride with no delays and after the drought through the summer, recent rain has saved next years harvest with many fields showing good growth of new shoots. It always amazes me to see the neat lines of shoots with almost no gaps, although I’m informed that an 80 to 85% germination is usually expected. If only my seed sewing was as successful.

Taking advantage of the Roman’s gift of road building we skirted the Langleys to follow the Roman road from Butts Green past Cooper’s End onto the road to Duddenhoe End. We owe many of our local roads and settlements to the Romans and we should be grateful. Although at times I think many of our local roads last saw a new surface when the Romans were here.

Nick soon peeled off to return to Meesden and Alan for Great Chishill, leaving just Simon, Victor and myself to enjoy a pint, chat and some bar refreshments back at the Rec Cow. All in all a nice day. 20 miles.

As the starting time for Monday’s ride approached it was clear that this would be a day when many Windmillers had found better things to do and as 4pm arrived only Nick and Rod with their e-bikes were at The Tally-Ho at Barkway for the mass start. Leaving on time we made rapid progress to the only forced stop of the day. Having travelled no more than 5 yards we were confronted by a Red light, the junction of Nuthampstead Road was under repair, a quick visual assessment and with no traffic or workmen in site we quickly side-stepped the red light and continued the ride.

The planned route was through Anstey, Brent Pelham, Deer’s Green, skirting Clavering and on to Upper Langley, Dudenhoe End, Chrishall and back to Barkway. However, with only Nick and Rod who had both pedalled to the start, the route was cut short and re-routed from Upper Langley.

We came that way

Nick had the “good fortune” or so some say, of receiving a deposit from an over flying pigeon just before we reached Upper Langley which was the highlight of the ride. Presumably one he’d upset by chasing it away from his garden.

The weather was dry although cool for May, the countryside looked lovely with the crops growing well, let’s hope there is a good harvest this year. We split at Lower Langley, with Nick making his way back to Meesden while I made my way home to Royston.

Let’s hope we can attract more riders for future Monday rides as this may be the smallest Windmill rode ever blogged..

Rod