It couldn't be done, they said; Lilley Arms in one day. We'd need to book an overnight stop at the Travelodge outside Stevenage, they said. Go the most direct route, they said. And we almost did. We swept up from Knebworth to Kimpton and around the edge of Luton airport. There were no punctures, it was too cold to stop for long and we were ahead of schedule.
We picked up a recumbent cyclist along the route. I did warn him that we could be slow. He said he'd done his serious ride on the previous day.
By noon, we were within 4 miles of the Lilley Arms but they didn't want to see the nine of us before 1.15pm. So we took a diversion around the countryside just east of Luton. Well at least it was countryside marked on my old map. However since it had been published, the Elizabethans had erected a housing estate. Surprised we didn't run into Time Team.
After lunch we wandered south through Preston. Following a democratic vote, we ended up at Emily's tea room at Whitwell just after 4pm. Emily was running a restricted service now, they'd just washed out the coffee machine. So two of us left to go back to Knebworth left the runt of the group drinking tea and eating cake.
Anna B led the dissidents back to Stevenage station in the dark. See her comment.
1 comment:
After having a drink/cake in the cafe in Whitwell, we set off to the station.
Realising that my wonderful map reading skills are useless in the dark, we decided on a slightly longer, but uncomplicated route, via Codicote and then following cycle route 12.
There was a dispute over map versus SatNav (or GPS or whatever it was - an electric device constantly suggesting a different route from ours), but we ended up following the planned route due to my pushy and persisitent nature.
There was a sense of adventure and mistery riding in the dark, misty lanes and passing lit up pubs. It felt like the Dunwich Dynamo (without the pain and a promise of a bed). We couldn't believe it was only past 5pm, it felt like we were in the middle of the night.
Lovely route by John Ackers. Great tradition carried on by different people. Thanks Sue for doing this ride for long enough that there are plenty people who can pick up the pieces.
Great company, friendly, fun people and pictures by our own Fake Paparazzi (Chas).
Anna
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