A lazy week

From Michael :

After last weekends slog up and down the Brecon Beacons, I had an incredibly lazy week back in the South East. Not once did I commute to work on the bike and so I was eager to get out today with Miriam for a decent ride (thanks to Grandparents who were childminding!!!).

Suitably kitted up both with clothing and fuel (since my rather large order of sports drinks/gel etc...arrived from Science in Sport), we headed out on the Alban Way (National Route 61) towards Welwyn.....the Alban Way is a great way of getting from one side of St. Albans to the other and beyond. In no time at all we were passing Hatfield and arriving into Welwyn. A short stop on the way as we met Miriam's sister Elaine and her husband who were also out for bike ride (Frank having only just picked up his new Cannondale Bad Boy earlier this week!) we made our way through the centre of Welwyn and picked up the Ayot Greenway (National Route 12). This section was a real gem as we passed through woodland followed by open countryside on the way towards Wheathampstead. Arriving into Wheathampstead and with the 'traffic free' part of the ride over, we parked our bikes and stopped for lunch at The Swan at the bottom of 'The Hill'. 45 mins later and feeling pretty satisfied with a nice lunch inside us, we headed up The Hill which in reality is fairly short but still....on top of the lunch!

From there it was a reasonably simple ride back into the St. Albans along the roads. In total we cycled about 23 miles. Miriam agreed it is a great way to get out and exercise and I think she is starting to feel a little jealous that I'm getting to the 300 miles at the end of April...