Michael versus the Lea Valley: Round 2

From Michael:

After my previous attempt to cycle from Canary Wharf to St Albans ended up with me having the shakes (see my post on Leisurely Friday Nights), I decided it would be a good idea to do the ride during the daylight. I also invited a companion, my brother in law Frank Akpan, who is pretty much brand new to cycling having only done three 20 mile rides previously.

Off we set from St. Albans on the train into St. Pancras on Saturday morning arriving into London just before 8am. The first part of the ride was a short trip on the main road from Kings X to Upper Street in Islington and from there down onto the Regents Canal. Although London was reasonably quiet at that time on the Saturday, the canal was a hive of activity of runners, cyclists and people taking dogs for a walk.

After a short while, we reached Victoria Park in the East End. From here we picked up the canal heading north onto the Lea Valley route. The route was very familiar having only cycled it recently and we made progress north. We managed to avoid some of the mistakes I had made previously and although we were not setting a fast pace, we continued without any problems. It was great seeing the route in daylight having ridden it in pitch darkness before (I must have been absolutely nuts).

The canal continues all the way north until you come into the East Hertfordshire town of Ware. Here we stopped for lunch before heading off again towards Hertford. Frank was heading deep into new territory for him from a distance perspective, and started to drop off the pace a bit but some words of encouragement (and no, I did not state I would bring a tow rope in future) helped to spur him on.

I have never been to Hertford (in daylight!), but on the brief viewing I got as we passed through the town centre, I thought that I really must go back with Miriam and the girls as it looked like a great little place. The signing was really frustrating at this point because we were looking to pick up the Cole Green Way (CGW) - an old railway route from Hertford to Welwyn but unfortunately it was nowhere to be found. The National Cycle routes are very poorly signed I am increasingly finding out. We ended up heading along the B158 road towards Essendon. The roads seemed familiar, and yes I had been on it on my previous attempt at the route. Fortunately, the GPS on the blackberry came to the rescue again and we were able to find a way back to the correct route and pick up the CGW and head towards Welwyn. For an old railway line, it had a couple of reasonable inclines along what was a gritty/rocky surface. Not for the first time did I feel a hardtail moutain bike would have been more appropriate.

The ride pretty much continued all the way back into St. Albans and over to Franks house where Miriam and the girls were waiting. After a hours or so break, I headed off home on the bike for the 4 mile ride back to our house. A friendly person in a white transit decided it would be fun to chuck their drink on me as they drove past (they've got a great sense of humour those guys), most of which missed. Not to worry, I had completed another 55 or so miles and could look forward to a few days break.