Must tell you about the latest commute and cycling to work via Preston in Hertfordshire. I am enjoying all those little country lanes, undulating hills and gentle Hertfordshire countryside. Preston in Hertfordshire is a small village with a green, a village pond, a pub, a restored well mechanism and a red telephone box. How wonderfully English.
Leaving stevenage on my way home is okay along the cycle paths, turning off on to Clovelly Road and out through the Symonds Green area. From the point where I cross over the A1M, I always seems to have a queue of traffic behind me, all trying to get past me. The vast majority, 99%, wait nicely and patiently. Once out of town by a couple of miles there is a steady climb up to Preston. This is a “middle chainring” climb and one I like as it raises my heart rate to the point of broken conversation. Once at the top you have almost reached Preston, just take a right turn towards the village.
It is worth stopping at the village green and take in the frightfully English scene. These are tempered, it has to be said, by the upmarket feel to the village. Plenty of expensive cars sitting on expensive looking driveways, much better to take in the quaintness and surrounding countryside.
The countryside heading west towards Luton is nice but to enjoy it at its best there are a number of alternative minor roads, all asking to be explored. Since I quite often cycle these lanes, it is nice to reflect on how quickly subtle changes in the countryside take place. Sometimes these are helped on by the harvest in late August or early September, other times a more delicate change in the colours takes place. The villages and lanes around King’s Walden, Peter’s Green, Whitwell and Bendish are also worth exploring and it really is lovely cycling countryside. Sure there are some hills but none too steep or long, just enough to keep it interesting.
Naturally my colleagues are amused at me cycling this distance, some look dubiously as I tip toe around the office in my Lycra and head for the shower. Some of my colleagues are really encouraging me in a number of different ways, which I appreciate.
I am hoping to continue cycling to work until the clocks change at the end of October. This will give me the opportunity to see the autumnal colours creep in as the daylight continues to become shorter. I might be lucky and have some late summer sun, with those calm balmy days when all is still an peaceful in the countryside. More Hertfordshire villages to follow….
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