BCN Ride to Hertfordshire

On Sunday 14 November, we left behind the home comfort of Regent’s Park for a shorter than usual escape up north to Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Welwyn is known for being the second garden city in England and was founded in 1920.

Three groups set off from Regent’s Park to take on the short but hilly 60-mile round trip through the beautiful but narrow and technical Hertfordshire lanes. We set off in slight overcast weather, navigating through the busy city traffic along Finchley Road. At around 9:30am, our groups convened in High Barnet to pick up another group of North London based members before continuing our journey to Potters Bar.

Upon reaching Potters Bar, we finally discovered the quiet and idyllic country lanes we set out for. We enjoyed the 20-mile loop through the beautiful Hertfordshire villages, stopping off at the popular cyclists’ friend Spokes CC café in Codicote for cheese and ham croissants, coffee, tea and cakes. The owners looked after us. The inhouse mechanic tuned our bikes to get us ready for the return to London. We were warmly received by other patrons and had a pleasant exchange with members of Finsbury Park Cycling Club who are regulars to the local lanes and coffee stops.

At around 13:30 we set off from Spokes CC Café (the halfway point of our ride) and made our way back south into London, taking in the views through Welwyn and Hatfield before converging back along Potters Bar to Barnet and onto the busy Finchley Road which leads all the back to Regent’s Park.

This marked another fun and adventurous ride into new territory. Our last ride up north took us further out into the Chilterns. What will the committee come up next?