Ashridge Tour Through Beautiful Trails and July Mud!
The Pedallers assembled at Ashridge in the lovely morning sun - Dave, Andy, Mike, Marko, Ivan, Tom (DAMMIT for short!) - and mounted their trusty steeds; two gravel and four MTB's. Ivan finalised the technical aspects of the route and led the way down to Coldharbour Farm across Frithden Beeches around the edges of Berkhamsted Golf Course and a short stop off at the site of the WW1 practise trenches of which there are about 7 1/2 miles.
Then a meander back through Berkhamsted Common and Northchurch Common. On the way our two gravel bikers were dismounted and acquainted themselves with the flora at close quarters, not through bad cycling but due to the mud which was not only thick and sticky but also very deep! Were these really late July conditions!?!
Being made of tough stuff, DAMMIT battled through the deep sticky stuff and various climbs and made it to the shelter near the Monument as a quick shower approached. Then the final stretch back to to Ashridge House for a well deserved coffee at The Bakehouse thanks to Marko. A great route well navigvated by Ivan and always great to catch up with fellow Pedallers.
