road cycling in the cheshunt/ broxbourne area?

cpower36

Im moving down to this area shortly and have been overwhelmed by the amount of traffic on the road there! I do love road cycling but not to the point of being scared to death for mile after mile. its got me thinking whether i should sell my road bike and just go to a more 'off road touring bike' for the seemingly many canal paths etc. Does anyone from the region have a view on general safety/ quiet lane potential in the area? thanks very much in advance

aspender

Not at all. Hertfordshire is chock full of small, quiet country lanes. There's loads between Cheshunt and Hertford. It's easy to find nice routes to places like Much Hadham, Little Munden, Datchworth, the areas North of St. Albans etc. etc. You are also only 20 miles away from the Chilterns and it is possible to find nice routes out to them.

I live in St. Albans and regularly ride out around all of the above, including with my local club.

hambones

I do a Saturday morning loop from Cuffley to Hoddesdon, out to Hertford then across to Ware, completing the loop via Brickendon. We hardly see any traffic, and apart from the Hertford/Ware stretch it's all quiet country lanes.

I'm with Aspender and consider it very light on traffic.

cpower36

thaks very much boys- clearly i have only seen the dual carriageways etc then. i will keep my road bike and find a club to help me find these lanes. cheers again

optimisticbiker

I often ride out that way from home, via Potters Bar, Brookmans Park, Woodside, Essendon, Pipers Green, Bayford, Brickendon, Goffs Oak, Cuffley, Northaw, Potters Bar and home...

Try using one of the mapping sites... for example here's a moderately challenging 70km tour starting from Cheshunt that hardly touches a main road... I'm sure with some time & effort you could plot a much better one... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/745469