A pleasant surprise on the north-east Chilterns Cycleway

The area covered by the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is actually split into two distinct sections by the M1 corridor and Luton - apparently these aren't considered to be beautiful bits of countryside. So I spend most of my time riding in the main block of the Chilterns through Buckinghamshire and west Hertfordshire.

The area to the east of the M1 has never really interested me. If it's not good enough to be classified as AONB, why would I want to ride through it? I imagined it to be flat and boring with busy roads and the idea of riding around Luton or through Harpenden has never really filled me with joy. But my knowledge of the Cycleway would not be complete without riding this section and I knew at some point I would have to do it.

What immediately struck me about the area I was riding in was just how open and undulating it was; bare, open farmland dropped down into valleys before climbing out the other side. Every few miles I passed through a small village full of smoking chimneys and the traditional village pub. In Tea Green, aside from the aeroplanes overhead and the air traffic control tower glinting in the low winter sun, you'd have no idea you were just a mile outside of Luton.

Rolling green fields suddenly gave way to spectacular views at Sundon Hills Country Park, quickly followed by the dramatic chalk escarpment known as Sharpenhoe Clappers that dominates the sky line. I was beginning to think I'd misjudged this little gem of a riding area and had it been a brighter, drier day I would have some gorgeous photographs as proof. Grey, wet, Saturday afternoons in November just don't do the area justice.

Emerging back on to the road I now had no idea where I was. I wasn't lost as the Cycleway signage is very clear, well laid out and a majority of it is still where it should be, but I was in unfamiliar territory for the first time in quite a while. There's always something a little bit special about riding somewhere you've never been before - the excitement of the unknown!

I passed one of the few remaining watercress farms in the area at Whitwell (I do like little snippets of information in guides books) and made the steep climb out. I was soon on the outskirts of Harpenden where the route uses the traffic-free greenways of the Lea Valley Walk and the Nickey Line all the way to Redbourn.

A map of the full route with mile markers, elevation profile, directions and a gpx download is available on 'Map My Ride'.