Firstly, many thanks to everyone who ventured out on the ride yesterday. We enjoyed stunning weather and one of the fastest rides this year with an average speed of almost 14mph ! Spurred on by the success of the weekend ride, two mid-week rides are on offer for those who want to get in a little more practice before joining their respective Tour de France teams this weekend.

Tuesday 28^th June – road bike ride

Dave “The Hill” Howe is leading a road ride departing from the Pitstone Roundabout at 7pm. There is a bit of rain forecast but so long as it is isn’t chucking it down this will be a great ride for stretching your legs and clocking up a few miles.

Thursday 30^th June – mainly off-road ride in Ashridge

Our resident geek, John “Have you tried rebooting it” Hegarty, is planning on meeting a few pals for a leisurely paced ride through Ashridge.  The Velos are most welcome to join them. The starting point will be Pitstone roundabout at 6:30pm (passing by Ivinghoe Library at 6:40pm and Ivinghoe Beacon car park at 7pm if you want to join at any point on the way up to Ashridge).

If you want to get a hold of Dave or John for more info, you can find them on twitter via the links below –

Dave on Twitter

John on Twitter

And of course, don’t forget to follow our official Twitter account –

VinghoeVelos on Twitter

Firstly may I apologise to those of you that may have been confused by last nights post. I understand that many of you remain fans of the television series the Dukes of Hazard, and that as a consequence you were wondering why my post was addressed to Boss Hoggs’ dog,,,,,,,,Flash. Please let me re-assure that last nights post at 7.00pm was the news at 10.

And now at 8.45 on a Saturday evening I bring you breakfast news, without Fiona Bruce. Is she ever on Breakfast News? So what news do I bring you, well as promised the usual Sunday rides commencing at 3.00am.

So for those of you seeking a long route, this is the one to go for:

Long Route

For those of you looking for a shorter one can I suggest 16in wheels and adjustments to your saddle? No, okay try this………

Short Route

For those of you that may be further confused by tonights news I am sorry, but I make no apologies. Should you be concerned that I may be on Crack, Herion, Acid, Speed, Ecstacy I would like to confirm this is not the case. This is just a cheap attempt to get more hits on the website.

Enjoy your cream teas and I shall see you on Wednesday.

Bong

Bubbles Bembridge cancels tommorow afetrnoons beginner ride. Any reader seeing Bubbles at a bar tonight should make sure he gets nothing to drink.

Bong

Sunday rides as normal, details to follow.

Thanks for that Trevor.

As we near our first birthday the fame and reputation of the Vinghoe Velos continues to grow with local press desperate to get a piece of the action.  Note no mention of Tour de France or Giro d’Italia but Vinghoe Velos prominent for all to see!

JERSEYS

The order for our unique jerseys will finally be placed on Monday so if anyone else requires one please contact me over the weekend.

Well done to all those who took part in the Tour de Vale last week, having manned the Water Stop on the Beacon it certainly felt like snorkels would have been of more use than lycra!

This weekends rides:

LONGER –  27 miles but after many routes set by Gary ‘mountain goat’ Peter here is one less challenging

SHORTER – 15 miles

Enjoy

An update for all you athletes out there. I took delivery of 2 sample jerseys for checking sizes. BEWARE as normal sizes don’t necessarily reflect the normal sizes of a highly honed body such as mine! I have here a ladies size 14 and Jose can happily share with other lady cyclists her view on it’s suitability. I also have a men’s 2XL, sadly I was kidding myself!!!!!!!
We cannot be responsible for sizing nor are custom jerseys returnable if anyone would like to try either of the above mentioned jerseys please let me know ASAP

As per Gary’s earlier note we aim to send the order on Monday so requirements and cheques by tomorrow please!

Have fun

Welcome to this weeks news.

Some say that chickens have few teeth…………

Some say that the sight of Jack is rare………..

Some say that a fine steak comes rare…………..

Some say that the minutes of the parish council meetings produced by the paid clerk are extremely rare………………………

But here at the Vinghoe Velos the only thing rare is bad weather and the late publishing of cycle routes, such as these!

Now I understand that our local roads will be swamped with tourists trying to complete the Tour de Vale, and that some of you may be attending this event, presumably to impart your wisdom and knowledge to those around you. For those attending good luck.

And for those of you not attending wes still have our usual array of rides over the weekend. Firstly there are the beginners rides which take place today leaving from the Rose and Crown 2.00pm. These are ideal for those looking to get back into cycling, or those just looking for a gentle ride out.

Tomorrow we have the following two, randomly picked from our previous selection.

Long Route 

Short Route

Your regular organisers are unable to ride tomorrow so please print a few maps of. For those wanting our fine new club shirt, please place your orders tomorrow, by leaving payment and details, in an envelope at the Rose and Crown. Full details are on last weeks post.

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

It is a year ago that 3 finely honed athletes and supreme cyclists met over a number of pints of our favourite beverages in the Rose and Crown and discussed their shared passions of drinking, camaraderie and cycling (in that order!).  “What to do?” we thought, “let’s set up a cycling group maybe we could find upto 6 other people who shared our passion?”  And so the Vinghoe Velos was born (thanks to some vandal who had thought it would be a wheeze to take the “I” off the village name as you entered from Pitstone………. thanks chap!)

The first meeting of the Velos took place in the Rose and Crown on 13th July where we were slightly taken aback by the number of people who arrived to express an interest (whilst we watched our local landlord and fellow Velo rub his hands in glee, ready to count the pennies!!)

The Inaugural ride took place on 25th July when a massive 7 people turned out, was this ever going to take off?  Nearly one year on 30 riders on a Sunday is not unheard of and every other Saturday Dave and or Sally lead a beginners ride out also!

So what now?

July 10th will be our first Birthday ride as usual leaving the R&C at 10:00am after which we are planning some celebrations, please put the date in your diary and think about ‘blocking off’ the afternoon (it may even be a good idea to take a days holiday on the Monday 😉

We are also delighted to launch, in celebration of our 1st Birthday, the official Vinghoe Velos Cycling Jersey.

With a couple of minor tweaks required 

Price for this item will not exceed £38 and will depend on the numbers required (we do need a minimum order of 10!)

The Jersey has a ‘concealed 3/4’ zip and 3 rear pockets the middle one of which is zipped

Sizing charts can be found on the links below

GENTS

http://www.cycle-clothing.co.uk/Products/184/speg-blanc-short-sleeve-coolmax-cycle-jersey.aspx

LADIES

http://www.cycle-clothing.co.uk/Products/196/speg-union-team-cycle-jersey-mk3–100-coolmax–ladies.aspx

If you are worried about the size you require it is possible to ‘purchase’ a stock item shirt direct from the manufacturer and then return for refund once tried on for refund as long as it is returned in its original condition.  The links for this are below:

ORDER PROCESS

Orders to Andrew Hetherington @ 17 Wellcroft, Ivinghoe, LU7 9EF no later than Sunday 12 June.  Detail required:

• Name
• Mobile phone number (in case of query)
• Cheque to the value of £38 per jersey made out to “J&A Consultants (Ivinghoe) Ltd”.  Any refunds will be dealt with once the order has been placed
• Size required and whether Ladies or Gents

All being well the Jerseys will be with us for our Birthday party!

Apologies the beginners ride is next Saturday at 2pm NOT today!