After another bumper turn out last Sunday we have three glorious routes to share with you this week, so you should avoid stumbling in on a party, (or maybe not a party) on Saturday night and bring your best fitness along on Sunday morning. We will also look ahead to some events later in the year.

Chalfont St Peter is our destination for the 9am ride. At 10am we circumnavigate Berkhamsted and at 10.30 Ian Taylor will lead a ride for beginners, returners and those who may have, accidentally attended a Saturday night Party.

Sunday 9am Chiltern Chalfonts https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38392957

Sunday 10am Around Berkhamsted https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38386055

Sunday 10.30 & Beginners Route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38386076

On 8th May for something different there will be a canal ride option, getting the train into London and returning allow the tow path, with a coffee stop and a beer stop along the way

On 13th March there is an option to ride the Berkhamsted classic reliability ride from Musette, this will cost £16 and have a nice “event” feel to it. Details are on the British cycling website. We will run our usual routes along side this event for those who would rather not pay for riding on our usual roads.

During the summer months we will organised a couple of “drive and ride” routes which require an hour’s drive to enable us to ride somewhere different e.g The Cotswolds & Northamptonshire to Warwickshire. We will also share a set of weekend rides starting from a location in another part of the county, the option will be to book local accommodation of your choice and make a weekend of it, meeting each day for the rides.

Some riders are taking on longer distance challenges this year, so in the coming weeks we will split the long 9am route into two pace groups, so those building towards their challenge can get some good training miles in.

We will also organise a 100 mile ride for anyone looking to rack up a century ride this year. Our usual timings involves a two stop coffee and cake strategy.

The Usual bit……

We are a group of friends who ride together rather than a club so we don’t have any hard and fast rules, preferring to enjoy the journey rather than worry about our sock length. There are no fees to ride with us, we just ask for some considerations to be made so everyone can stay as safe as possible and have a good ride experience.

If you get out and ride it will encourage others to continue, if you sit at home on a turbo trainer, or in front of the TV there may not be anyone to ride with when you want company in the future!

Ivinghoe Velos rides are routes suggestions based on local knowledge built up over years of riding. Suitable for road bikes and often using quiet road options. Occasionally we need to re-route due to road closures and mapping errors. As a group please solve these problems as safely as possible. Anyone is welcome to provide a ridewithgps course for us to follow in future weeks.

Those who lead out a group, the route planners, those who send the postings out each week in no way make any assurances as to the safety of any rides organised under the ‘ivinghoe Velos’ banner. Each participant is wholly responsible for their own safety, road worthiness of their steed, legal requirements to abide by the highway code and any insurances each individual feels are necessary.

Rides are usually between 14mph and 17mph depending on elevation. When rider numbers allow we split into groups based on pace. Generally our motto is ” we leave no one behind” but riders need to be realistic when joining a group with an expected pace, it’s no fun for anyone if one riders pace is considerably slower than all the other riders. Equally if a couple of riders push the pace beyond what is expected, the rest of the group might not be having fun. We will sometime advertise beginners or social rides (In JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2022 we will have a ride leader to help new riders join onto the 10.30am ride) which will moderate the pace to the slowest rider. Over time newer riders will build their pace and endurance, we have all started or re-started, so understand it takes some time to get faster.

When riding in a group the main benefit is the draft effect, saving around 25% effort when tucked in behind other riders. We expect riders to take a turn on the front when they able to do so and “hold the wheel” of riders in front on flat sections and shallow climbs. Looking over your shoulder and moderating your pace to ensure riders behind are still attached to the group is important wherever you are within your group and communicating if it looks like a riders has become detached (why not drag them back to the group rather than pushing on yourself?). On the flat the group should be close together so everyone benefits from the draft, work as a team, if there is a few bike lengths between riders you are not doing it right! On hills we wait at an appropriate safe spot to allow slower climbers to rejoin, you might want to make sure you are past the strava segment end!

Occasionally we have ridden in large groups with rider numbers in double figures. It’s important to remember we are quite a big obstacle to overtake, splitting into two small groups on main roads allows vehicles to overtake in stages. If you are mid-group take responsibility to manufacture this split- that’s you riding in position 7 in a group of 12. If a rider has manufactured a gap for this reason, don’t overtake and close the gap.

We have a stylish Ivinghoe Velos team kit which allows the public to identify us. Please be considerate, courteous and respect our reputation when riding in our groups. Shouting at motorists is unlikely to achieve anything other than a raise in your blood pressure. Smile and wave at other cyclists, even those too pro to wave back.

Occasionally due to traffic or mechanicals there can be splits in groups and we lose visibility of parts of the group. For this reason and for your time you spend on the front it’s important that every rider has a full understanding of the planned route.

Please arrive before the expected start time of our rides. We currently meet by the bus shelter outside Ivinghoe church. There is usually a poll on our facebook rear hub to establish who is out and riding which route.

Mudguards are much appreciated on winter rides, without them the rider behind you might as well be riding in the rain.

As we ride in a group, pointing out hazards is vital, riders within the group wont get much notice of dangerous pot holes, gravel and other slip hazards and maneuvers away from the usual line, please give visual and audible signals and also let other riders know if cars are unexpectedly close by.

Stay safe, have fun and enjoy the journey.