We have three routes for your enjoyment this Sunday, last week we tried to gain the youth interest with a post aimed at a younger audience. To be honest it didn’t make any difference and I may as well have been talking Shakespeare!!
Prithee beareth in intellect yond a contingent of our group art hence in Ludlow having a voyage in the Welsh hills, so our numb’r way beest down on usual. Thence shouldst still beest enow fellows to enjoyeth the local sights. So behold aft’r each oth’r, looking out f’r the sir behind as well as the one in front of thee. As usual aft’r the rideth we can take enjoyment from the hospitality at the Did rise And Diadem.
9am Local Hills 47 miles https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50733254 climb rating Hilly, 60 per mile
10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50739568 climb rating lumpy 53 feet per mile
10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46895158 climb rating below average, 43 feet per mile.
Several regular riders have completed a piece of work, producing some guidelines to help us ensure everyone can benefit and enjoy riding in our groups. This is a thoughtful idea to give our rides some consistency and enable new riders to join us and understand the basics of group rides. There will no doubt be some conversation around this in the great debating chamber of the Rose and Crown beer garden. High on endorphins and testosterone and fueled by some of the finest real ale around, the conversation is bound to flow in a respectful and encouraging way. So please have a look at the following guidelines to sense check how we ride as a group and how we can all contribute to excellence on the roads!
The Ivinghoe Velos are a group of social cyclists unconstrained by rigid rules of many cycling clubs. Most rides will finish either at a local coffee shop or at the Rose & Crown Public House in Ivinghoe.
Several different length rides are available each week, but the aim is to ride at the pace of the slowest rider in each group and not leave anybody behind.
Friendly advice:
- You are responsible for the rider behind you. Call ‘dropping’ if a gap forms.
- If on the front of a small group (say five or less), look to stay in front for a mile or so before safely peeling off and retiring to the rear.
- Roads vary in width so use your judgement as to whether it is safe to ride two abreast and still provide for vehicles to safely overtake.
- When coming to the front of the group, maintain the then current steady pace and try not to increase the speed, leaving individuals or the peloton behind.
- Please do not ride from the back of the peloton directly to the front as a sudden increase in speed can cause the group to break up.
- Watch out for the signals of the riders in front of you and mirror those signals back through the peloton such as alerts for potholes or indications of direction. Similarly pass messages up the through group to alert the peloton to gaps or punctures for example.
- Try to keep the peloton short or break into smaller groups (4-6) to allow other road users to pass safely.
- Try to keep pedalling. By freewheeling, your bike slows, which has a concertina effect back through the entire peloton with riders at the rear constantly having to speed up and slow down to maintain their position.
Finally, the various routes are published on the Ivinghoe Velos website. Please make sure you carry a copy of the route (either printed or downloaded into a directional device) in case you should become detached from the group.
Further information is available in British Cycling’s advice at Riding in a group – Top 10 tips It is also worth looking at the highway code which includes clarification on the expectation of drivers when driving in the vicinity of cyclists
ALSO… (sorry it’s a long one) Next weekend, Sunday 25th May there is going to be a traffic free Milton Keynes Parks ride option. This ride will be around 25 miles and is a traffic free treasure hunt style ride with 17 clues to solve as we ride round. The route will take us to concrete cows, a Roman Vllla, a stone circle and several lakes, we will cross a river by stepping stones and discover lots about the history of Milton Keynes. There is even a BMX track if anyone is brave enough!!! The route can be ridden on a mountain bike, gravel bike, hybrid, Brompton or a single speed, even a road bike if you don’t mind riding it on canal tow paths. We will start the ride from Caldecotte Lake (Bletcham Way car park). You can arrive by car, by train or ride all the way by bike. This ride will be great for anyone who is not keen on road rides but fancies riding with us. Will you help us find and rescue code breaker hero Ivor B Brain. He is lost in Milton Keynes (like we all have been at some point!) and needs our help to get home!