Hopefully velos riders can gather together on Friday night (22nd December) for a Christmas drink at the Rose and Crown, 7.30pm onwards, it’s going to be a lycra free zone so safe to bring your better half.

Just in case there is a bit of demand for rides on Sunday we have three options all heading the same way, 20, 30 or 35 miles, depending on the number of keen riders it may be the case that riders group together to make a reasonable group. The weather looks good, there is unlikely to be a frost and it looks dry, just remember those who succeed with their milage ambitions usually find an excuse to get out and ride, while those who don’t find an excuse not to ride.

Little cracker https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45195747

medium cracker https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45195727

big cracker https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45195738

As many people have some time off over the festive period it would be good to have some ad-hoc ride options, if you are planning on a ride please feel free to post an invite on social media channels so others can join in.

After Christmas we usually use the “new year resolution” period as a time to encourage and welcome new and returning riders, what better time to join a ride that January when not much else happens and we evaluate our healthy lifestyles (well maybe July when it’s warmer?)

A Merry Christmas to one and all! Hope santa brings you a few cycling goodies.

Enjoy the ride, enjoy Christmas, stay safe, stay well.

Three routes departing from Ivinghoe church on Sunday morning. Chapeau to anyone who has got some miles in this week, the weather has been a bit grim at times, we are hoping for something slightly more ride friendly on Sunday! Some of this post may look familiar, as we all know recycling reduces the need to grow, harvest or extract new raw materials from the earth, thus reducing the damage and disruption to the natural world, avoiding diverting rivers, cutting down forests and displacing wild animals from their natural habitat. And it saved me 5 minutes.

Social reminder: Friday 22nd Decemeber, a festive get together for drinks at the Rose and Crown from 7.30pm, if you need to eat out to help out please book a table individually before hand. No need to bring your bike.

10am medium long “reach out and I’ll be there” Heath and reach https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45077564

10am medium short Brazen Braziers https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45156242

10.30am short “It’s the real Tring” Local loop skirting round Tring https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45115258

Please arrive before the suggested departure time, picking the pace option most applicable to your abilities (or you will go to jail) watch out for the conditions and enjoy the rides.

Three routes departing from Ivinghoe church on Sunday morning. Chapeau to anyone who has got some miles in this week the weather has been a bit grim at times, we are hoping for something slightly more ride friendly on Sunday!

10am medium long “reach out and I’ll be there” Heath and reach https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45077564

10am medium short “I hate you Butlers” Butlers Cross Loop https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45115247

10.30am short “It’s the real Tring” Local loop skirting round Tring https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45115258

Please arrive before the suggested departure time, watch out for the conditions and enjoy the rides.

Riding our bikes on a Sunday morning gives us the chance to socialise and enjoy a drink or two after the activity. Another good reason for getting together to enjoy a chat and a beer is Christmas! Don’t worry we won’t be putting out rides on Christmas day but if you’d like to meet for a festive pint the evening of 22nd December is the night for you. Meeeting around 7.30- 8pm at the Rose and Crown, if you’d like to have a meal at the pub please book independently and aim to finish so you can join the crowd at 8. Cycling to the pub is purley optional.

This week we have three routes. As we are now in the chilly season rides will begin at 10am at the earliest until the spring, if rider numbers are low at 10am groups can join together to ensure everyone is riding with a group. As (nearly) always rides start and finish in Ivinghoe outside the church and we will split into pace groups if rider numbers are large. Although we aim to leave no one behind having a good idea of the route either committed to memory on plumbed into your headset computer will help avoid lost souls. Rides are designed for road bikes with the occational need to adapt for road closures and dare I say mapping errors.

The longest ride with week, starting at 10am, is a 38 mile trip to Heath and Reach taking in the climb into Great Brickhill, enjoying the end of the autumn colours through Stockgrove while cunningly avoiding central Leighton Buzzard. At 10am the medium short riders embark on a 28 mile ride out to Rocky lane and then a bit of a wiggle home, this ride has the highest hill climb ratio this week. At 10.30 the short route riders will loop round Tring before following the finale of the 10am route. Keep an eye of the forecast, stay safe and enjoy!

10am medium long https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45077564

10am medium short https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45080778

10.30am short https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45080828

Three routes to choose from this weekend. There is no better feeling than sitting in a warm pub after tackling a challenging bike ride, the reward is all the sweeter for putting the effort in! This week the short and medium routes provided by Dave B head north while the longer 9am ride takes riders south through Amersham. The temperature is dropping away with light winds, it might be a bright start but please be aware of the risk of frosty roads.

9am Flaunting Flauden https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45038609

10am Out to Drayton https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45037511

10.30am Cubblington https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45037529

December is just round the corner and it’s time to think about a seasonal get together for an evening where bikes and lycra can be left behind! I’m sure the tribal elders will be coming up with a date in the near future. The idea is to drink your annual milage in calories while discussing festive 500s and what’s on your letter to cycling santa.

Roll on Sunday!

Three routes to choose from this weekend, Sunday seems to be the better day for weather this weekend, some blustery winds, so riding with friends in a tightly formed peleton is the order of the day. This weeks routes are small but perfectly formed to get riders back into the warm embrace of the pub in good time! All three routes have a common final 6 miles, so if riders are at “par pace” groups may see each other for the sprint finish.

9am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44991842

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44991765

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44991883

This week our rides start at Ivinghoe church and loop back there to enable riders to join the external part of the rememberance service just before 11am. Due to the sensitivity of timings please arrive EARLY for the rides and set off on time to ensure riders return at the correct time at the church.

Once the service is over we will ride a short local loop before returning to Ivinghoe to finish close to the Rose And Crown.

Depending on numbers on the rides we may need to leave our bikes over the road by Ivinghoe lawn when attending the service, so we don’t block the entrance to the church. If riders are able to wear their Ivinghoe Velos kit this weekend it will be a nice touch to see the group together.

9am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41398716

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41396166

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44869993

11.15am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41398716

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

This week we ride on 5th November, bonfire night. Anyone who knows their history will remember that Guy Fawkes spent a lot of time in Spain fighting against the Dutch Republic, it was here that he developed his love of cycling, enjoying many a thrilling decent in the Pyrenees. Fawkes was a yorkshire man, so probably had a good grounding in hill climbing in his early years, many said he could have been a pro cyclist if he didn’t let politics get in the way. On the night of 5th November 1605 Guy’s cycling career came to an end as the plot to blow up the house of lords was uncovered. In January the following year, while his bike was still chained up outside the Palace of westminster he was hung drawn and quartered, sustaining injuries too severe to make a comeback.

Whilst you can’t always trust everything you read, we do promise the offer of three bike rides starting from Ivinghoe church on Sunday morning. Please arrive before the start of the rides and have a good idea of the route, or a version plumbed into your bike computer.

9am Skyrockets- quick climbs and then it’s great coming down https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37879524

10am Roman Candle: Pretty lights, a few bangs but hopefully no crashes https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44869845

10.30am Catherine Wheel, goes round and round and sometimes makes a pretty pattern https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44869915

Next week we will endevour to get rides to the church for 11am, for rememberance, so shorter local rides will be the order of the day

After an extra hour in bed this Saturday night, we meet at the church in Ivinghoe for riding fun. Three routes to choose from, short, medium and longish. The 9am heads north to Thornborough, while the 10am route tackles the long drag from Markyate to Dunstable Downs. Anyone who feels they missed out on Toms Hill last Sunday can tackle it on the 10am route this Sunday! The 10.30 route is an Eggington loop. So 52 miles, 30 miles or 21 miles, take your pick and enjoy the ride.

9am Great Horwood two ways https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44835174

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44771508

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44775410

The usual bits

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.

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!

If we get very large numbers of riders the best option is to split into even sized groups to ensure we are not taking more than our fair share of road space. Also if riders have different pace requirements we also split into pace groups (light speed or supersonic)

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, however, most people ignore this, so it’s not really a true gauge on who you might find on the start line.

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.

Roll on Sunday

Rides

Three rides for your enjoyment this weekend, 56 miles, 32 miles and 21 miles. At 9am the route heads to Butlers Cross via Wingrave before heading down to Kimble, through Askett to Missenden and then back via the Lee and Aldbury. At 10am riders can enjoy a route out to Chequers and then up Frith Hill. At 10.30 it’s destination Eggington. Rides start from Ivinghoe church.

This week the 9am route has two options, the usual 9am start from Ivinghoe church for a non-stop ride as usual or I have a small group of visitors who belong to the John Lewis Velo club joining me to showcase my local roads. This group will be meeting at Pitstone roundabout, so be there at 9am if you’d like to take this option. There are TWO two coffee stops planned at Owlswick’s Orchard View and at Chiltern Velo @ Hawridge.

9am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44538857

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44775382

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44780666

Latest Kit Order

You have a small window of opportunity to place an order for some of our very stylish Ivinghoe Velos Kit. The shop will be open until the evening of Monday 23rd so please act now.

The way you place an order is different this time round as our supplier has a shiny new website that should be easier to use. Follow the instructions below to see the store.

You will need to create a new account with them as you check-out. Don’t be tempted to use the navigation at the tope of the screen to login with your old account as this might lead you to a dead-end.

1. Head to the website: https://www.champsys.uk
2. Click on TEAM STORE button at the top menu bar
3. Enter the (case sensitive) password: IV1

Note that you are not limited to just the clothing shown in the main page. You can select anything from their store and they will make it up in the Velos design. All orders are delivered to us here at the Ivinghoe Velodrome. We will send you a message to know when it has landed and can arrange for collection or local delivery.

If you hit any issues placing your order, please send us a message via our Facebook discussion group , the Rear Hub – https://www.facebook.com/groups/789658201073391

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.

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!

If we get very large numbers of riders the best option is to split into even sized groups to ensure we are not taking more than our fair share of road space. Also if riders have different pace requirements we also split into pace groups (light speed or supersonic)

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.

Roll on Sunday