Hello All,

Tomorrow’s tea ride will also be the ‘Ride and Stride’ churches ride, leaving from the Rose and Crown at 10am. This is a sponsored event- sponsored by the number of churches we visit. Mary has devised a route for us. There will be a shortcut home after about 2 hours for those that need to be back, but otherwise clear some time and join us for longer. It will be a very comfortably paced ride that will suit anyone. Hills can be walked up, no one gets left behind. The weather looks lovely, cleverly arranged by Mary. Anyone not wishing to collect sponsors of their own can just sponsor Mary (I have). All welcome.

See you tomorrow.
Sally

Way back, almost a millenium ago, the tuetonic plates that sit below our land and seas meant that our european neighbours were far closer than they are today. In fact France, Belgium and Spain were London suburbs. The wet divide we know call the English Channel was little wider than the Thames is today. 

This particulary grated a little known french man by the name of Norman who promptly turned his 2CV upside down and rowed it across the salty river. After a few bottles of red wine and a quick walk down to the sussex coast he promptly stuck one in the eye of king Harold. He was so pleased with himself that he drank some more wine and threw up on the carpet. Thus the Bayern tapestry was created.

For several years Normans’ chums drank wine, built churches and created the foundations of modern law. That is until saxoviking had had enough and pushed them back across the wet divide. Thankfully the tuetonic plates moved France further away and the 2cv’s sank long before getting back.

Several squirmishes followed, as the English forged ahead with boat building technology. Most notably Argincourt and Crecy fell to the longbow, ensuring that the french remained at home eating pastries.

Now by the 1800’s they’d got a bit tired of Johnny English popping across for some cheap beers. So angered were they, that a little known man, who was named after some multi coloured ice cream decided to bring an end to it. There followed ferocious battles both on land and sea. Little Napolean had conquered much of the former English suburbs by the time of Trafalger, and was feeling so confident that he gave Lord Admiral Nelson Mandella a poke in the eye. This upset some Brits a bit so they promptly gave the infidels a bloody nose and sent them packing.

After this relations progressed, and the French returned to wine and getting rid of their nobilty. In fact things become so good that in 1914 we sent a few boys across to help them out with their German enemy. In 1918 some of our boys even came back.

This was only a temporary measure, as the Austrian with the dodgy moustache, and a fondness for four seater convertables decided to pop back into France for an expresso and some paintings. This time the germans were a bit better prepared and hung around for 6 years. It took the plucky brits a few goes to get them out and needed some help from those who favour a big mac.

So where are we now? Well Wiggo and his side burns have shown them how to ride a bicycle, and just in case they forget, a few of our friends are popping across next week to remind them. This raises several questions.

Will the hills be steep enough for Jim?

What tune will the tandem be dancing to?

Has Dod got his spoke spanner?

Will be Pete be sending back a postcard with some kind words?

Will Graham be far enough ahead to get in a couple of “grand wife beaters”?

These questions probably wont be answered, but you can give them a good send off by joining them on Sunday morning for their final ride before they depart. Here’s the route.

 SUNDAY RIDE

Now before I go here’s some news about a little social gathering so that we can get together and discuss what we’d like from the club and just have a general jolly. It will be on Wednesday 26th September at the Rose and Crown, and as a thankyou to all the Velos a complimentary buffet will be provided. Please email back if you can make it, so we can have an idea of numbers. There won’t be any cidre though.

Many of you may know that Jose and I are keen supporters of Action Medical Research (AMR), organisers of many great rides including the Bucks 100 on 16th September.  If you are looking for a great ride from Waddesdon Manor, please give it a go.

Jose and I will not be riding it as we have voluntered to assist in the running of it.  The organisers are looking for other volunteers to help if you can spare the time and are prepared if needed to contribute towards  expenses if needed and in addition give free entry to one of their 100 Series Rides next year.  If anyone is keen to help please drop us al ine via the website.

Whilst riding or helping we will of course be thinking of our brave Crusaders on the Normandy Conquest Ride!!

In celebration of what is turning out to be a hugely successful 2012 Paralympics, we here at Velo Towers thought that it would be fitting to plan a route this week that takes us close by it’s birthplace, Stoke Mandeville.

Our resident bike mechanic, Dod, has kindly volunteered to lead out a more relaxed paced 12 mph group so … if you haven’t been out with us for a while and want to gently ease yourself back into cycling, this is a great opportunity to catch the decent weather and stretch those legs. We will be meeting at the Rose & Crown Ivinghoe on Sunday (2nd September) at around 9:50am with a view to setting off at 10am.

Velos Sunday Route

Cycle safely.

Cycling’s High Point of the week – hoping for a sunny one again tomorrow…

10am, The Rose & Crown.  Come and enjoy some gorgeous Buckinghamshire countryside with a good helping of Tea & Cake along the way.

And a reminder that next week is also the ‘Ride and Stride’ event – Saturday 8th September.   This is open to all Velo’s riders – Mary will put together a route visiting a few churches who will be serving tea and cakes.

For those that pre ordered and have paid your jerseys are ready for collection in the Rose and Crown!

If there are others interested in ordering a jersey please email us!

I am sure that like me you will not have missed the Lance Armstrong story that has or is going to lead to his disqualification from cycling. Here we have a man who has overcome cancer, won the Tour de France 7 times, and has protested his innonence consistently in the face of doping allegations. It seems strange that a man with such determination no longer has the motivation to defend himself in the face of such allegations.

Now I’m not going to spend too much dwelling in these events, like me you can find significant commentary on the matter in your regular daily read. But it has got me thinking. As ever what follows is based on no research whatsoever, and whilst it may purport to be fact, it may not be.

War is a tragic event, history is littered with it, and despite the modern age continues in lots of places around the globe. I don’t wish to diminish in anyway the horrors, but it could be argued that the side effects have advanced human development at a rate that would not have happened otherwise.

The second world war and the subsequent cold war has created an era of flight that has shrunk the planet and ensures that you get to your holiday destination in a matter of hours and not days. The development of rockets made the space shuttle possible, and has put vehicles on Mars.

Not far from us, up at Bletchley, world war 2 boffins cracked thousands of codes, and created the early computers that have in turn enabled me to comminicate with you via the wibbly wobbly web this morning.

So what’s this got to do with Lance? This is where the lack of research may start to show.

As I understand, young Lance liked to train at altitude, where the body has to work on a reduced oxygen level. Once the body has become acclimatised to this, it is able to perform at normal levels. A prompt return to normal altitude and the subsequent increase in oxygen gives a significant improvement in physical performance.

Of course the modern cyclist cannot spend enough time at altitude, and so the allegations are that after such training, blood is removed and then stored in readiness to be re-introduced at key sporting events.

So how might this benefit the aspiring Fatlete? Well many of us like to enjoy an evening sampling some isotonic beers or wines, but sometimes we don’t get the opportunity, or we simply need to save a few pounds towards our new shiny machine. But now all you need to do is to simply drain of a few pints of the red stuff after your night out and stick it in the fridge. The next time your short of pounds or hours just reinject for that instant slightly intoxicated feeling.

More sound consumer advise from the Vinghoe Velos. Now to the more important stuff, tomorrows ride;

29 miles

Andy Beezer has agreed again to lead a steady paced group to ensure that anyone, as long as you’ve got a bicycle, gets to enjoy the ride whatever your fitness or speed. So no excuses.

We had a record 18 riders out for last weeks lovely sunny tea ride, great to see new faces too. Tomorrow looks sunny with a risk of showers, so bring a rain coat if you prefer not to get wet. 10am at the Rose and Crown for another tea and cake adventure.

Mary is bringing sponsor forms for anyone who is interested in the ‘Ride and Stride’ event on Saturday 8th of September. This is open to all Velo’s riders- Mary will put together a route visiting a few churches who will be serving tea and cakes. Let me or Mary know if you are interested.

Sally

Over the last few weeks we have been having much debate about the Vinghoe Velos, where we have been and where we are going!

Just over 2 years ago 3 of us, over a few glasses of refreshment, talked about getting people together to enjoy our own passions for cycling, certain things occurred to us and set the tone for what was then done

1. This was NOT to be a club rather a group – none of us had sufficient time to administer a formal cycling club, which would require fees, insurance etc etc
2. We wanted to encourage others to enjoy cycling
3. We were to be fully inclusive
4. Slowest rider rules
5. Have fun and meet new people
6. Support our HQ, the Rose and Crown
7. Help tackle the growing problem of obesity in the country (not too successful in some cases!) – ok that wasn’t one of our founding principles!

And so the Vinghoe Velos was born!

We have been overwhelmed by what has happened and what has been achieved and from those humble beginnings where we have now got to.  From 75% of bikes being hybrid/mountain bikes to 95% being road bikes.  Many people taking on personal cycling challenges never considered before, just this year we will have seen:

• 3 people complete the London to Paris ride rasing money for Charities
• 1 person complete 5 mountain climbs used on the TdF, with the pinnacle being the  Col de la Croix de Fer, a stage never won by a British rider in the TdF but conquered by our very own John Hegarty who hit the summit in plenty of time to cheer  the ‘Sky Train’ through as Wiggo charged on to win his yellow jersey
• 10 intrepid members of the group taking on an endurance ride as they set off to Normandy in September for a wine tasting extravaganza interspersed with daily bouts of cycling!
• Sally Beezer’s Saturday Tea Rides proving a tremendous success

In addition:

• Bike purchases sufficient to restart the European economy!
• The numbers of Vinghoe Velos jerseys ordered reaching nearly 50 (order due in next week!)
• The hanging of the group jersey on the wall of HQ
• 2 Tandems regularly competing for the ‘Jack’ (Stalker) award!

So where now, we ask? – Watch this space for a Social being organised by our very own Publican (not forgetting “the other one”) and renowned email raconteur, Gary (@turnoverdigger) Peter – yes there is a story there!  The purpose is to openly talk about the good and the bad of the Vinghoe Velos and where it goes next, at the same time possibly having a couple of drinks and also welcoming any new people interested in joining us!

So to this weekend, the tea ride is out today at 10am and tomorrow we meet at the Rose and Crown at 0950 for a quick jaunt around the beautiful 3 Counties.  Recognising that the ‘quick jaunt’ may not be for all, Andy Beezer has kindly offered to lead out a group aiming to average a much more reasonable 12mph.

The route!  – 33 miles – not too hilly but remember its going to be warm, plenty of sunfactor 20 and water bottles filled!

Whilst some of the ride is repeated form last week this takes us further west before coming home – Andy Beezer may wish to shorten the route by heading back from Stewkley via Wing and Mentmore

Keep safe!

The Historic Churches Ride and Stride is on Sat Sept 8th. Mary is happy to plan a route if anyone is interested and to get sponsor forms (half of the money raised goes to the Church of your choice and the rest to the Historic Churches Trust.) Perhaps those interested could let me or Mary know. We’ll leave from Ivinghoe Church at 10.00am and possibly head for the hills!

Sally