Eaten too many Easter eggs? Come for a spring bike ride, have cake instead. Met Office predicts sunny spells and a less than 5% chance of rain, so well worth getting the bike out.

See you tomorrow outside the Rose and Crown at 10.
Sally

A strange expression and one that is seldom heard in the modern interweb age. But recently I heard this and unfortunately for you people out there waiting for a nice little piece on cycling, yet again I am going to disappoint you. Today I am going to consider this little ancient phrase, and add a little colour to both the literal and metaphorical understanding. At least this week’s title will have some significance to the content.

So first to the literal meaning and what better way to start than with those icons of comedy Morecambe and Wise, who for years on end entertained us weekly with a clever mix of wit and music. Eric a true genius, who delivered comic lines with the timing of an atomic clock and could cause fits of laughter with a mere raising of his spectacles. Of course genius is close to madness, and in this regard Eric was an avid Luton Town follower. The other bloke was called Ernie. Who can forget where they spent most of their time? Yes in the same bed wearing colourful pyjamas in front of an audience and several television cameras, and as far as we are aware neither of them were gay. Strange bedfellows indeed!

Of course it is not only on English shores where you will find such odd behaviour. A short hop across the channel will take you to our French friends and more specifically to the presidents’ wife. A lady that is beautiful, a talented songstress we are led to believe, and one who previously dated rock stars. But let us move to her current spouse, the vertically challenged, xenophobic, crystal making soon to be ousted French leader. Whilst I can see where the poor chap might rest his head its difficult to see how these two became one.

Enough of the literal meaning I shall now move on to the more lateral. Where better to start than a sport close to our hearts, cycling. As the Vinghoe Velo fatletes well understand this is probably the most physically demanding of all the modern sports, where stamina and physique combine to produce the ultimate in human achievement. Years of training and diet go into preparing these athletes and you would be hard pressed to find one in a public house. For the Vinghoe Velos our home is the Rose and Crown, where many of our 72 members will be seen regularly. Strange Bedfellows? I think not, for as much as the modern cyclist is a product of his/her environment, so too is the vinghoe velo fatlete, who will have spent many years developing their physique close to a bar.

This brings me neatly to the Rose and Crown, whose stewardship has recently passed from Alistair to a couple of local friends. So who are the new landlords? Well one is a witty articulate keen cyclist that lives merely a few doors from the establishment. He is a man renowned for his wisdom and foresight, his sound practical understanding of science, and his cultured appreciation of the classic arts. The other one is Kirk.

 Now I am sure that some may be wondering how I can take an active role in both the leadership of the Vinghoe Velos and our favourite village pub without any conflicts arising. Well I would like to reassure you all that I shall continue to dedicate my time to both tasks equally and impartially. So this week I have drafted a special route that I know you will enjoy. Apologies if there a few extra hills and miles, but a least you’ll come back thirsty.

Long Route

It’s Easter weekend, but will we find hot cross buns on the ride? Come and see. 10am at the Rose and Crown for a fairly flat, fairly short ride with tea in the middle.

Sally

While the temperatures for our 1st April ride won’t be a patch on the mini heat wave we enjoyed this week, our insiders at the Met Office tell us it should be a dry & bright morning. Having said that, please do look out the window before choosing the appropriate numbers of layers to wear tomorrow because our insider also advises the government on what to do when fuel shortages are projected – and we all know how that went this week.

As always, please assemble at the Rose & Crown Ivinghoe around 9:45am.

Long Route

Short Route

Cycle safe.

We had a lovely 18 mile ride in the hills last Saturday, well done to all who came out. We went a little further than usual, but were rewarded with a beautiful ride and lovely weather- and of course, tea and cake.

This weeks ride will be shorter and less hilly, but with just as much tea and cake as usual. The weather looks dry and calm, so bikes out of the shed and see you at 10 outside the Rose and Crown.

Sally

Oh what a joy to be able to cycle in shorts and proudly wearing the Vinghoe Velos Jersey (I have 3 requests for new ones and will need 2 more if we are to order some!)

Far from avoiding the rain and the puddles the challenge now is to remember how quickly you dehydrate when its nearly 20 degrees outside.

Get the summer super slick tyres on, oil your chains and lets hit the road tomorrow meeting at the Rose and Crown at 0945 tomorrow morning.

Long Ride – Yes I know we did it a month ago!

SLong Ride – Yes the same as the Long just slower 🙂

Shorter Ride – Shorter than the Long ride!

The sun will be shining, perfect cycling weather and a great ride planned. See you all at the Rose and Crown at 10am. New riders always welcome.

Sally

We have three items for you in our mid-week post : off-road ride scheduled for Thursday evening, French adventure planned for September and a update on Andrew and Jose’s charity ride.

Off Road Ride

So first off, we are putting a call out for any off-road riders who would like to join the normal Thursday evening muddy trek around the local villages. We are meeting up on the 22nd (i.e. tomorrow) at the Pitstone Memorial Hall at 7pm sharp. Our in-house navigation specialist Dave “Ain’t no mountain high enough” Howe has planned the route below with some definitely uncharted territories so please join us as we try and avoid getting lost. Lights will mandatory as where we are going, there are no street lights !

Thursday evening off-road route

French Adventure planned for September – all welcome to join

Below is a message from Velos regular Peter.

Jim and I are intending to go on a cycle ride in France! We are proposing to go to either Caen or Cherbourg from Portsmouth with Brittany ferries.  The date that we have in mind is Monday 10^th September. The intention being, to spend four nights in France, doing around fifty miles per day. Brittany ferries have already worked out good circular cycling routes for us, the detail can be found by following this link.

There are also .pdf files describing in detail both the Cherbourg and Caen routes. These routes are designed to avoid busy roads and to follow the numerous Velo tracks, both routes are around the 200 mile mark in total. We will arrange transport to get down to Portsmouth  and nothing has been decided about accommodation, needless to say we are out of the school holiday season so I do not envisage any major problems in this area.

If anybody is interested send an E-Mail to pthompso@btinternet.com

Charity Ride by Andrew & Jose

The sponsorships are picking up for our two intrepid endurance cyclists A & J Hetherington but they still need your support. They are riding all the way to Paris for for a fantastic charity, Action Medical Research, dedicated to to improving the health of babies and children in the UK. Please take the time to read about them on the sponsor page and, if you can, sponsor our two members in support of the tough task they have set themselves.

Andrew’s Sponsorship Page

Jose’s Sponsorship Page

Thanks for listening and see you on the next ride.

As many of you will know Jenny and Simon, having been 2 of our earlier members leave the cosy confines of Ivinghoe and the comfort of HQ, the Rose and Crown.  As Simon recently recounted 2 years ago they didn’t own a bike, yet now between them they have 4 between them in the UK alone (not forgetting 2 at their holiday retreat!).

Simon’s first run out on the fabled sunday ‘short’ ride saw him laid up on the sofa for the afternoon with exhaustion yet the 60 mile Luton Reliability ride a few weeks back was no problem.

For Jenny initially the return to cycling was the Industrial estate at Pitstone regaining her natural  balance but as with Simon she rapidly progressed to her gleaming new road bike to join the Sunday ‘long’ ride on  a regular basis.

So to this weekend we will be cycling (provided no monsoon) to say farewell to great friends, failing that please try and make it to HQ for 1230 tomorrow to have a drink and say farewell properly.

Longer Ride

Shorter Ride

What a lovely week it has been for cycling. Hopefully the warm spell might hang on for tomorrow’s tea ride- but whatever the weather, another exciting ride (and another tea room) awaits those who wish to meet outside the Rose and Crown at 10am.

Sally