This week we continue our summer evening rides with a 6.30pm departure from Pitstone roundabout. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42807646
This weeks theme is “one become two” there will be two pace groups splitting when we get to the first climb. Once in your pace group riders can measure their effort up the long but shallow climb to the top of Aston Hill by getting into a steady cadence. Thanks to Dave B for providing the route of 20 miles.
Three routes for your enjoyment this Sunday, with the summer timetable now in place our early ride starts at 9am and being the first Sunday on the month has a coffee stop option at Spire and Spoke, Watlington. This route is quite simply the flatest 100km route, a good prep for Ride London and the tour of Cambridge. It’s so flat, there is more climbing on the 10am route which is less than half the miles!
At 10am we have a few hills on the menu, The Beacon, Pedley hill and Pipers Hill await rides on this 30 mile outing.
At 10.30am we have a 24 mile route heading through Halton, it’s a mini version on the 9am route, a good chance for beginners and returners to work as a Peloton together
***Save the date*** our first Sunday in July coffee stop ride will be “The Benson Finger” a club favourite, this will coincide with the Benson Vintage Bike club annual Rally which starts from the playgound just off the B4009 on our route to Benson, the rally is quite a sight with riders in vintage clothing on some amazing old machines.
9am 64 miles, 1,700 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42762986
10am 30 miles 1,880 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42761729
10.30am 24 miles 600 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42761777
So see you on Sunday for some fun on two wheels…. Roll on Sunday.
This week our rides depart from Ivinghoe church at 9.30am, 10am or 10.30am. After this we will be switching to “summer mode” when Tuesday evening rides will start at the roundabout in Pitstone at 6.30pm and the longer Sunday rides will start at 9am.
Thanks as always to Dave Bembridge for providing the 10am and 10.30 routes. This week a 31 mile ride takes us to Soulbury while our 21 mile offering loops out to Tottenhoe
Our 9.30am route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42687782 The Kimpton Kracker, 47 miles with the hills in the right direction (shallow side up). Kimpton is bypassed by two Roman roads, Watling Street and Ermine Street and there is evidence of a network on minor Roman roads through the parish. A chariot bell was found at Blackmore End, a spot we cycle past. This could have been a relic from the bloody encounter between Boudicca, queen of the Iceni and Roman governor Suetonius. Kimpton recieved 138 children from the great evacuation of London in 1938 and two years later this forward thinking village decided to allow female voices to be heard in the church choir!
10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42673480 This week a 31 mile ride takes us to Soulbury. Soulbury in an Anglo Saxon name meaning “stronghold in a gully” it was mentioned in the doomsday book as Soleberie. Just before we turn left out of Soulbury there is a road on the right called Chapel Hill, close to the junction with the high street there is a glacial rock on the middle of the road. It is said that the Devil himself once came to the village, but the villagers came together to fight him off. One of them took his sword and cut off the Devil’s foot and as it fell to the ground it turned to stone. The stone came to be known as the Soulbury Boot and the pub being named the duke of Wellington is a nod to the boot! Soulbury has a dark past, with a strong association with the cottage industry of straw plaiting. The Plaiting saw girls as young as 4 years old introduced into long working hours, working with bleached straw. Death rates in the 19th century were 50% higher amoung straw plaiters than the general population due party to having to lick the sulphur covered straw to make it workable.
10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42673499 21 mile offering loops out to Tottenhoe. Tottenhoe was named in the Doomsday book as Totene Hou meaning look-out house and spur. The knolls were part of a Norman Keep and it was considered to be a fine Motte and Bailey Castle. The stone quarried from the knolls end of the village has been used in many local churches and also St Albans cathedral and Woburn Abbey. At the start of the 20th century Tottenhoe was served by a railway line with the station down at Stanbridgeford, there was a siding for the local lime works and the line attracted many day trippers from the big towns for a day in the country at Tottenhoe. The line was cut during the beeching reforms and is now the “Sewell Greenway” a pleasant cycle route, but maybe not on your best road bike.
In a future week we will be putting out a treasure hunt style ride with some more historic facts to look out for, so keep your eyes peeled and enjoy the rides!
This sunday our longest route heads South to Chorleywood, Chalfont St Giles and Holmer Green, just over 50 miles with some stunning Chilterns coutryside, we tackle the hills shallow side up, so climbs are longer but not too steep. We meet at 9.30am at Ivinghoe church. Last week the longer ride split into three groups with +16mph, +15mph and +14mph groups, depending on numbers we will do something similar, if rider numbers are lower we will default to “no one gets left behind” pace.
At 10am from Ivinghoe church we head in a similar direction and loop in and out of Chesham with a trip to the lovely village of Hyde Heath. The decent into Chesham from Hyde End is a good one and the wind should give riders a good push in the right direction!
At 10.30 the shortest route also heads South before heading back past Chiltern Velo.
9.30am 51 miles, 2,631 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42590969
10am 31 miles, 1,469 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42591271
10.30am 20 miles, 1,077 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42591390
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!
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.
We had some great outings last weekend with three rides going out from Ivinghoe church, there was a bit of gravel on the roads so it felt a bit like that crazy “Hell of the North” race over the channel. We enjoyed last week so much we are going to do it all again this Sunday! So whether you are a regular, a new comer, or possibly someone who has moved away but is back for a special guest appearance get yourself on two wheels this Sunday.
We aim to keep our groups together to share the wind, last week the 9.30 ride came in at 15.3mph. The shorter routes have recently been ridden between 13 and 14mph.
Our 9.30am ride takes the high roads to Haddenham before a flat route home, taking in Hastoe Hill and Dunsmore it’s a good training ride for our Holmfirth event coming next Month. At 10am riders will head north and turn back at Drayton Parslow, watch out for all the little lambs in the fields around the roads up there. At 10.30 the option is a repeat of last weeks short ride, a great starting point if you’re just starting out.
9.30am 45 miles, 2,160 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42509350
10am 34 miles, 1,344 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42498545
10.30am 18 miles 550 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42426287
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!
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.
Easter Sunday, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian holiday that celebrates Jesus Christ rising from the dead. I’m fairly certain bikes hadn’t been invented back then so Sundays would have been a bit different. Luckily for us we only have to rise from our comfy beds in time for one of the Ivinghoe Velo routes leaving Ivinghoe church on Sunday morning. With shops and garden centres closed the roads should be quiet, the weather forecast is good, so resurrect your trusty steed and see you there!
The 9.30am ride takes us past Redbournbury Mill over a couple of rivers, there are bridges so no need to ride through! We then return via the Luton busway. The 10am tackles Toms Hill and Pedley hill, then over Dustable Downs. At 10.30 it’s 18 miles of flatness apart from the climb through Dryton Beauchamp.
Fuelled by hot cross buns and chocolate the energy levels should be pretty good.
9.30am 45 miles 1,800 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42432465
10am 29 miles 1,600 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42426225
10.30am 18 miles 550 feet of climbing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42426287
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!
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.
Spring is here, the nights are drawing out, the time to increase cycling activity has arrived! So get yourself out on two wheels this weekend and enjoy a ride with the Ivinghoe Velos! We have three routes all starting from Ivinghoe church and returning to the same point before 1pm. We welcome new riders and our groups have several different pace options, the longer ride is often ridden in excess of 15mph, the shorter routes are usually between 13mph and 15mph. It would be great to see some of the mailing list who have not ridden with us before. Riding in a group is a great experience and we leave no one behind, unless they really want to do their own thing!
This weeks rides are 9.30am 42 miles, 10am 32 miles 10.30am 21 miles.
9.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42375511
The most important thing to do on Saturday night is reset your clock as we lose an hour this weekend, you can then stay awake all night worrying if the clock will then reset itself back again, so take it’s own hour off, by the morning you won’t know where you are. Luckily we will provide routes to get you back on track!
Talking of getting on track this Sunday we have an adventure ride, jump on the train and head North to Northampton and then use your bike (which you hopefully remembered to put on the train) to get back home. We have a lovely route suggested by Jason which involves 57 miles with the wind behind you, I call that great planning! After leaving Northampton via the Nene Valley way we head through lots of lovely villages, via Salcey Forest and the canal centre of Stoke Bruerne on through Iconic Sliverstone and picturesque Buckingham. The train times are Berkhamsted 8.57, Tring 9.02, Cheddington 9.07 and Leighton Buzzrad 9.14. Arrival in Northampton will be around 9.50 and then it’s a steady group ride back with the potential of a refreshment stop along the way.
For those wanting to stay local Dave Bembridge has crafted two routes, a 32 mile ride via Heath and Reach at 10am or a 21 mile outing to Cublington at 10.30. These are our usual Sunday offerings starting from Ivinghoe church, we may split into pace groups if rider numbers are big.
Northampton train station 9.50am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42058942
10am Ivinghoe Church https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42298322
10.30 Ivinghoe Church https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42298464
Northampton has been the venue for several stages of the womens tour of Britain and will host strage 2 this year, on the 8th June traveling from Northampton to Ampthill. A great chance for spectators to watch the start and then cycle to the finish. The milk race has also visited Northampton on occasion. This race was so called because amateur riders were given jerseys with “drink more milk” written on them, for a time the race around the UK pitted amateurs agains pros. After races the milk marketing board would pronounce that the winner, who would recieve a £10 prize, won the race due to the properties of milk. So down a pint of gold top and get ready for Sunday!
Three rides for your consideration this week. As we are moving towards spring the longest ride will now move to 9.30am, we also have 10am and 10.30am rides on offer. Being Mothers day the aim of the game this week is to get back relatively early so you can enjoy family time, or a beer or two at the pub.
Marta Bastianelli and Lizzie Deignan are two of the very few mothers competing on the women’s world tour. They have been able to juggle motherhood with continuing their successful cycling careers. Bastianelli won the 2018 European Road championship as a mum. Lizzie Deignan won the Paris-roubaix femme in 2021 after retruning from having a daughter in 2018 and is due to return this season after having a son last September. On the track we have to look no further than Laura Kenny for annother inspiration mother, Laura is the most successful British female athlete of all time and won her most recent medals after giving birth to Albie and is currently expecting her second child. With Laura and Jason’s genes I’m sure Albie will be pretty hot on two wheels, just like our Sunday crew.
Our rides leave Ivinghoe church on Sunday morning and return in time for a restorative beer at the Rose and Crown, or a dash home to cook mum dinner. As a guide last Sunday our longer ride group achieved 16mph on a fairly flat route, while the shorter team average just under 14mph on a slightly hillier route.
9.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42244898 39 miles
10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41439757 29 miles
10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41439771 22 miles
The most famous bike ride in the world is the tour de France. Ridden across 3 weeks starting this year on 1st July, riders will cover 3,404kms with the longest day being 209kms. The ride finishes in Paris on 23rd July. Don’t worry our routes have all the thrills of a tour stage but are somewhat shorter and don’t go up any mountains (this week)
The rider who has the lowest overall time during the tour de france is given a yellow jersey to wear, this maillot jaune was choosen as it matched the paper the sponsor newpaper L’Auto was printed on. The first ever yellow jersey was issued on 18th July 1919 to Eugene Christophe, it was made of thick wool and he complained it made him look like a canary.
Our stylish blue kit is a far nicer option, so pop on your blue top this Sunday and join us for a Buckinghamshire “stage” around the villages.
Rides start from Ivinghoe church and return to the same spot a couple of hours later The longer 10am route has a relatively small amount of climbing (39 feet per mile) so is slightly longer than previous weeks at 41 miles, the medium ride has almost the same amount of climbing as the longer ride but over 27 miles (55 feet per mile), while the shorter 10.30 route is 22 miles with the same climb ratio as the medium route (55 feet per mile)
10am long route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42182376
10am medium route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42182316
10.30am short route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42182351
Depending on the number of riders we may split into pace groups to ensure riders get round at an average speed that is comfortable to them. Last Sunday the longer group averaged around 15.5mph while the shorter groups were around the 13.5mph mark. Please ensure no one gets left behind and look after the guys behind you as much as keeping up with the wheel in front of you. After more frosty weather the roads are likely to have more holes than ever so please point out any hazards well in advance.
New riders and always welcome to join us, we ride road bikes on Sunday mornings with ad-hoc additional rides during the week. We are a group of friends rather than a club. We average between 13mph and 16mph. If you ride faster than this solo you might want to check out the local clubs in the area.
In the second ever edition of the tour de france in 1904 Henri Cornet was awarded the win after four riders ahead of him were seen getting off a train during the race. To recreate this, on 26th of March one of our ride options will be to catch the 9.02 train from Tring Station up to Northampton and then cycle back, the journey back on two wheels is just shy of 60 miles on some lovely quiet lanes