We have taken a break from watching the Tour of Britain to bring you news from our head quarters here at Velo Towers.

Following on from our highly successful venture into Social Media using Twitter, we are now going to have a stab at Facebook. A page has been set up and if you are a Facebook user, please find us (Search for ivinghoe velos) and say hello (and ‘like’ us). For those not on Facebook, fear not – we have no plans for it to become our main place to distribute news – the website and emails will continue to be the best place to find out what’s going on.

There are only 4 more days left open for registrations for the 74 mile Wiggle Rut that takes place on the 25th September. I am very proud to say that the Vinghoe Velos is by far the largest single team with 8 members already signed up. If you would like to join us, please head on over to the Kilotogo.com website and register. As mentioned before, on the 25th the normal ride will take place from the Rose and Crown for those who sensibly don’t feel they need to put themselves through the pain of a crazy distance.

And finally, there is the normal leisurely off-road ride in Ashridge taking place tomorrow evening (Thursday). We meet at the Ivinghoe Library at 6:40pm and head up to the Beacon car park for 7pm.

Is it a monster? No it’s a Vinghoe Velo, blue shirt glinting in the early morning hue, hair in his eyes, cuddling his handlebars and yelling no more hills, PLEASE Dave. But boy is it a monster weekend.

First up Mary Sainty and Friends are heading for the Bucks Historic churches ride, leaving from Ivinghoe Church at 10.00am today. Let’s hope they can bring back plenty of free lead for us.

Next up is the Ladies Cycletta which takes place tomorrow morning from whipsnade zoo. Jose comments “It’s not the penguins that bother me, but those bloody bison are enormous. Hit one of those and your bike is gonna be pipework”. Good luck to all the ladies taking part tomorrow, especially the friends and members of the vinghoe velos, as well as the helpers manning the rifles.

And of course for the rest of us there is usual Sunday ride. This week we have dropped the short route as there has been no take up on this in recent weeks, with everybody preferring to take the longer ride. However, the longer route is now divided into two groups, the quick set (this is a relative point) and those that prefer a leisurely pace. So if in recent weeks you’ve felt that we’ve all been chasing quick times and high average speeds, when all you wanted was a pleasant ride out on a Sunday morning, and have perhaps been a little reluctant to come along, we’ve now made sure there’s a like minded bunch to go with.

We remain a club for people that just want to ride their bikes, irrespective of what sort of bike it is, or how old it is. In fact the more out there your bike is the more welcome you are. Tandems, choppers, and Penny Farthings all welcome. Exotic state of the art bikes are also welcome but please ensure you have no athletic ability whatsoever if you want to turn up on one of these.

And so here is this weeks ride. 

Long Route

A few of us who are preparing for the Wiggle Rut  on the 25th September are going to head off from Pitstone roundabout at 9am tomorrow (4th September) to get in a warm up workout before joining the long ride at the R&C from 10am. If you feel like adding a few more miles you are most welcome to join us.

If anyone is still thinking of registering for the Wiggle Rut, please do enter your team name as “Vinghoe Velos”. We will be sorting out sharing the transport up there soon so please let John Hegarty know you are going.

And completely unrelated, here is a photo from the ride last week where we had an unusual type of road blockage.

Welcome to this weeks ridees and general up date on nothing to do with cycling. As some of you may know I have recently been in Italy helping their gypsy economy get back on track, and looking after their unemployed at the Giro Italia. This is not as some people think the italian version of Etch a Sketch or Spirograph.

Now when many of us think of Italy, we often think of exotic cars or cheeky little runabouts, but what of your average italian I hear you ask. Well much to my surprise, and despite reports of their economy being in poor shape, I can confirm that Mr 2.4 in Tuscany seems to getting by in his castle and vinyard rather nicely. And his wine tastes jolly fine too.

So there we are, a complete review of the italian economy in one paragraph, and in less words, our rides for tomorrow.

Long route 

Short Route

So here we are sat watching a punch up at the Aviva Stadium described as being simply handbags even Gucci handbags, I guess that’s where professional Rugby Union has taken us!

Tomorrow sees the ‘new bikes’ Hetheringtons heading to Milton Keynes for the MK Skyride to promote cycling to the masses whilst Gary continues his European family tour.

One for the Laydeeeeeeeees, Cycletta takes place in 2 weeks time starting and finishing at Whipsnade, whilst no longer a closed road route (apart from Bison Hill) this should be a good ride out. Needless to say whilst being a women only ride they can’t do it without the men and we are looking for volunteers to assist with marshalling and bike mending. Any volunteers please let us know through here please!

Having discovered that major department stores have opened their Christmas Departments our thoughts are turned to celebrating the festive season. Velos Christmas ‘bash’ for riders and their partners has been booked at the Old Hunters Lodge in Whipsnade on Friday 9th December 2011. The cost is £23.95 per head and a deposit of £10 per head is required to Jayne Raynor by 9th October, spaces are limited so first come first served, book early to avoid disappointment! Transport Manager Jim has kindly offered to organise transport (at additional cost) once numbers have been finalised news on this will follow in due course.

So to getting out on 2 wheels!

LONGER RIDE

SHORTER RIDE

Have Fun!

New route?

As the Red Arrows lose a plane, the Chinese lose a train, some poor soul loses control of their automobile causing traffic chaos on the M1, the fleet of new bikes continues to grow at the Vinghoe Velos

Rumour has it 2 new speed machines will be on display tomorrow, with Andrew “I don’t like White bikes” being one of these!

So where to tomorrow? Gary after a week of underwater camping heads off to Italy to plan for the Giro whilst Jose is leading a Skyride Local in Aylesbury in readiness for the MK Skyride next week!

Longer Ride

Shorter Ride

Finally if anyone is thinking of buying a ‘pirated’ cheap import jersey think again.  Our new member Mr M Arrow says the fit isn’t great although we are surprised he didn’t come with a china tea cup!

MAry Saintey has asked us to remind you that she is once again riding the churches ride on 10 September 2011. She is looking for friends to join her on the day, and has routes already planned. Details will be available on forthcoming Sunday rides.

I have also recieved information From Mark and Izzy Robinson who asked me to put this out:

Fast road ride. Leaves Pitstone Roundabout 7.00PM

Challenging off Road leaves Rushendon Furlong 7.30PM

All return to the Rose and Crown for Isotonic Ale afterwards. Remenber the faster you ride the quicker you get there.

Well its certainly been quite a week, some might say its been a riot. But here in Vinghoe and the surrounding villages life meanders pretty much as normal. Chickens munch toothless on yesterdays scraps, children play in the leafy parks, Dogs are walked, the hanging baskets are watered, the swinging parties continue, and the streets are littered with the blue of the MIGHTY VINGHOE VELOS.

And so we continue with our weekly tour of the surrounding countryside, with no fewer than three rides on offer this weekend. They consist of the usual long and short routes, as well a new off-road route for those of you looking to give your mountain bikes a workout.

Now at this point we would normally give you details of the proposed routes, however I tried to log on to mapometer this morning, only to find their account is currently suspended. We will review this again later today, but if normal service is not reviewed, we will head out on one of our previous rides relying purely on memory to guide us.

Should the mapometer situation be permanent, if you have details of any other websites offering a similar service, please let us know.

Looking to the future (This is not the Septic Meg sections) Mary Saintey is looking to undertake the Churches ride on 10th September and is extending an invite to all. We have lots of information on this and will post details later this weekend.

See you all tomorrow 10.00am.

Here at the