Meet tomorrow at 10 am outside the Rose & Crown for a gentle bike ride for tea and cake followed by a gentle bike ride back tot the pub for further refreshment. We should be back by 12:30.

Also advance news about Elke’s Birthday Tea Ride on the 10th of August. We will cycle up to Ashridge where we will be met by a support vehicle full of cake and soft drinks for a picnic. Put the date in your diaries, and let me (Sally) or Elke know if you can come to make sure that there will be enough cake for all.

Dear All,

I have found 2 minor errors with the mapping for tomorrows ride. I
have corrected the route (as of 9:15pm) and as inthe previous email
from John it can be downloaded from:

http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3357621.html

For your information:

The first is in Tingrith at about 21 miles and is a very minor change.
Don’t turn left into the drive of the house – follow your nose and you
will rejoin the route.

The second is at 28 miles after crossing the A6. Don’t turn right over
a field – keep straight and follow signs to Lilley.

Regards

Andy

Lots of options this week for your Sunday ride.

Early start Canal Ride to Euston

Mr Bembridge and Mr Hollands have arranged a reverse of the very popular canal ride between Euston and Ivinghoe. So this time the idea is to ride the canal to Euston, refuel and get the train back home.
Start 8am sharp (to be early is on-time to be on-time is late!) at the car park on the Cheddington side of Pitstone Wharf (where the boats go from). Postcode LU7 9AD . If you are interested, please view our page here with full details.

Early start road ride by Mr Beezer

This lovely route involves a full circumnavigation of both Luton and Leighton Buzzard. It is around 100k in length so we start early – 8am from the Rose and Crown. Mr Beezer will lead out the speedy lot. Elke is doing this ride in preparation for the Ride London 100 so if you would rather a 14-15 mph ride, she is happy for people to join her.

The Mr Beezer route – 8 am start 

Normal 10am road ride

If an early start isn’t for you, we have our normal 10am ride, starting at the Rose and Crown from 10am. We don’t have a nominated lead organised yet so please do bring your maps / GPS device with the route on.

10am start from the Rose and Crown

Blatant Self Promotion

Whilst I am very aware that there is a real chance of charity fatigue , I am going out on a limb and ask anyhow. Me and the wife (e.g. Hegs & Elke) are both riding the Ride London 100 bike event on the 4th August for Macmillan Cancer Support and The British Heart Foundation. If you feel so inclined, please have a look at our fund raising pages to see why – if only to see a picture of me as a fat little baby !

http://www.justgiving.com/johnhegs

http://www.justgiving.com/elkehegs

Meet outside the Rose and Crown for gentle cycling, tea and cake. Pace at the speed of the slowest rider, no one gets left behind. We should be back between 12-12:30.
See you tomorrow.

Sally

Tonight (Tuesday 16th July) we will be gathering at the Pitstone Village roundabout for an evening road ride. We depart at 7pm and will be in two groups : The speedy lot and a more reasonable pace set by Mr Bembridge.

On Thursday evening we meet at the same spot from 7:30pm for an off-road adventure. Lights will be a prerequisite.

Finally, we would like to wish Andrew and Jose Bon Voyage for their bike ride to Paris this week. Wishing tail winds for you all the way.

Early route

Given the popularity of the early start / long routes, we are again scheduling an extra early one tomorrow morning. The route has been planned by Dave “The Hill” Howe and takes us to Chorleywood. We will be departing from the Rose & Crown at 8am. Bring lots of water and something to eat as the route is 55 miles long. In terms of ability groups, we will make arrangements on the day.

Long Route with 8am start
We are trying out linking to a new site for this route. If you want to export to your GPS device, use the ‘Export’ tab on the right and select either the TCX Course option (for Garmin 200/500/510) or GPX Track for all other devices that do route mapping.
Don’t bother with the ‘Direct Write’ option unless you already have a premium account with the site.

Usual 10am Route

Mr Bembridge has supplied our standard route this week. We gather from 9:50am and leave the pub at 10am. Again, it is worth bringing a couple of bottles of water if you can because the forecast is scorchio.

The Bembridge route meeting at 10am

Meet at 10 am outside the Rose and Crown for cycling, tea and cake.

See you there.
Sally

Tuesday 9th July – Ride and Social with the Slapton Wheelers 

Meeting at The Rose and Crown at 1850 to head off at 1900 we intend to have 2 separate groups.  Group 1 – averaging 16mph with a speed challenge and a lump or two! Group 2 – averaging no more than 13mph with fewer lumps!  We hope this covers off everyone and that we can all get together for a great night in the Rose and Crown to rehydrate at or soon after 2000!  There will also be sample sizes for the new kit for those interested in ordering.  HOPE TO SEE MANY OF YOU THERE!  Even if people aren’t riding it would be fantastic to see friends and others interested in joining up with the Vinghoe Velos in the pub at 2000!

Thursday 11th July – Off Road Ride

Meeting at Pitstone Roundabout at 1930.  Off Road ride ‘good lights’ (“Brighter than the Sun!”) required.  This is however an all ability ride for all those with Mountain Bikes and want to get fitter or at least go down scarey hills!

In signing off well done to the ‘Silverstone’ Riders to see 14 of you meet at 0800 on a Sunday morning for 67 miles was truly amazing!

Early Start Ride to Silverstone

Given the fantastic weather, we are putting out a longish ride, planned for us by Mr Beezer. It takes us to Silverstone and back via some beautiful countryside so it is well worth getting up a bit earlier than normal. We will be departing the Rose & Crown at 8am which should give us plenty time to complete the route, rehydrate at the Pub and watch Mr Murray win Wimbledon. We don’t have a nominated lead rider yet so please do bring your GPS devices or maps of the route together with water bottle(s) and something to eat. In all the route is around the 65 mile mark and varies between flat and rolling rather than any big climbs.

The route to Silverstone – 8am start

Note : If you have a Garmin that doesn’t have built in maps (like the Garmin 200 or 500/510) we have had a stab at creating a course file that you should be able to download to your device and get directions for this long route. We haven’t tested it though so please make sure you have a paper based map backup. The file is located here.

Usual 10am ride

For those wanting to ride something more like our usual ride, we have one planned by Mr Bembridge. It doesn’t look like he will be able to join us this week to lead it out so please again, bring the route on your GPS device or the more traditional ‘bit of paper’. We meet for this ride from 9:50am for a 10am departure.

Usual Ride – 10am start 

Centuries

We would like to congratulate Mark & Dave who last week each rode their first Century (100 miles). They showed an enormous amount of grit and determination on what was an incredibly hilly course. Well done chaps, we are very proud of you.

This is the Velos ride for all abilities, so if you are just getting back into cycling after a break this is the ride for you. We do about 10-15 miles of gentle cycling with a tea break in the middle. Then back to the Rose and Crown for more tea and cake, or beer and a bacon butty if that’s more your thing. Pace is set by the slowest rider so no one gets left behind.

Meets 10 am outside the Rose and Crown.

See you there.
Sally