Each May for the last few years we have planned a weekend away where we base our rides from a different town. We’ve enjoyed hospitaility in Hartington, Woodbridge, Teweksbury, Holmfirth, Wells and Ludlow. This year we are back in the East of England at Sudbury

The weekend is planned so people can join all four day rides or dip in and out. The car journey is not too far for a day trip or an overnight stay. Friday and Monday are shorter rides with one food stop while the Saturday and Sunday longer rides have two food stops and plan to take up the whole day.

While we need to get the rides done, the speed on the rides tends to be what we would call “tourist pace” around 14-15mph, with the odd stop to take a photo. When riding 4 consecutive days, it’s important not to over do the effort on the early days!

The information has been available in the events section of the Ivinghoe Velos rear hub for the last six months, but in case anyone has missed it this is a post direct to email subscribers.

The setting for 2026 is Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, so we are missing the hills from previous years!

There will be two ride lengths each day, so riders can do 4 long, 4 short, a mix depending on energy levels!

Highlights on the long routes are The picture perfect village of Finchingfield on day one, chips by the sea at Walton on day two, The medieval town of Lavenham on day three and historic Hadleigh on day four.

The short routes also visit Finchingfield and Lavenham and will also pass through the pretty villages of Dedham and Bures on the other days.

The usual “tourist” pace is expected but if we enough riders we could have a breakaway faster group, as long as they promise to leave some cake for the group behind!!!

Day one Midday start: “The Only Way is Essex”, through Finchingfield to the Ball Egg Cafe 45 miles.

Day two 9.30am start, Beside the seaside, Country lanes to Walton On The Naze. 68 miles. Lunch in Walton and afternoon tea in Dedham

Day three 9.30am start “Lets Go (horse) Racing” 65 miles with Coffee stops in Newmarket and Lavenham

Day four 10am “Is that you Tony?” A trip through Hadleigh with a coffee stop at Kersey Mill. 35 miles

The links may not work in this email, if so please copy and paste the link into your browser.

The Only Way Is Essex https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50942977
Beside the seaside https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53782667
Lets Go (Horse) Racing https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52051999
Is that you Tony? https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52053228

SHORTER ROUTES for those who don’t want to spend quite so long on two wheels.

Day one, Finchingfield 30 miles optional coffee stop at Winners. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53782553
Day two to Dedham 38 miles, coffee or lunch in Dedham https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52053587
Day three Cockfield and Lavenham, coffee in Lavenham (huge choice of cafes) 35 miles
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53782726
Day Four Bures and Back, 25 miles with an option stop in Bures
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53782781

We have a facebook events page where you can select “going” so we know who to expect and also a whatsapp group where meals and post ride beer meet ups will be planned and communicated.

Three route options for Sunday, all Starting from Ivinghoe. As we are now in the summer months the longest ride will leave at 9am and as it’s the first Sunday of the month it’s also a coffee stop ride. Thanks to Richard and Dave for providing the route options for 10am and 10.30am.

9am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54857684 50 miles travelling through all of the Claydons with a coffee stop at Nanna’s Cake Cafe (or Mursley Farm Shop if we don’t get confirmation that Nanna’s is open)

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54836935 31 miles with a climb up over Dunstable Downs and then back through Ashridge, this ride has the most elevation per mile this week, so next week will be a flat option

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54843859 21 miles going through Tottenhoe and Standbridge, after an initial climb past the Beacon it’s fairly flat all the way!

This week we are back to all three rides starting from Ivinghoe

9.30am 45 miles https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54759014

10am 32 miles https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54758591

10.30am 22 miles https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54758359

Three routes for Sunday 19th April. 10am and 10.30am will start from the church in Ivinghoe. The 9.30 route will start from The Crown pub in Gawcott (MK18 4JF)

9.30am 43 Miles Lark Ride to Candleford https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54630844

10am 32 miles round Leighton Buzzard https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54665776

10.30am 20 miles via Aston Clinton https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54654888

9.30amride Cubblington 2 Way https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54578910

10am ride Bit of a wiggle https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54555073

10.30am ride Out and about https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54554928

Route master Dave Bembridge has come up with two options for riders to enjoy on Easter Sunday. This week we are getting a Second Opinion from Dr Feelgood 

10.30 am   21 miles Going Back Home.   Well hopefully we will be returning to the Rose and Crown https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54463807

10.00 am 28 miles but a bit hilly  (Get your kicks on) Route 66 https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54463924

if your planning a coffee ride there’s Milk and Alcohol 

9.30am coffee ride (awaiting confirmation on open cafes for Sunday) 40 miles https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54474488

All routes begin from the gates of Ivinghoe church at the times stated, friends old and new welcome to join the rides.

From Route Master Dave Bembridge

I’ve enlisted the help of Dr John to help with our recovery. Both rides are named after one of his songs.

10.30 am 21 miles Will The Circle Be Unbroken? Yes if we stop off at the Swan for our post ride refreshment as the Rose is closed

10.30: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54354321

10.00am 28 miles Same Old Same Old

Well we have ridden many versions of this route over the years. Again we pass the Swan for a quick pint or two Not sure if they do Cheesy Chips though

10am: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54354420

Don’t forget the clocks go forward this weekend

9.30am away day ride, starting from Thame for a 40 mile ride.

Over the summer months we have the occasional break from the norm and ride on some different roads, this Sunday we will be meeting outside Thame Leisure Centre OX9 2BB. There is on-street parking very close to the start. So park at the start or make it a really big ride and set off from home (90 miles ish)

40 miles, only 1,500 feet of climbing & the pace won’t be too tasty.

9am: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54184572

In July 2010 “The Vinghoe Velos” sent out their first invitation to join a ride from the Rose and Crown pub. The ride started at 10am on a Sunday, no different distances, no pace groups, just a bunch of friends riding an array of different style bikes!

Over the last sixteen years the rides have changed somewhat in their makeup and participants. We have extended to three Sunday rides and also regular planned mid-week rides.

The longer Sunday ride is in rude health thanks to the ongoing dedication of the likes of Trevor and Pete who show up week in week out, joined by a fairly regular crew. Over the winter months we have dropped our milage and pace to enable others to join. There is no worries that this group will continue and most likely extend distance and also slightly up the pace over the summer months.

The 10am group is now on the endangered list due to low or no participation. Everyone can make very legitimate, fully understandble choices to not ride with the group, such as riding indoors rather than with the group, deciding you don’t like the route or riders on it and doing your own thing, chosing to do something else with your time on Sunday mornings, spend half the year on holidays, going to work on a Sunday, preferring to ride during the week and having a day off…..These along with a doctor “not fit to ride” note means 10am rides go out with a couple of riders on, or no one riding at all.

All the reasons to not cycle with the group are personal, valid and very legitimate, but understand this- if you don’t turn up the few that have been on rides will lose interest, go to a different club with a guarentee of people to ride with, take up a different hobby or discover they prefer riding solo. New people will turn up and have no one to ride with so will look elsewhere. There won’t be a group to ride with at 10am. The rides from Ivinghoe are not public service offerings or sponsored mass participartion events, they are made of and by those who take part. Our friendly relaxed (no rules!) approach is a unique selling point.

As we move into the warmer months the 10am ride may grow in popularity, or we may find that actually not enough people want that time and distance. This will be a shame for the few who would like it to continue. So lets see how the next few weeks go!

A great reason to ride this Sunday……. the Rose and Crown will be saying goodbye to landlord Mick, who has been serving up the best cheesy chips for the last 9 years! All our rides will finish there, a great opportunity to say goodbye in person.

At 9.30am we have “follow me I know a shortcut” which takes in New Road Weston Turville which has been remodelled as a twisty race track which will flow nicely on a bike. This is a 40 mile ride, flat to start and then a couple of hills on the back end.

9.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54280524

At 10am the route is “shortcut shortcut” where we head out in the same direction but cut out the hills on the way back making this a very manageable 31 miles

10am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54286000

At 10.30am you guessed it the route is “shortcut shortcut shortcut” which shaves off some more of the route and should have riders banging on the pub door at 12 O’clock

10.30am https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54286025

Three routes to choose from on Sunday. The long route heads south and back through Missenden and Wendover and the shorter routes are mini versions of this.

9.30am 36 miles Mother Earth https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54225776

10am 29 miles Mother Nature https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54226366

10.30am 21 miles Mother of God https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54226401

The forecast for Sunday is sunny spells and light winds, the idea conditions for a cycling outing. Hopefully waterproofs and boats are not needed.

As Grant has provided a short ride and Bob has provided a “middle ride” we are spoilt for choice this Sunday and will move the longer ride to 9.30am to ensure riders are with the right group.

23 miles 10.30am GD Sunday 08 26 March Short https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54141003

28 miles 10am Marsh lane open again at last https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54147902

38 miles 9.30am Gadesden Row Row Row The Boat https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54153337

We aim to keep groups together during the rides. Having a good idea of the route and looking behind you to moderate your pace to the rider behind you is important to make this happen. New riders and old friends are welcome to join any of our rides. As we are a group of friends riding together and not an organised club we cannot guarantee leadership or if there will be riders on every ride, a facebook poll is provided to help riders to see if they are likely to have company on the day. If you add your name to the poll in might encourage others to join.