- EVENTS -

August & September 2021

Dates for the Diary

7th August – Big Dave at No Two Cycles will be at CVV HQ with his Cycle Surgery, so if you have any niggles with your bike, let him cast his expert eye and healing hands over it!

30th August – is the 3rd Belvoir Retro Ride starting and finishing from CVV HQ. Check out their facebook page for further details.

11th September – Vuelta a España – Our Spanish themed event. Keep an eye out for more details on here or our social media pages.

*Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates.*

Coming soon

Event planning for 2021...

In collaboration with Big Dave at No Two Cycles we at CVV HQ are planning some fab events for CVV/N2C customers.

We are really excited about the plans – the dates of the events are entirely dependent on the Covid-19 lockdown/tier/British Cycling rules/advice/guidelines which prevents us confirming dates BUT the plan is to follow some pro tour races with events based on the pro tour geographic locations…..

  1. Omploop Het Nieuwsblad – start of the Belgian cycling season – GRAVEL
  2. Paris – Nice – ORIENTEERING (to include checkpoints on gravel tracks)
  3. Giro d’Italia – ITALIAN THEMED EVENT
  4. Mont Ventoux Challenge – DOUBLE CAFÉ ROUTE
  5. Tour de France – FRENCH THEMED EVENT
  6. Vuelta a Espana – SPANISH THEMED EVENT

Watch this space!

*Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates.*

Thursday 24th & Friday 25th - June - 2021

An Evening with Chris Sidwells

The History of the Tour de France and the Characters who made it.

Caffe Velo Verde is proud to present not just one but two evenings with Chris Sidwells -Thursday and Friday 24th and 25th June at CVV HQ
Chris is the nephew of Tom Simpson – one of Britain’s greatest professional cyclists.
It was a sell out when Chris came to CVV pre pandemic and gave a talk about Tom and his career.
Chris has written several best selling books on the Tour de France and on bike racing around the world.
We have asked him to come and give a talk on the history of the Tour de France in order to whet our appetites for the great race starting on the 26th.
We hope that this will generate lots of interest hence us asking him for two nights!
Come and enjoy a relaxing summers evening, feel free to bring your own cool box with some beers or wine or whatever tipple you fancy and enjoy listening to a fascinating talk and Q and A session.
Bill will MC it and promises no karaoke!
Tickets £12.50pp – if you are coming please email hello@caffeveloverde.co.uk letting us know how many in your party and their names. Numbers will be limited so book early!

Wednesday 7th & 14th - July - 2021

Cheese and Wine Tasting

Friday 1st - January - 2021

Getlostathon Report

For those still holding their breath, please exhale as here is the long awaited Bill and Dave’s Excellent Blow the Cobwebs Off Getlostathon Orienteering Extravaganza report.

As we know NYD was brass monkey weather so those that braved it to CVV HQ – complete hats off, especially to the very small people on very small bikes – an amazing and brave turn out. We had bikes for 5 year olds up to a tandem for big people. Just brilliant. Thank you all for braving the elements, buying a map, being briefed by Big Dave, planning cunning routes, getting out there taking silly selfies and returning in one piece. On returning to base some very cold adult cyclists were provided with a warming glass of port (part of your 5 a day), and the littlies with healthy fruit yo-yo’s (part of your 5 a day). I can’t mention everyone who turned out even though you all deserve to be; Josh (14) was first out and solo followed by Kiwi Wayne (considerably older) and solo. KW feeling the cold soon returned and was leader in the clubhouse for a few minutes not for points accrued but because he was first back. Rob and family deserve a mention for the number of kids bravely completing the challenge in wet shoes, Cortado Tom accompanied by sons Sam and Eddie (5 and 7 yrs) won the U10 category with an amazing mileage of 14 miles and an impressive points tally– well done boys!

Sam & Eddie Kids category winners and the Hardisty Family

Britta and Bob, both steely eyed and quietly determined blasted round on the yellow peril tandem and came agonisingly close to overall victory, but won the tandem category by a country mile (the only ones in that category but this shouldn’t take the shine of their victory).

Participants of the silly selfies and the winners of the Tandem Category (bottom right)

Icy rain caused chaos, turning some rider’s maps into papier mache, the wise ones having photo’d them at the start had a bit of a titter about that. The titters became louder (Big Dave and myself) when a two husband team lost to their respective wives due to excess time penalty points, and louder still when Ian, freezing cold on his return sought sanctuary under a heater and had an Icarus moment when his crash hat started to melt. There can’t be many things more embarrassing than a dripping helmet. The overall winners however, were father and son team Paul and 13yr old Ethan who flew around their chosen course, opting to climb hills to bag most points. This is a great strategy if you are built like two racing snakes and have local knowledge! Congratulations to you both – a CVV gift voucher and a No Two Cycles discounted servicing are your prizes, but the real kudos of course is that you are the inaugural Bill and Dave’s Excellent Blow the Cobwebs Off Getlostathon Orienteering Extravaganza champions.

The Winners

Dave and I (and a large quantity of port) thoroughly enjoyed our time under the CVV HQ heaters and got quite a tan in the process, the consensus from those participating appears to be that it was an enjoyable experience, a great format and definitely to be repeated!

A mention also to those that purchased a map, electing to ride on another day – thank you and we hope you enjoy the challenge; and to all who donated to the CVV charity for 2021 – Air Ambulance – we raised £79 – a good start to the year!

The final say must be of course to Ian, to have a mushy map and a dripping helmet is awful; he receives the kudos of holding (only virtually) the CVV Catarsetrophy trophy for the day. This soon to be iconic trophy is something to be coveted – you can never own it – you can merely be photographed in its presence so please return for your studio session!

Winners of the Catarsetrophy

Orienteering Map

Red Dots indicate the sites collected by the winning team. The numbers next to the dots/circles indicate the amount of times that site was visited by the participants.

Caffe Velo Verde and No Two Cycles, New Years Day Get-lost-athon.

Results:

Results table

In total, the riders (and 9 non-riding donators) raised £79 for the CVV ‘Charité de l’année’, The Notts and Lincs Air Ambulance.  More details here : https://www.ambucopter.org.uk/

Date to be confirmed - 2021

La Velo Verde Vuelta

THE 2020 La Vuelta ran from 20th October to 8th November 2020. Stage 12 on the 1st November was from Pola de Laviana to Alto de l’Angliru – a distance of 109.4 kms. The Angliru itself is a 7.8 mile climb and has an elevation of 4135ft with average gradient of 10.1% rising to 24%. Now that is just bonkers. The fastest ascent was in 2000 by Roberto Heras in 41:55 at an average of 18.32km/h….. Really Roberto? Clean as a whistle obviously.
 
SO….. Caffe Velo Verde and No Two Cycles decided to conduct their own alternative stage 12 on Sunday November 1st. Sadly this was cancelled for 2020 but will be held in 2021.
La VVV clearly has to have a Spanish theme that will be in the shape of a post participation paella back at CVVHQ. The basic plan is:
• 50 ish miles, 2,300 ish elevation
• Maximum of 8 groups of 6 riders
• 10 minutes between each group – first group to leave at 0900hrs
• Pre ride briefing at CVV for each group
• Pre ride coffee and piece of granolo jacko (Spanish themed Granola Jack)
• An audax ride (no stops)
• No signage en route – the route will be provided via Strava and gpx mapping to all participants
• Spot prize for best Spanish themed photo taken en route (no cheating)
• Return to CVV for post participation paella and goodie bag (if we have got our act together)
• Special secret prize
• Event support by way of big Dave and No Two Cycles
 
The above describes the basic details to whet your appetites. So – get yourselves together into a group of six and apply to enjoy a fun day out. Individuals will also be able to apply but will have to cycle in a group of six that we put together. Details of how to apply will follow when we can fix a date.

Friday 1st - January - 2021

Bike Orienteering

Now then Ginger old chum, we’re here….they’re there…. Straight from the CVV HQ War Room archive – a previously unseen photo shows the meticulous planning undertaken to provide entertainment for New Year’s Day cycling visitors to Caffe Velo Verde.
No Two Cycles and CVV are collaborating to provide a ‘Blow the Cobwebs Off’ orienteering extravaganza. The plan is simple, execution is more problematic:
· Arrive at CVV HQ at a time to suit your hangover between 1000hrs and 1200hrs either as an individual/ pair/family but no more than a group of six.
· Buy a cunningly created map from big Dave (N2C) who will be cunningly situated under a veranda heater sipping from a cunningly concealed hip flask. 10 quid buys you the map, instructions and a cup of filter coffee. Despite Dave’s protests, this is not ‘escape and evasion’ – so you will get to keep your shoe-laces.
· Study the map and discover a number of waypoints marked thereon with points allocated to each location. Points mean prizes.
· Decide a route to take to gain as many points as possible.
· Maximum time allowance is 2 hours, taken from the time the map is purchased to arrival back at HQ. If you want to spend an hour planning and an hour riding then dip your bread…. Points will be deducted for every minute over the 2hr return time, so beware!
· Winners will receive a magnificent prize. To be announced on social media by the 2nd Jan when hip flask recovery is complete.
Experience indicates individuals or pairs fair best. Too many decision makers leads to massive domestic disputes – but I suppose it is the festive season so we should be used to this.
A rough idea of who wants to partake would assist us so please let us know at hello@caffeveloverde.co.uk if you fancy it! Please remember the protocols of safe riding as well.
Let’s all kiss 2020 goodbye and welcome in a brave new world. What a year that was! Come on – lose some lard on NYD…

Sunday 20th - December - 2020

Bike Surgery

On Sunday Big Dave will be getting his tools out at CVVHQ. So if your bike wants some tweakage before Christmas bring it along.
And don’t forget the best festively dressed bike and rider comp….. optional but prizes are available…..