VELO CLUB de VIS - RIDES

Where have we been? See below. Where might we go? BERLIN!

2018 - BERLIN

Le Tour de VIS

We are planning a 100km-ish ride from central Berlin, likely to take in some of the sights and head down to Potsdam.

Our provisional tour heads out south along the route of the 1987 Tour de France and the 1936 Olympic road race, with a possible short climb to the former cold-war spy station at Teufelsberg. We will go through the Brandenburg Gate and past the Olympiastadion. We will be in woods, beside lakes and on some lovely bike tracks.

Thanks to Oliver Staadt we have a provisional Strava Route : Le Tour de VIS 2018 (98k)

To be confirmed, updated, improved, peppered with coffee stops, etc ...

Feel like a ride? Head to the SIGN-UP page! Then get some miles in before the fall.

Le Prolog

Critical mass meet at the Brandenburg gate on the last Friday of every month and we plan to be there. Details at the Thursday MeetUp ...

2017 - PHOENIX / SCOTTSDALE / McDOWELL MOUNTAINS

Le Tour de VIS

We rode 100km through the cacti and around the mountains from Scottsdale, with almost 1,000m of climbing in blazing sunshine. Epic.

Le Prologue

Le Other One

Wes and I did a quick reccy up South Mountain as we'd spent s many evenings / mornings Skyping about it. We met Jeremy on the way out of Phoenix and he showed us around and back via the beautiful San Juan road. Coffee and vegan empanadas at Azukar Coffee for breakfast and back by 9:30.

2017 - PHOENIX - Le TOUR du MOUNTAIN

We planned to climb (all or some of) South Mountain - a reasonably challenging ride but on nice roads, and with gradients and distances well within the bounds of what Velo Club de VIS riders are logging throughout the year on Strava.

Then they closed the mountain for a running event!

We have four options, to suit various levels of fitness & challenge. All of these involve heading south from the Convention Centre in a single peloton. We will then head up various bits of the mountain to suit, until an agreed time. As it warms up we will head back down the hill, meet at the park entrance and head back in to Phoenix as a group.

• Full Climb - 63.2km / 888m climbing

• Dobbins Lookout - 54.6km / 690m climbing

• Short Climb - 50.2km / 699m climbing

• No Climb - 42.8km / 411m climbing

By way of comparison, Le Tour de VIS 2016 in Maryland involved 84.2km / 1,078m climbing.

It will be hot, but not impossible as WeatherSpark suggests. Local riders advise us to head out at dawn - sunrise is at 6:30. The great thing here is that if we head out early we will miss the traffic and we would be back in the city when it gets warm, and home in time for flights in the afternoon and evening. Maybe we'll stop at the South Mountain Cafe for Chilaquiles on the way back.

South Mountain is one of the largest Municipal Parks in America. It has the highest density of chuckwallas per hectare that has ever been reported.

I have no idea what a chuckwalla is.

2016 - LE TOUR DE VIRTUAL

2016 - BALTIMORE

We rode 85km with almost 1,000m climbing into the rolling hills north of the City, as suggested by Brenton @ Race Pace Cycles ...

• route - https://www.strava.com/routes/6855277

• ride - https://www.strava.com/activities/759966012

• movie - https://vimeo.com/189652910

We  stopped at ...

• Bonjour French Bakery on the Falls Road @ 16km for great coffee and pastries

• Veloccino in Butler @45.5km for coffee, more croissants and bike kit

Le Prologue

Baltimore introduced it's bike scheme for us so a few of us warmed up on Friday night on electric bikes ...

Le Crazy Hallowe'en Fancy-Dress BaltimoreBikeParty

... and then, along with Super Mario & Luigi, Teenage Mutant Ninja Raphael, the Cookie Monster, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, a very quick squirrel, several ghosts, bears, sharks and skeletons and a cable guy BMX genius called Jesus, headed to the wonderful Hallowe'en fancy dress BaltimoreBikeParty. BIKE PARTYYYY!

2015 - CHICAGO

Le Tour de VIS

Rain, wind, waves and an unexpected and prolonged interaction with the various saturated cows, zombies, superheroes and Scooby Doos participating in the Halloween Monster Dash half marathon made #LeTourDeVIS Chicago a bit of a challenge. But we braved the weather, found good coffee and managed not to skid into Lake Michigan. Just about.

Le Prologue

Miriah and Brian set things up on Friday - we all used Divvy bikes to head along the Lakeshore and up to the Hop Leaf bar in a loosely formed and easily distracted peloton. 

2014 - PARIS

In 2014, #LeTourDeVIS was introduced as a post-VIS bike ride open to all, with a peloton of 20 decked out in ColorBrewer  jerseys taking in Le Tour Eiffel, Le Chateau de Versailles and a well known laboratory in science park near Gif-sur-Yvette that does some pretty cool visualization. Wes and Lora figured out the route, the rest of us rolled along behind ... 

2013 - SEATTLE

Jo and Jason found helpful bike shops (Velo downtown and the Montlake Bicycle Shop) and a great route from the centre of Seattle round Lake Washington. Breakfast at a brewery, fantastic coffee and brunch back at Oddfellows listening to Elliott Smith

2013 - SANTA BARBARA

The Velo Club de VIS came about after an exhilarating ride in California. Ross, Miriah,  Jason & Kerry climbed the Gibraltar Road after a workshop at UCSB. The ascent was spectacular and involved climbing through and above the cloud, dodging vultures and descending rapidly through thick mist.

2012 - ATLANTA

Atlanta didn't seem to have a very vibrant roadie scene so Jason headed to Chattahoochee National Forest, found some grits for breakfast, got a lift in a pick-up to the top of a hill and pounded down and around on a Mountain Bike. He felt like he needed a bike club.

2010 - SALT LAKE CITY

Aidan, Jo, Jason and Yarden cycled up in the hills above Salt Lake just before VisWeek. This included a climb up the Snowbasin road under Mount Ogden. Yarden did a great job getting bikes set up.