Tag: UK Sportives

An event that goes from strength to strength with each year, The Great Western Sportive climbs, dips and rolls through spectacular landscapes barely changed in a thousand years and with a rider capacity of 2000 can rightly be described as ‘big’! Using the Nationwide national headquarters on the southern edge of Swindon as race HQ (map here) there are three choices of route – 80, 134 and 170km – which take in the ancient and somewhat mystical Ridgeway and the beautiful Marlborough Downs, properly challenging routes but not, as the organisers like to point out, ones that ‘…beats you relentlessly into submission.’

Registration runs 7:30 to 9:30am with staggered start times set as: Full Course 8 – 9am, Mid Course 8:30 – 9:30, Short Course 9:30 – 10:00am, with the choice of starting anytime within your allocation for distance. Feed stations, energy drinks and snacks, chip timing, mech support and sweepers, plus t-shirt all included in the entry fees of £24/£25/£26. A truly great English sportive mixing gorgeous scenery with challenging ride. Full details and online entry at www.southernsportive.com

Last year the Isle of Mull Cycle Club hosted its inaugural sportive and, building on the success, 2012 sees a spectacular looking choice of two ride lengths – 87 and 44miles – around some of the most scenic coastlines in the country. Starting and ending in the beautiful waterfront town of Tobermory (HQ map here) which is known to all pre-schoolers as the fictional Balamory, the 87miler climbs 1700m along roads which, although not closed hardly need to be such is the famed tranquillity of the island, whilst the shorter route also throws in a more than sufficient 1000m of ascent.

This is an absolute classic Scottish bike ride and if the renowned natural beauty and friendliness of the area isn’t enough (!) to encourage you to part with a very reasonable £25 entry fee, then perhaps the fact that a meal in McGochan’s bar post-race is complimentary should be. Registration will take place from 5pm the day before (Saturday, June 9) with the ride getting under way from 8am on the Sunday. Full details and online entry available at www.mullcyclosportive.co.uk

This bank holiday Monday ride is a unique opportunity to see Manchester in a completely new light; starting and finishing at Eastlands and with four flavours of event (13, 26 and 52miles) it takes place on completely closed roads and offers the chance to explore areas of the city otherwise very much off-limits to cyclists. Heading through the districts of Manchester, Trafford and Salford, the rides even take you along the one-day-only traffic-free and iconic Mancunian way, one of Manchester’s busiest motorways. With a staggered start from 8am and full feed stations, this is really one not to be missed.

Entry fees are a downright bargain too: £10 per adult with various adult/child combination entree fees (equating to £5 per accompanied child) and kids aged between 3 and 7 ride free. Chip timing, a Great Manchester Cycle T-shirt, medal and finishers pack for all – full details and entry at www.greatcycle.org

Now in its 4^th year the Bethany Sportive offers up two spectacular routes for those looking for a late spring/early summer challenge – the 102 mile main event, with 8-hour cut-off, and the lesser, though no-less beautiful, 72 mile option. Leaving from Lasswade High School, Bonnyrigg (map here) and head south over the Moorfoot Hills to Innerleithen where the long and shorter routes split, there are plenty of opportunities to really stretch the legs with the longer route serving up some 8000ft of climb. Places are limited (so book now) to 450 with an entry fee of £30 per person, but with 5 free places up for grabs for anyone committing to raising over £100 in sponsorship for the Bethany Christian Trust, which provides support for homeless and vulnerable people (more details at www.bethanychristiantrust.com)

For further information and race registration for the sportive, visit www.edinburghsportive.btck.co.uk

Only one thing could be better than a brand-new road sportive and that’s one with a really cracking name and logo. And whilst Cyclo naturally doesn’t endorse judging a book by its cover, this beautiful looking ride seems like it has plenty more to recommend it. Designed, so the organisers say, to ‘…show off the wealth of untapped road riding in and around the picturesque Dentdale valley in the Yorkshire Dales’, there are three route lengths from which to choose – the ‘Severe Beast’ course at 80 miles, the ‘Hard Beastie’ (50 miles) and, providing something for all the family, the ‘Beauty’ course at a mere 14 miles. All three promise a degree of challenge and certainly plenty to look at in one of the most gorgeous ride locations the UK has to offer.

Entree fees are £25 for the long haul, £15 for mid-length and a downright bargain fiver for the tiddler, with proceeds going to Dent pre- and primary schools. Start times range 8am to 9.30am and full details, including camping accommodation options, can be found at www.dentdalebeautyandthebeast.com

This year’s Palace to Palace ride in aid of the Prince’s Trust is technically more of a ‘Castle to Castle’, but with so much good work done for charity and such a glorious ride on offer Cyclo hates to be pedantic. Starting in the grounds of the 1000-year-old Warwick Castle (map here), arguably the UK’s finest, the route takes in some glorious Warwickshire villages via quiet (but not closed) country lanes and minor roads to end at the impressively ruined Kenilworth Castle. At just 45 miles, this is far more of a charity fun ride for those of mixed ability rather than an all-out brutal sportive, but with grand late spring weather in prospect (?!) this looks like a great event for all. Entry fee is £35 with a request for participants to raise a minimum of £45 – that’s a neatly round £1 per mile – for the charity, which here will go to support disadvantaged youngsters in the West Midlands. Start times are allocated and staggered with waves of around 35 riders a time setting off every two minutes between 8 and 9am. Further details and online entry at www.princes-trust.org.uk

Held in conjunction with the Keswick Mountain Festival, this stunning sportive offers a choice of three challenging routes taking in some of the Lakes most spectacular scenery. The options are ‘2 Passes’, a 46km jaunt with climbs of Whinlatter & Newlands, ‘4 Passes’, the 90km option or the full-monty ‘6 Passes’ options, a figure-eight loop 105km route guaranteed to test even the hardiest of legs. A unique aspect of this event, which Cyclo would love to see initiated at others, is that riders are free to switch on the day to longer routes – so even if you enter the ‘2 Passes’ sportive, but you’re feeling on song on the day, feel free to carry on and tackle more climbing! Registration opens at the Mountain Festival Bike Village, adjacent to Crow Park, Lake Road, Keswick (map here) from 7-9.30am with a start time of 7.30-10am. Entry fee is £25 with further details and online booking at www.highterrainevents.co.uk