News: Mildenhall Cycling Festival

This year’s Mildenhall Cycling Festival will be blazing a trail with their new On & Off-Road Time-Trial.

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

News: Mildenhall Cycling Festival

This year’s Mildenhall Cycling Festival will be blazing a trail with their new On & Off-Road Time-Trial.

It is the first event of its kind and has been sanctioned by time-trialling’s governing body in the UK, Cycling Time-Trials (CTT), as a Taster Event. It will offer competitors the chance to pit their wits against the clock over a mixed 23km course of byways, tarmac and Fenland Droves. This is a unique type of course that only the Fens can offer! The organisers of the Festival, Mildenhall Cycling Club will be working with CTT to develop the idea.

The staging of the On & Off-Road Time-Trial is part of the Club’s efforts to offer something different so that the three-day festival of cycling will appeal to a wider audience. The celebration of cycling that is open to everyone, where families and enthusiasts can come together, will take place over its traditional August Bank Holiday weekend (25th-27th August).

Having previously been known as the Mildenhall Cycling Rally based in the Suffolk market town, the new look festival is now located in nearby West Row offering a purpose-built Village Hall & licensed bar with an adjacent camping field. It is just over two miles from the previous site, but Mildenhall can be reached very safely using the tarmacked Wamil Way bridleway. Over its 29 years the popular event has attracted up and coming names from the world of cycling including Victoria Pendleton and Laura Kenny – so whether staying on site or a day-visitor you could just be watching a future Olympian or World Champion!
… continued after advert

2018_MerlinCyclesAdvert

“The Rally was always known throughout the UK’s cycling community as one of the best all-round cycling weekends that appealed to cyclists of all ages and especially families. But is not just for cyclists and offers fun for all the family!

The move to this picturesque venue that surrounds the West Row Village Hall complex the Festival was very well received by families staying at last year’s event and we hope will appeal to the next generation of cyclists too. “explained Mildenhall Cycling Club Chairman, Mark Burchett.

Bookings are still being taken for the camping and caravan facilities from 4pm on Friday 24th until 10am Tuesday 28th August 2018. The organisers are very keen to promote the environmentally friendly aspects of cycling and are offering an incentive to those that cycle to the Festival. When they book their cycle camper pitch, they will get a £5 voucher that they can redeem on their arrival, which will reduce their pitch to just £23 for the whole weekend.

The grass-track will continue to form the centrepiece of the Festival, with racing taking place from 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday will be dedicated to the under16’s, while Sunday’s programme will be for the Ladies, Juniors and Senior riders, including the final round of the National Endurance League.

Elsewhere on the competitive front there will be the Children’s Duathlon on the Sunday and Mildenhall’s traditional ‘Mad Madison’ Cyclo-Cross on the final day of the Festival. Both will take advantage of the rural setting and will provide an interesting and testing course on the bike.

Some of the favourites retained include the Cycle Jumble, which will take place Saturday evening in the marquees and the Quiz Night, supported by Sainsbury’s in Mildenhall on the Sunday evening in the Village Hall, with its licensed bar that will be open every evening of the Festival.

Providing a backdrop to the grass-track arena will be the two-day Trade Show on the Sunday & Monday. This offers a unique opportunity for the cyclists attending the event who already know the advantages, as well as local people, to see a variety of companies selling a range of cycles, clothing and accessories often at bargain prices, all on their doorstep!
… continued after advert

2016_ShuttVeloRapideAdvert

Throughout the weekend, there will be events and attractions for the children. Everyday at 1pm there will be the Children’s Sports for one hour and on the Sunday & Monday at 12 noon there will be Balanceability Bike Sessions for 4-7 year olds. On Sunday & Monday afternoons there will be Thrill Seekers mega bouncy castle and Expressions face painting, and music to parent’s ears, all of these for the children are free of charge!

On the touring front, C.T.C. (Cyclists Touring Club) Suffolk will be offering 57, 100, 160, 200 & 300km timed-touring rides on the Saturday, under the auspices of the Audax organisation. For those that want something more relaxing, Mildenhall Cycling Club will have their range of touring leaflets available, offering a variety of scenery over varying distances.

The Club can trace this event back to a one-day grass-track meeting that originally formed part of the Mildenhall Carnival, which began in the 1960’s. Ever since it has been attracting some of the top names in amateur cycling and if you want to watch a potential future International or Olympic cycling Champion there’s no better place than the Festival. Over the years the event can boast among its many thousands of competitors such impressive stars as Nicole Cooke MBE, Ben Swift, Jason Kenny OBE, Steve Burke MBE, Emma Trott and Laura Kenny (nee Trott) CBE and of course Victoria Pendleton CBE, who was a member of the Mildenhall club when she was growing up. It is at grass-tracks like this where these young riders cut their teeth and the skills they learnt have then stood them in good stead on the top international velodromes around the world.

Day entry to the Festival will be by donation, with a recommended £3 for Adults and £1 for children, but will include free day parking and is an ideal cheap day-out for families, whether you are from a cycling background or not.

All the details of everything happening at the Festival can be found at www.mildenhallfestival.bike

AlpsCyclesMidstory

Cycle Division’s Shop

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: