The Sky Ride 2014 series of big bike events is well under way after launching with Sky Ride Plymouth on 25 May. With the next event, Sky Ride Leeds, taking place on Sunday, 15 June, there are a further 11 big bike events to come this year and a Halfords team of cycle mechanics will be on hand to keep wheels rolling at every one.
Sky Ride big bike events are free one-day cycling events, organised by Sky, British Cycling and local authority partners, in which people of all ages and abilities have the chance to ride their bikes on traffic-free streets in the heart of cities and towns across Britain. Now in its sixth year, Sky Ride has become England’s most popular mass-participation cycle event series.
This popularity is not surprising, given that an annual cycling report conducted by Mintel showed that many people would rather cycle together than alone. Almost one in five of ‘lapsed cyclists’ would get back in the saddle, and 21 percent of ‘occasional cyclists’ would do so more often, if they had a riding buddy to do it with.
This preference for cycling in company has led to a huge increase in the number of mass-participation cycle events, with 24 percent of cyclists saying that they take part in organised rides.
More than 100,000 people are expected to get on their bikes for Sky Rides this year. And with millions expected to turn out to watch the Tour de France in England and our cycling heroes gunning for glory at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Britain really is a nation of cyclists.
And if you’re thinking of taking part in a Sky Ride big bike event for the first time this summer, you can rest easy knowing that every one of the events will be supported by Halfords and their teams of cycle mechanics, drawn from staff at stores across Britain.
The Halfords mechanics will be on hand to safety-check bikes and conduct on-the-road repairs when necessary. The teams support 30 events a year, helping to raise millions of pounds for charities at home and abroad, so you can be sure they have the experience necessary to support cyclists old and new. They are sure to be a key part of every Sky Ride big bike event.
Halfords CEO, Matt Davies, said: "We are extremely lucky to have so many talented in-store colleagues. Our teams supporting Sky Ride will feature some of the finest cycle mechanics in the country.
"Their bike knowledge and understanding of the stresses attached to major cycle events are second to none. They all work tremendously hard, and every rider who signs up for Sky Ride nationwide can be guaranteed first-class mechanical support."
The remaining Sky Ride big bike events taking place over the summer are as follows:
- Sky Ride Leeds, 15 June
- Sky Ride Southampton, 29 June
- Sky Ride Newcastle Gateshead, 2 August
- Sky Ride Manchester, 3 August
- Sky Ride Sheffield, 10 August
- Sky Ride Hull, 17 August
- Sky Ride Leicester, 24 August
- Sky Ride Ipswich, 31 August
- Sky Ride Liverpool, 7 September
- Sky Ride York, 14 September
- Sky Ride Coventry, September
- Sky Ride Bradford, 28 September
For more information, visit www.Halfords.com/summerofcycling. To register for a ride, visit www.goskyride.com.
