Location: Castle Combe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Event: 26 August 2012
The ever popular Severn Bridge Sportive is now open for bookings. Now in its third year, the event has changed its date to Sunday 26 August to tie it in with the Castle Combe Cycling Festival.
Event organiser, Andy Cook of Andy Cook Cycling confirmed: “We are delighted to have the booking system for the Severn Bridge Sportive up and running. We have already received a number of enquiries from people who have either joined us at the Severn Bridge Sportive previously or have been recommended to the event through friends and family. We know that riders are raring to go, it was just a matter of getting the booking system live and then off we go!
“This is the third year of the Severn Bridge Sportive and we are capping numbers at approximately 1000 riders. We are confident that we could probably take a few more than this but the main thing from our point of view is to give riders a really enjoyable ride out into the countryside with good maps, signage, routes and stop off venues.
“The routes we have chosen are fabulous and will take you through some classic English countryside before heading over the Severn Bridge and into Wales. There are two routes available – 56 mile and 100 mile – and you don’t need to make your mind up on which route to tackle until the day itself.”
The Severn Bridge Sportive 2012 forms an integral part of the first ever Castle Combe Cycling Festival. Castle Combe Circuit, which will host the event, has been welcoming cyclists to its historic race circuit for a number of years with meetings on both Tuesday and Thursday evenings along with fairly regular charity events for local schools and clubs.
Marketing and Events Manager, Jo Sparrow confirmed: “The joy of a race circuit is that you have a large area of level tarmac, enclosed safe surroundings and great access which means that we can welcome events of all shapes and sizes. We have been working with Andy Cook for several years now and it seemed a perfect time to set up the Castle Combe Cycling Festival incorporating the Severn Bridge Sportive.
“We have already signed up a great programme of cycling events and activities with real grass root cycling through to the more dedicated Sportive cycling. There will be youth racing on the circuit, a stunt bike display team, the circuit lap challenging raising funds for our nominated partner charity, Meningitis UK, and much more.
“The main aim of the event is to attract people of all levels of cycling interest whether they are weekend leisure cyclists, dedicated cyclists or a bit of both. We are hoping for kids as young as 18 months to get out on the Toddlebikes and Strider Bikes and then we’ve got the Stunt Bike Team and Skills Participation Area, Have-A-Go Cyclo Cross and more for older riders. This really should be an event for everyone!”
For further information and to book entry into the Severn Bridge Sportive and/or Castle Combe Cycling Festival then please visit www.castlecombecyclingfestival.co.uk.
