The Goose Eye Grimpeur Sportive will give you a day to live long in the memory. With a saw-tooth profile of 3612m of climb over 200km (125 miles/12,000ft), wild high spaces and lush river valleys, it is Beauty and the Beast in one dose of tough love. This is why we get into cycling – to test ourselves, to do it all, see it all and share it all in good company – that’s the Goose Eye.

Info for Riders

With almost 12,000 feet of climbing this is a heart pounding ride over the hills of the North West, but all that hard work is rewarded again and again by stunning scenery. Originally devised by Barrie Jones, (father of Ladies World Champion Mandy Jones) to test the mettle of hardened club riders, this event has been resurrected in his memory. This is an extremely difficult ride and requires an excellent level of fitness. It takes in the major climbs in the West Pennine hills and that means some steep and technical descents as well. The course has good signage and there are downloadable gps files and route cards provided but you should be aware of the route and terrain. Not sure if this is for you – well there is also the Goose Eye Gander; in itself no mean feat and a good taste of what is in store for the Grimpeur, just shorter. There is still a substantial amount of climbing at 6,400 feet in just 61 miles so it’s certainly not a cop out! For both there are feed stations, broom wagons and mechanical