With just under 30 days to go until the Tour de France Grand Depart, Go-Ride Clubs are gearing up to deliver come-and-try events this summer for young people inspired by our cycling heroes.
The series of come-and-try events form the Go-Ride Tour, which is taking place across the country throughout the month of July. The aim of the Go-Ride Tour is to provide young people with the opportunity to try cycle sport for the first time.
When major sporting events visit our shores, the Go-Ride programme experiences a surge in participation levels, with many young people wanting to emulate the efforts of elite riders.
A similar ‘come-and-try’ initiative was delivered in celebration of the London 2012 Olympics, when the Go-Ride Games took place in August 2012. The Go-Ride Games encouraged lots of new young riders to get involved in cycle sport, with 4,000 young people taking part in 122 come-and-try events.
East Bradford Go-Ride Club welcomed 95 young riders to a Go-Ride Games event. Two years on, and the club has grown to having over 200 members, hosting regular coaching sessions for young people, family rides, club trips and social events. East Bradford Go-Ride Club is now looking forward to opening its doors to lots of new riders for its Go-Ride Tour event this July.
Joanne Ward, event organiser at East Bradford Go-Ride Club said: “For the Go-Ride Games, we hosted a fun event consisting of a number of different activities. It was open to everyone and attracted a lot of new riders to the club; the following weeks after the games we were inundated with enquiries.
“We are looking forward to hosting the Go-Ride Tour at our club this year, because we can once again run an all-inclusive event, taking on the themes from the tour and offering some great prizes - from the king of the hairpin climb to a time trial and sprints on rollers.”
Laura Trott, a world champion who first started cycling at Welwyn Wheelers Go-Ride Club, said: “It’s going to be a really exciting summer for racing and it’s fantastic that kids will have the chance to be part of it at their local Go-Ride Clubs.”
Over 60% of the Great Britain Cycling Team started out at Go-Ride Clubs, so the Go-Ride Tour may even find our next Bradley Wiggins or Becky James.
The Go-Ride Tour covers the length and breadth of the country and all cycling disciplines. Find out more about the Go-Ride Tour.
