Pendleton joins 600 women for Cycletta Cheshire

Pendleton joins 600 women for Cycletta Cheshire

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Event: 12 May 2013


Victoria Pendleton joins over 600 Women in Cheshire at the first 2013 Cycletta Series Event Olympic Gold Medallist, Victoria Pendleton (CBE), was joined on Sunday by over 600 women at Cycletta Cheshire, 2013’s first event in the UK’s leading series of women only bike rides.



With the choice of a 25km, 37km or 52km routes, women of all ages and abilities gathered early in the morning in the Cycletta Village at Tatton Park, to take on the challenge. Many of the riders were raising money for the official charity, Macmillan Cancer Support.

First up were the kids Scootathlon events, which are a new addition to the Cycletta Series this year, with children aged 4 – 8 years old scooting, cycling and running to the finish line. Victoria Pendleton was then on hand to set the rest of the women off, taking to the main stage to offer some final words of advice and encouragement, before leading the crowd of women towards the start line. She then started the waves of cyclists from 9am, cheering from the loud hailer as they rode away, before joining them on her bike.

Speaking ahead of the start Victoria said: “Over the last few years women’s cycling has been growing rapidly. I see more and more women out on their bikes and it makes me proud to know that Cycletta has been a real driving force behind this.”

She continued: “I’ve been involved with Cycletta since it began in 2011 with just two events, now there are numerous rides in England, Scotland and Wales and it’s a real pleasure to come along and join the ladies out on the roads. Some of them appear more nervous than others at the start, but everyone helps each other along and there’s a really special atmosphere at the finish line.”

En route the ladies were offered well stocked feed stations supported by PowerBar and roaming mechanical support was provided by Cycletta’s Official Bike Partner Liv/giant, the women’s division of the popular leading bike brand Giant. On returning to the venue, participants were greeted at the finish line by Vita Coco, who were on hand to provide natural hydration.


BBC Breakfast presenter, Louise Minchin, took part in her first Cycletta and was the first rider to complete the 37km distance. A newcomer to mass participation cycle rides, Minchin put the lessons she learnt during the BBC Breakfast Christmas challenge at the National Cycling Centre velodrome to good use as she made her way round the route like a professional.

Following their ride, cyclists made their way to the new Unlisted London Spa area, which will be appearing at most of the Cycletta and Human Race Women Only events throughout the year. The first experience on offer in the Unlisted London Spa area was a well-earned guided cool down session in The Stretch Zone followed by The Hub, a sociable retreat where women were treated to RedFlower’s intoxicatingly fragrant hand care therapy. Next participants moved on to The Massage Room where they surrendered their tired muscles to the magic hands of Unlisted’s talented therapists.

The finishing touches were all addressed at The Pamper Studio where skin-care consultants and hair stylists escorted the ladies into mini-beauty stations, equipped with film-set style directors’ chairs and mirrors. Here they were offered all the accoutrements needed to enjoy a little high-performance skin-refreshment with Elemental Herbology’s nutritious all natural products.

Cycletta is showing its support to British Cycling’s plans to get one million more women cycling by 2020. During the 2012 series, 56% of all Cycletta participants were taking part in a cycling event for the first time and an impressive 96% of participants, who weren’t already regular cyclists, said that they had been inspired to cycle more regularly in the future. It is results such as these that show how Cycletta has been effective in partnering British Cycling and the Breeze Network in their initiative to increase participation of female cyclists.

Macmillan Cancer Support is Cycletta’s official charity partner. Liz Hemming, Cycling Programme Manager for the charity was delighted to see so many women take to the saddle for the first event of the series:

“Cycletta Cheshire has got the third year of the Cycletta series off to a brilliant start. We are delighted to have been charity partner with Cycletta for three years, and would like to say thank you to everyone who has been part of Team Macmillan in this time.”

She continued: “The money raised by ladies taking part in Cycletta helps us ensure that no one has to face cancer alone, and we are so grateful for the support. We’re looking forward to many more Cyclettas this year, across the UK!”

Registration is open for Cycletta Series events around the UK. For more information visit www.Cycletta.co.uk