Event: 19 May 2013
In 2010 British Cycling brought Sky ride and Sky ride Local to Middlesbrough, it was an instant hit and the town proved to be one of the success stories of the year. After the season had finished in October a ‘core group’ who had participated in almost every Sky ride Local of the year realized how much they much they had enjoyed riding together and continued to ride as group, and with some support from British Cycling, Tees Valley Riders was born.
The club is leading the way as one of a new breed of clubs who appeal to those who enjoy cycling as a non-competitive social activity where racing is strictly frowned upon, in fact the club motto is ‘nobody gets left behind’. A typical Sunday morning ride is around 20-30 miles and of course includes the obligatory café stop.
In keeping with the club ethos the TVR Sportive is a small friendly event and with entry numbers limited to 100 it will appeal to those who maybe fancy dipping their toe in the sportive arena and entering an organized event for the first time without being overawed.
Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback received from last year’s entrants the club has taken an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach and retained the same 30 and 50 mile routes, in addition, and also in response to comments from last year’s riders an 80 mile route aimed at the more serious rider has been added.
All routes start at Middlesbrough Cycle Circuit and head south west through Hilton and Hutton Rudby into the picturesque rolling terrain of North Yorkshire, skirting the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park on virtually traffic free roads, before heading back into via Great Broughton, Battersby and Great Ayton.
Thanks to the fantastic support of Middlesbrough Borough Council, Middlesbrough Cycle Circuit will also serve as the event HQ on the day and offers a 1km closed road warm-up facility, the event also offers electronic timing, feed stations along all of the routes, refreshments at the start and finish changing facilities and a professional photographer.
