>August Events / Events in Norfolk and Suffolk / Tourist Attractions Norfolk and Suffolk August 17, 2015
Mildenhall Cycling Club has issued a statement reiterating that this year’s Mildenhall Cycling Rally is taking place.
The statement reads, ”Mildenhall Cycling Club can categorically state that the 2015 Mildenhall Cycling Rally is going ahead as planned. We are using fewer facilities within the school buildings such as the toilets and ageing showers and these will be replaced by separate units outside and if anything these should be seen as improvements to the event especially for our visitors who choose to camp on the Rally site.
We continue to work very closely with Forest Heath District Council to ensure the success of an event whose economic impact to the local business community was valued at over £240,000 in 2012.
We have taken this unprecedented step to prevent further rumours that could be harmful to the success of this nationally acclaimed event.”
Mark Burchett, Chairman of the organising Club, added, “At no time have we ever said this year’s event was in doubt and I really cannot understand why there continues to be such rumours, let alone where and how they started”
The cycling festival will be taking place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 29th – Monday 31st August 2015) at the Sheldrick Way site of Mildenhall College, whose playing fields become a temporary campsite for nearly 400 caravan and camping pitches.
Over half of the campsite has already been booked and as well as being able to download the booking forms from www.mildenhallrally.org.uk the site also provides online booking facilities making the whole process much easier and quicker.
For those that prefer a bit more comfort, the Mildenhall Club are once again be providing their Accommodation List with details of local B&B’s, guest-houses, hotels as well as other local campsites.
The Rally is not expected to see any major changes to the tried and tested line-up of events over the three days. The grass-track will form the centrepiece with racing every day from 12 noon. Other competitive events will include a Madison Cyclo-Cross and especially for the under 17’s there will be the ever-popular Children’s Duathlon and for the under 16’s the Go-Ride Skilful Riding.
On the touring front, C.T.C. (Cyclists Touring Club) Suffolk will be organising 50, 100, 160, 200 and 300km Audax Rides on the Saturday. For those that want something more relaxing, Mildenhall Cycling Club will have their range of touring routes, offering a variety of scenery over varying distances.
Other attractions will include the ever-popular Cycle Jumble and Quiz Night’s. Like the camping, booking for the Jumble sells out before the event and can also be made online.
“The trade stands at the Rally’s two-day Trade Show provide everybody, but especially local people, the opportunity to stock up on all those cycling spares, as well as look at replacement wheels to complete bikes and all at discounted prices on their doorstep” explained Mark Burchett
Every day there will be the Children’s Sports, while on the Sunday and Monday there will be the bouncy castle and face painter. Additionally on the Monday, there will be a circus skills-workshop.
The Rally is a very popular event with riders that have then gone on to win National and International recognition. Riders such as Olympic champions Victoria Pendleton CBE and Nicole Cooke OBE who honed their bike handling skills on Mildenhall’s grass-track have now retired, whilst more recently Laura Trott was a regular at the Rally, until she shot to prominence at the Commonwealth Games before taking the London Olympics by storm in 2012.
More details of everything happening at the Rally can be found at www.mildenhallrally.org.uk
Mildenhall Cycling Club has launched a unique service aimed at anyone wanting to ride a tandem.
They displayed the Dawes Tandem bought for the purpose at Saturday’s Lark in the Park on Mildenhall’s Jubilee Fields, with the help of Jim Watt from Mildenhall and Jon Petty from Bury St Edmunds, who both have impaired vision.
The idea was the brainchild of member Angela Watts who works with people with sight and hearing loss in the West Suffolk area for Sensing Change.
Sensing Change, a company wholly owned by Suffolk County Council, aims to help those with a significant sight, hearing or dual sensory loss who need support and advice.
It’s an idea Miss Watts has had for some time and is excited that at long last it is coming to fruition. She explained “The facility is aimed at a wide variety of people and although it began as an idea to help those people I work with who can’t enjoy sport and particularly cycling it’s developed into a scheme offering tandem cycling to everyone.
They can be keen cyclists looking for a new challenge, those with a visual impairment or their friends and family willing to support someone interested in trying tandem riding with a sighted partner or volunteer.”
She added “it was wonderful to see people enjoying the tandem as it provides such a great opportunity to access the many benefits of cycling. I hope other’s will be inspired to give it a try too. Anyone keen to participate in tandem riding, or volunteer support in any way, please do get in touch!
Lark in the Park and then the Mildenhall Cycling Rally in August are great events for getting local people involved and sharing the pleasure of cycling especially with 2015/16 being Suffolk’s Year of Cycling!”
With the help of funding from Forest Heath District Council, the Cycling Club has been able to purchase the Dawes Duet tandem to add to the existing machine they began with. The machine has been supplied by Hawstead based Cycle Shop & Country Café Maglia Rosso, with Dawes Cycles discounting the price in support of this worthy cause.
As well as the Tandem Cycling, the Club promoted their Go-Ride programme with an obstacle course that over 40 local children rode against the clock and their nationally acclaimed Mildenhall Cycling Rally.
Go-Ride is a British Cycling initiative to give children between the ages of 8 and 16 the opportunity to try cycling in a safe environment. Under the guidance of their Level 2 Coach Mandy Burchett the Club will have an Obstacle course, complete with seesaw and limbo bar, for children to come and try.
Like the Tandem Cycling, the Mildenhall Cycling Rally that takes place over the August bank-holiday weekend has something for local people and appealing to the whole family.
Anyone who would like to know more about the scheme either as a participant or volunteer, can contact Angela Watts by emailing [email protected]
- Sensing Change can be contact by email [email protected] or online at www.sensingchange.org.uk where a referral form can be downloaded.
- Lark in the Park is organised by Mildenhall Parish Council in conjunction with Forest Heath District Council.
- Mildenhall Cycling Rally takes place 29th– 31st August 2015 at the Sheldrick Way site of Mildenhall College – for more details www.mildenhallrally.org.uk
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