West Row is gearing itself up for an influx of cyclists over the August Bank Holiday weekend, with the Mildenhall Cycling & Fun Day taking place on Sunday.

This event replaces the Mildenhall Cycling Rally and is being held at the picturesque venue that surrounds the West Row Village Hall complex. “The Rally was known throughout the UK’s cycling community as one of the best all-round cycling weekends that appealed to cyclists of all ages and especially families. The one-day event is purely an interim measure allowing us to fully test the facilities at the new venue before we return to a three-day festival in 2017” said Mark Burchett the Chairman of the organisers, Mildenhall Cycling Club.

The organisers have worked with local campsites to encourage cyclists to still visit the area for the whole of the bank-holiday weekend, so that they can still enjoy the Cycling & Fun Day as well as take in rides in the local area.

As a prelude to the Cycling & Fun Day, one of the other popular events from the Rally, the Quiz Night is being held the evening before with regular quiz-master Dave Sennitt, who is from West Row, controlling the proceedings. This is as much for local people as it is for the visitors to the area with them making up teams of up to six participants who can either enter in advance, or subject to availability, enter on the evening.

The grass-track forms the centrepiece of the one-day event, with a full days racing planned from 10am. Such is the interest from juvenile riders (under 16) that the morning’s programme is devoted solely to them, with the Seniors, racing in the afternoon.

The highlight on the track has got to be the British Cycling National 400m Championship, with the winner expected to come from reigning 400m and 800m Champion Andrew Leveton (VC St Raphael) or current National 8km Champion John McClelland (Bush Healthcare). They are likely to be put under severe competition from Junior riders Mitch Powell (Team Terminator) who took the 2015 National 8km title and Tom Roper (Beacon Wheelers) who is the leading rider in this year’s National Short Distance League.

The presentation of the National 400m medals will be made by the Chairman of Forest Heath District Council, Cllr Carol Lynch at approximately 3.30pm.  That is also the time that the one-lap race on the grass-track for local children takes place. All they need is their bike and a helmet to get a ride and it is free to enter. They will also get the opportunity to race at a track meeting that in the past has seen the likes of ex-World and Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton CBE and current World & Olympic Champion Laura Trott OBE, race at when they were growing up!

To see how close young and old riders can get to the superstars in terms of speed visitors can take up the Watt Bike 250metres Challenge. Suffolk Sport in conjunction with Abbeycroft Leisure will have the Watt Bikes available all day to see how fast you can pedal 250m in. The Watt Bike was developed in conjunction with British Cycling as a development aid for the elite Olympic programme cyclists.

There will be some of the regular traders from the Rally’s Trade Show on site. This is a unique opportunity for the cyclists attending the event who already know the advantages of the Trade Show, as well as local people to see a variety of companies selling a range of cycling clothing and accessories often at bargain prices, all on their doorstep!  Alongside these there will also be an all-day Cycle Jumble, with spaces still available.

Even before the outstanding success of Team GB in the cycling at the Rio Olympic Games there has been a growing interest and participation in cycling. One of the pleasing aspects of that is the upsurge in women riding and to cater for this Mildenhall Cycling Club are offering a Ladies Led-Ride starting from the site at 10am.

This will be a social ride, just for the ladies and is most definitely not a race! The pace will be around 12mph making it comfortable and probably no more than 30 miles in distance, including a cafe stop.

On the touring front, C.T.C. (Cyclists Touring Club) Suffolk will be organising 57, 100, 160 & 200km Audax Rides. For those that want something more relaxing, Mildenhall Cycling Club will have their range of touring leaflets available, offering a variety of scenery over varying distances.

The event is an ideal day-out for families, whether you are from a cycling background or not. From 2pm onwards there will be the Children’s Sports, while throughout the afternoon there will be a mega bouncy castle and face painter. All of these attractions for the children are completely free of charge.

Entry to the Cycling & Fun Day is just £2 for adults and £1 for children, which includes free day parking.

If you want to watch a potential future International or Olympic cycling Champion there’s no better place than the Mildenhall Cycling & Fun Day. It can boast among its many thousands of competitors over the years such impressive stars as Nicole Cook MBE, Ben Swift, Jason Kenny OBE, Steve Burke MBE, Emma and Laura Trott OBE and of course Victoria Pendleton CBE, who was a member of the Mildenhall club when she was growing up. It is at grass-tracks like this where these young riders cut their teeth and the skills they learnt have then stood them in good stead on the top international stages around the world.

All the details of everything happening at the Cycling & Fun Day can be found at www.mildenhallrally.org.uk