Mildenhall Cycling Club are now finally able to take bookings for the camping pitches at this year’s Mildenhall Cycling Rally.
The cycling festival will, as usual, take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 23rd – Monday 25th August 2014) at the Sheldrick Way site of Mildenhall College, whose playing fields become a temporary campsite for around 400 caravan and camping pitches.
“Such is the popularity of this event, the campsite fills before the Rally, so we would encourage anyone wanting to stay on the Rally site, to book early to avoid any disappointment.” said Mark Burchett, Chairman of the organising Club.
As well 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 will once again be providing their Accommodation List with details of local B&B’s, guest-houses, hotels and campsites.
A survey carried out by Mildenhall Cycling Club and Forest Heath District Council in 2012, revealed that nearly a quarter of a million pounds is put into the local economy every year by this nationally acclaimed event. A significant proportion of that is benefiting those providing accommodation as well as food, which like the Rally’s campsite, are very sought after too.
The survey showed that the average total-spend was £104.75, whilst the average spend per person was £48.91. The actual amount spent per respondent ranged from nothing up to £2,100. Based on a conservative estimate of the total number of visitors of 5,000, this equates to £244,550!
The Rally isn’t expected to see any major changes to the tried and tested line-up of events over the three days, with the grass-track forming the centrepiece, with events everyday 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, 200 and 300km Audax Rides on the Saturday. For those that want something more relaxing, Mildenhall Cycling Club will have their range of touring leaflets, offering a variety of scenery of varying distances.
Other attractions will include the ever-popular Cycle Jumble and Quiz Night. Like the camping, booking for the Jumble sells out before the event and can also be made online.
The Mildenhall Cycling Rally attracts in excess of 5,000 people from across the UK who descend upon Mildenhall over the August Bank Holiday weekend. What the visitor survey also confirmed was that quite a number return to the area at other times, so the resulting impact of the Rally is felt throughout the year.
From Mildenhall Cycling Club’s point of view, it confirmed that they have a winning formula, with 100% of those surveyed, saying they were enjoying the event.
It also confirmed something the organisers continually aim for, that the Rally is a fun event held in a safe environment for families. The youngest person surveyed was 17, whilst the oldest 84, who cited ‘cycling and view of the grass-track’, ‘atmosphere and meeting with family & friends’, ‘family event’, ‘children’s activities’ and the ‘trade stands’ as the best thing about the event.
“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.
The Trade Show is open Sunday and Monday, with free entry.
Every day there will be the Children’s Sports, while on the Sunday and Monday there will be the bouncy castle and face painter, both free of charge. Additionally on the Sunday there will be a circus skills-workshop and on the Monday, Adam Strange will be there with his Magic and Puppet Shows and again, both are free of charge.
The Rally is a very popular event with top 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 3 years ago 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
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