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Lucy Benett, director of the Keswick Mountain Festival, said: “The Lake District is a stunning area to explore by bike so we have put together an extensive programme to reflect the range of riding there is in the area. We hope that the whole family will get involved as it is a great way to get kids active and interested in the outdoors.”
A ‘Bike Village’ will be open during the festival, which runs 21st-23rd May, offering demos and skills courses for visitors. Bike suppliers exhibiting include Merida, Cotic, Nicolai, Pace Cycles, and Kona.
Young children can have a go on LikeABike wooden learner bikes.
Local company Cyclewise will be offering tips and advice on bike skills in the Bike Village and Keswick Bikes will be taking visitors on guided rides. The Lakeland Classic rides include Borrowdale Bash and Skiddaw Loop.
Competitive cyclists can take part in the Epic Trailquest, a mountain biking orienteering course, or roadies can take part in the Sportive around the Lakeland hills. This challenging new road biking event will push 400 riders to their limits as they climb up three of the most spectacular Lakeland passes around Keswick on Saturday 22nd May
On the evening of Thursday 20th May there’s Bike Night, with a line-up of speakers, including MTB endurance rider Paul Errington and writer/photographer Steve Razzetti.
There will also be a Q&A session with Ian Weatherill from Hope Technology, Adrian Carter from Pace Cycles and Michael Bonney from Orange Bikes.
Three films will also be shown at Bike Night: Take A Seat, the tale of Dominic Gill’s mission to cycle 32,000km from the northern coast of Alaska to the southern tip of South America on a tandem (he picked up random strangers as he travelled); Look to the Ground, the story of Bobby McMullen who is legally blind, working against the odds to become a top mountain bike rider; and One Hell of a Day, which follows Cumbrian resident, Peter Lofthouse, on his latest adventure, unicycling down Helvellyn.
