It’s nearly June (yes really – how did that happen?!), so Bristol Bikefest 2015 – the official ‘start of summer’ event – will be here before you know it. Entries for most categories are almost full and will close on 17th May; however, the Steve Worland ‘Ride Singletrack Hard & Drink A Swig Of Cider A Lap’ Memorial Cup (SWMC for short) still has places. Over to the organisers for a quick word on what it’s all about…
“Come and join the cup! To honour our friend Steve Worland who sadly passed away at the end of March 2014 in Ashton Court, we are once again running the ‘Steve Worland ride singletrack hard & drink a swig of cider per lap memorial cup 2015’ within the Bristol Bikefest. Last year’s event was a great success and we hope we can build on its strength. All proceeds of the cup will go towards buying defibrillators for Ashton Court as well as to the Psoriasis Association Charity.”
The SWMC is a single category, annual event, and anyone over the age of 16 can take part. It’s a team event, with the number of riders in ‘team’ being loosely interpreted as one to “infinite” – although only one rider per team can be on course at a time, so anyone thinking of storming the podium by sending out 30 soloists at once under one team name had better think again… 😉
It uses the same (great!) course as the Bikefest, with loads of awesome singletrack and fun, and has the added bonus (or handicap, depending on how heavily you’re planning on imbibing) of a feed station mid-lap where riders are encouraged to drink a small cider in Steve’s honour. Riders are also encouraged to ride in retro gear and/or on retro bikes – “anything goes as long as it’s safe”.
The event will have its own start time of 11.37am and will finish at the same time as the 12-hour race (9pm) – perfectly timed for more of that cider. Every rider gets a special SWMC prize and the winner gets custody of the custom Steve Worland Memorial Cup until 2016’s Bikefest, when we’ll do it all again.
If you’ve already got an entry in for Bikefest and want to switch it to the SWMC, no problem – just email news@bike-fest.com and they’ll sort it out for you. Not got your entry in yet? You know what to do.