Hundreds gear up for Pennine challenge

AROUND five hundred cyclists will be in Huddersfield this weekend for a testing 73-mile charity ride that takes in some of the toughest climbs in the Pennines.

The Brian Robinson Challenge Ride, on Sunday, is named after the West Yorkshire cyclist, now 81 and living in Mirfield, who was the first British rider to win a stage of the Tour de France.

The event has attracted around 100 more entrants than the previous best-attended ride.

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Riders will be travelling from London, Cheshire, Glossop, Manchester, Edinburgh, Hull, Beverley and from across Yorkshire for the event, although the majority are based in Huddersfield and members of the Huddersfield Star Wheelers club.

The youngest entrant is 14-year-old Mirfield rider Lewis Hirst and there will be several riders in their 60s.

Setting off from the Galpharm Stadium at 9am, riders will take in iconic climbs of Holme Moss and Woodhead Pass on their 73-mile ride, following in the wheel tracks of the Leeds Classic race which brought superstar Lance Armstrong to the area.

Although not a race – most roads will be open as normal – the event allows riders to test their abilities and earn Gold, Silver or Bronze awards.

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This year the ride is supporting the Huddersfield-based Forget me Not Trust, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Police Memorial Trust and Dave Rayner Fund as principal beneficiaries and cheques will be presented in front of the massed riders before the start.

The event is in its fourth year but has changed its name from the Kirklees Cycle Sportive.

One of the organisers, local councillor Martyn Bolt, said: “The name was changed to recognise the achievements of Brian and also due to confusion in marketing the event as many participants thought the venue was in Scotland.”

The event has raised almost £50,000 for charities so far and another £7,000 has been added to the tally this year.

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Mr Bolt said the increase in riders was “symptomatic of the increased interest in cycling generally” and was good news for Yorkshire’s bid to host stages in the 2016 Tour to France.

He said some riders had previously posted times of three hours and 15 minutes but that many needed eight hours to get around. “It’s a challenging route. If you go too hard you can burn out and it can be cold, wet and windy,” he added.

“We have people doing it on hybrid bikes and taking eight hours but they get as much satisfaction from it as everybody else.”

Riders can expect to burn something like 3,000 calories on the route and climb 1,812 metres in total.

The largest group of entrants are men under the age of 40 but there are many women taking part from all age groups, said Mr Bolt.