Teams, individuals and families from across the East Midlands have signed up to take part in the Radleigh Homes 40k leg of the Derby Spring Classic Sportive on Sunday May 1 – organised by Cycle Derby and HUUB Events.
The Spring Classic will start and finish at Markeaton Park. Riders will take on one of three routes – 40km, 80km or 160km around Derbyshire and East Staffordshire.
Entries for the 40k, 80k and 160k legs are open until April 24 at www.cyclederbysportive.co.uk with every 50th entrant receiving a spot prize.
The sporting event will raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre as part of the charity’s 125th anniversary celebration programme so that more underprivileged children can enjoy a seaside holiday in Skegness.
Among the riders in the Radleigh Homes 40k community event is a 15-strong team from the four independent schools which are part of Loughborough Endowed Schools.
The team is made up of teaching and non-teaching staff – some of whom are experienced cyclists and others have never ridden in a sportive before.
Organiser Garry Leeson explained: “We have more than 600 members of staff and are always keen to find sociable activities to bring people together.
“Many of us have ridden in the Derby Sportive before and thoroughly enjoyed it so we have encouraged other colleagues and their partners to join us this year as part of our healthy workplace initiative.
“We have an increasing number of boys and girls aged from three to 18 from Derby and Derbyshire, in part thanks to the introduction of a second bus route last September, and are keen to support charities in our catchment area so the Spring Classic Sportive is the perfect event for us on a number of fronts.”
Also taking part is father and son team Colin and 15-year-old Adam Crowder from Denby.
Colin explained: “Cycling is a great way to do something outdoors as a family and this will be our third sportive.
“The 40k is a great sociable event and we will be joined by three of my work colleagues who will then peel off to tackle the longer 80k distance before we all meet back up again in Markeaton Park.
“We are just keeping our fingers crossed for better weather than last September as it was rather grim in the wind and rain but enjoyable nonetheless.”
Radleigh Homes will sponsor the 40km event, which is ideal for cycling beginners and families on a circular route around Longford and Sutton-on-the-Hill and staff from the company will be manning one of the drinks stations on the route.
The 80km route takes riders out towards Barton Under Needwood and back to Stapenhill to join the main route back to the park’s event village.
Riders on the 160km route will cover a new route towards Blithfield Reservoir and climbing over Cannock Chase before heading back into Derbyshire, past Repton and along Radbourne Lane to Markeaton Park.
Geldards will once again sponsor the Business Team Challenge. This is an opportunity for up to ten colleagues to work together in an attempt to travel the greater distance. The team with the greatest total distance will take home the coveted Geldards Business Team Challenge title.
Geldards will host a hospitality area at Markeaton Park with exclusive access for Business Challenge riders throughout the day.
Mark Smith from Cycle Derby said: “The Spring Classic Sportive has something for everyone with three different distance routes.
“As well as seasoned cyclists, we are attracting a lot of people and young families who are new to riding which meets our objective of getting more people active”.
Claire Duffin is Event Director for Huub Events which was launched last year by triathlon wetsuit and apparel company Huub Design, founded and owned by local entrepreneur Dean Jackson.
She continued: “This looks set to be the largest ever Derby Spring Classic Sportive and entries are still coming in from cyclists from the region and beyond.”
The response in the past couple of months since we opened entries for the Sportive shows that Derby is well and truly a cycling city.
“Entries are also coming in from cyclists from further afield which is great news for the city as they come here with their family and friends for an enjoyable day out.”