THE Glentress Seven, a new seven-hour endurance mountain bike event being staged at Forestry Commission Scotland’s 7stanes Glentress, one of the UK’s best trail centres, on Saturday 11 June 2011, is now open for entries – http://www.tweedlove.com.
The flagship event that will kickstart this year’s expanded TweedLove cycling festival, featuring normally unavailable trails and new sections created specially for the event, is looking to attract both the casual trail rider and more skilled speed merchants from all over the UK.
Emma Guy, from the Hub at Glentress, and Neil Dalgleish, from Hillside, a design and communications business specialising in all things ‘bikey’, organisers of TweedLove and the new Glentress Seven event, said: “Glentress is consistently voted the UK’s best trail centre and with the Glentress Seven we’re aiming to give it an event to match.
“It will be run on a seven-hour endurance format for solos and teams of two, three or four.
“The emphasis is very much on great trail riding and having a lot of fun. There’ll be a festival feel to the event base and transition area at The Hub; and out on the course there should be a few surprises to make things fun and buzzing all day.
“The route is still being finalised but it will suit a range of riding abilities, featuring some new, specially created trail sections and some normally unavailable singletrack in the forest.
“On the more technical descents, we will offer easier route options that will take a bit longer than the direct, steeper route but will be less challenging for newcomers to racing.
“As well as the Glentress Seven, we’ve got loads planned for TweedLove week. Thanks to the support from EventScotland and Scottish Borders Council we have been able to expand the programme and generally take things up a level.
“We’re planning a new evening criterium-style road event in Peebles and several free guided rides including a monster two-dayer over the hills around the valley.
“The bike demos and dual slalom will be back, with some big social events happening in the evenings too.
“Some of the free events might sound too good to be true, but it’s made possible thanks to all the enthusiastic local volunteers who are into biking; sharing their passion and sharing the (Tweed)love.”
See you in June!
For more information on TweedLove go to: http://www.tweedlove.com
Media contact:
Paddy Cuthbert | Podge Publicity | M: 07968699636 | e: paddy@podge.co.uk
Organiser contacts:
Neil Dalgleish | Hillside Design Agency | M: 07796 173939
Emma Guy | The Hub In the Forest | M: 07872 991721
Notes for editors:
TweedLove
A Week of Bike Riding and Good Times in the Tweed Valley. -
11- 19 June 2011
Background to TweedLove
The first TweedLove bike festival was held in the summer of 2010 with the aim of reinforcing the Tweed Valley’s reputation as one of the premier cycling destinations in the UK.
It was a real success, with well over 1,000 cyclists taking part, from across the UK and as far afield as Spain and Sweden. Some events sold-out and others were over-subscribed.
In 2010, the festival received no public agency funding and was organised on a voluntary basis, with most of the events free to take part in.
The two main organisers were design firm Hillside Agency and the Glentress-based Hub in the Forest with huge amounts of essential local volunteers.
There was also support from the Tweed Valley Consortium, several local businesses, the Borders Recreational Cycling Project and cycling brands Kona, Endura and Orange.
EventScotland
EventScotland, the national events agency, is funding TweedLove 2011 through their National Funding Programme. An award of more than £10,000 will be used to promote and improve the festival programme.
Paul Bush OBE, chief operating officer for EventScotland, said: “TweedLove is an excellent example of events that we fund through the National Funding Programme across the country.
“It has something for everyone and we feel the mix of sport, music and film will attract a wide range of locals and visitors to the area with the potential to grow, year on year”.
EventScotland is the national events agency.
EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.
The Year of Active Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative being delivered by EventScotland and VisitScotland which begins on the 1st January 2011.
For more information go to www.eventscotland.org/activescotland
For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org
EventScotland in partnership with Volunteer Development Scotland is delivering Event Team Scotland, a new web-based portal which matches volunteers across Scotland with exciting sporting and cultural events. For more information, please visit www.eventteamscotland.com
Scottish Borders Council
http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/
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Contact: Paddy Cuthbert
Email: paddy@podge.co.uk
Website: http://www.tweedlove.com
