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New 50 mile route launched for 2009 Durham Big Ride - 'The Beast'

Can you handle ‘The Beast’?

Durham Big Ride have added a fourth ride to the day of cycling – The Beast.

The day is fast becoming a magnet for riders from around the region and beyond whatever their saddle experience may be.

“We want all riders to have an enjoyable day and so we have added a testing 50 mile route to the Durham Big Ride day. A good number of the riders in previous Durham Big Rides have been high mileage cyclists that think nothing of riding for hours on a Sunday and the Big Ride, although fun, wasn’t a major challenge.” said Colin Wilkes one of the event organisers.

‘The Beast’ follows the route of the Big Ride up to Iveston Bank and then turns west towards Tow Law, taking in almost every hill in between Tow Law and Durham City making over 1600m of climbing.

This route, however, is not for the faint hearted: “We must point out the ‘The beast’ is for experienced, fit riders. As our route testers have already said to us: “This is a Beast of a ride!” Even they were surprised at how challenging the whole route was.

This brings the total rides on the day to four: the Little Ride of three miles which is ideal for families with young children and people who are starting to get fit and active, the Middle Ride of around 10 miles for the riders who like a little challenge but still great for a family ride out and then the Big Ride of 25 miles which is a nice testing course for all.

“Like all of the events, we have added ‘The Beast’ following the feedback we have had from riders on previous Durham Big Rides. After the first event we were asked to put on a 10 mile route which proved to be very popular and we think the 50 miles will follow suit.”

Last year just under 1,000 people got on their bikes to see the best of the Durham countryside on the 25, 10 and 3 mile rides. 2009 will see even more people getting on their bikes:

The distance of the routes, 3 miles, 10 miles and 25miles, catering for all ages and abilities.

As in previous years, there will be no official timing on any of the routes but all finishers will receive t-shirts and medals.
19/06/2009 22:19:28

New 50 mile route launched for 2009 Durham Big Ride - 'The Beast' Can you handle ‘The Beast’? Durham Big Ride have added a fourth ride to the day of cycling – The Beast. The day is fast becoming a magnet for riders from around the region and beyond whatever their saddle experience may be. “We want all riders to have an enjoyable day and so we have added a testing 50 mile route to the Durham Big Ride day. A good number of the riders in previous Durham Big Rides have been high mileage cyclists that think nothing of riding for hours on a Sunday and the Big Ride, although fun, wasn’t a major challenge.” said Colin Wilkes one of the event organisers. ‘The Beast’ follows the route of the Big Ride up to Iveston Bank and then turns west towards Tow Law, taking in almost every hill in between Tow Law and Durham City making over 1600m of climbing. This route, however, is not for the faint hearted: “We must point out the ‘The beast’ is for experienced, fit riders. As our route testers have already said to us: “This is a Beast of a ride!” Even they were surprised at how challenging the whole route was. This brings the total rides on the day to four: the Little Ride of three miles which is ideal for families with young children and people who are starting to get fit and active, the Middle Ride of around 10 miles for the riders who like a little challenge but still great for a family ride out and then the Big Ride of 25 miles which is a nice testing course for all. “Like all of the events, we have added ‘The Beast’ following the feedback we have had from riders on previous Durham Big Rides. After the first event we were asked to put on a 10 mile route which proved to be very popular and we think the 50 miles will follow suit.” Last year just under 1,000 people got on their bikes to see the best of the Durham countryside on the 25, 10 and 3 mile rides. 2009 will see even more people getting on their bikes: The distance of the routes, 3 miles, 10 miles and 25miles, catering for all ages and abilities. As in previous years, there will be no official timing on any of the routes but all finishers will receive t-shirts and medals.
19/06/2009 22:19:28