Sky Ride Bradford: 4,000 people turnout for city centre cycle
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ON YOUR MARKS: Lord Mayor of Bradford, Cllr Joanne Dodds, sets off on the 5km route alongside Naz Ali
Thousands of cyclists of all ages and abilities lined up alongside an Olympic Gold medallist in Bradford last weekend as two wheels proved better than four throughout the city’s streets.
British cycling legend, Jason Queally, was on hand to lead this year’s Sky Ride Bradford event, which once again resulted in the city turning yellow as families and friends cycled through traffic-free routes in their signature high-visibility vests.
The five kilometre route passed through some of the city’s most iconic landmarks including Little Germany and Bradford Cathedral, whilst a host of free activities and entertainment was available for people to join in.
BUSY: Over 4,000 people took to the streets of Bradford last weekend for the annual Sky Ride event
Queally also took part in a Q&A session at The Hub in City Park after taking on a Halfords mechanic for the tyre pump challenge.
Tom Mutton, British Cycling Recreation Manager for Bradford said: “Once again, we’ve seen Bradford struck by the cycling bug.
“It’s been great to see so many people get together with their family and friends and take to the city’s streets on their bikes.
“The atmosphere has been electric and I hope that it will have inspired people to get out cycling more often.”
CHALLENGE: British Gold medallist, Jason Queally, competes in a tyre pump challenge
Elsewhere on the day, the ‘Tricks and Tunes’ area at the back of Bridge Street, proved extremely popular as youngsters got a taste of skills training and cycle racing with British Cycling’s Go-Ride programme.
Others meanwhile took their cycling to the extreme on the ever-popular air bag jump.
In total, 4,000 cyclists turned out to the annual event on Saturday 19th September, with the event set to return once again next year.
In the meantime, there are lots of Sky Ride Local and Breeze women-only guided rides planned for locals to take part in, as well as plenty of opportunities to ride together and discover more with Ride Social too – all of which is completely free.
The next and final Sky Ride big bike event is in Coventry on 27th September.
CYCLE: Families from across the local area headed down to the city centre to join in the Sky Ride event