2011 results

Cycle to work and leave your bike at Central Hall!! Keighley’s new community resource centre is making it easier for people to cycle to work in the town centre. Cyclists can now use the ground-floor showers and bike racks at Central Hall in Alice Street for just £1. There are discounts for regular users, who can secure their cycles for just £15 a month or £120 a year. For more information contact Central Hall development manager Matt Blackmore on (01535) 612500.

1st/2nd July is the 2nd sportKeighley “Beyond 2012″ Conference on “Sustainable Sport” at Leeds City College Keighley Campus. On the Saturday evening 2nd July it’s also the 5th sportKeighley Olympic Dinner – a great evening is once again in prospect with some great sporting demonstrations and a celebration of what’s going on locally and beyond. It’s a new venue too at the LCC Keighley Campus and it also once again acts as the conference dinner. Tables are limited so get your bookings in quickly! Booking is on-line via the West Yorkshire Sport website http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Beyond2012sustainsport

On Saturday 2nd July the conference includes a visit to Bradford CycleFest which is at Roberts Park in Saltaire – flyers are due out soon – see http://cyclefestbradford.org.uk/;

The Bronte BIGK cyKlesportive and Race the Train in aid of Sue Ryder Care at Manorlands, the second leg of the “BIGK-cubed” challenge (the BIGK 10K in April was the first), is on Sunday 17th July (this year there is camping and pasta available on the Saturday night at the National Trust East Riddlesden Hall fields). The sportive starts from the LCC Keighley Campus (Race the Train from Low Mill Lane) and is the classic 88-mile, 21-climb course with lots of easier options as well. Flyers from Sue Ryder will be out soon, and it’d be great to get as many locals as possible taking part – hopefully less windy this year! Sign up at www.brontecyklesportive.org.uk.

On 24th July there is also a cycle event at East Riddlesden Hall involving Skyrides, etc in collaboration with the National Trust (celebrating their National Bike Week).

On Wednesday 27th July there’s a Keighley Gate Hill Climb and descent challenge from the Busfeild Arms at East Morton where the winner (cyclists and runners) is the one who comes closest to their estimated time (no watches or computers!) This is in aid of HODU at Airedale Hospital.

On 31st July is the second Bradford Skyride – again, details out soon – see www.goskyride.com.

All through the summer Richard Taylor is holding Open MTB races at Marley in Keighley (9am, first Saturday in each month) – all ages and abilities, 1, 2 or 3 1.5mile laps – all welcome. See http://www.activesports.org.uk/.

Of course, this only scratches the surface of what’s going on more widely in sport this summer, so keep an eye on the Keighley News, the soon-to-be revamped sportKeighley website and also on the Active Bradford website http://www.activebradford.org.uk which will also host the new Bradford Sport & Physical Activity Strategy which is due for launch in July or thereabouts.

Have a good summer!!

The sportKeighley initiative progresses with a planned new impetus including being hosted at the new University Academy Keighley (UAK) once it is open in early summer. UAK offers a fantastic opportunity for Keighley to progress in terms of sport and sports facilities – see the update on www.kcac.co.uk for information. More will follow on this in the next few weeks, and an opening event for the newly-refurbished athletics track is being planned.

The BIGK initiative with Sue Ryder Care at Manorlands has taken a new dimension with the launch earlier this year of the “BIGK3″ (BIGK cubed) challenge. This starts on Mother’s Day April 3rd with the 4th Keighley BIGK 10K. Entries are already pouring in so book early to avoid disappointment! See www.bigk10k.org.uk to enter and for more information. “Run for your Mum!” This year sees a new schools challenge as well – we’re looking forward to a bumper field and a great atmosphere once again. The second leg is the 2nd Bronte BIGK CyKlesportive on Sunday 17th July, starting from Leeds City College Keighley Campus, and the third is the Bronte BIGK Mountain Bike Challenge on Sunday 18th September from Oxenhope. Watch out for more details in the Keighley News and on various partnership websites!

Leeds City College Keighley Campus also hosts the second sportK International “Beyond 2012″ Conference on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd July. The theme this year is all about “Sustainable Sport” and will be a real opportunity to discuss some ideas to take things forward as we hit tricky times in terms of funding. This year’s event is in conjunction with Bradford Athletics Network, West Yorkshire Sport and Bradford Disability Sport & Leisure. The event will conclude on the Saturday evening with the 5th sportK Olympic Dinner which this year will also be at the new College.

Schools cross country and Keighley & Craven’s Open Kross Challenge on the new fixed cross country course at Cliffe Castle is also expanding, with runners being issued with their own unique running numbers that can also be used in the BIGK10K and other forthcoming events.

Loads more to communicate as things move on through 2011! Watch this space!

The Bronte BigK Cyklesportive and Race the Train 2010 – Results

The inaugural Bronte BIGK CyKle Sportive was held last Sunday and was instantly hailed as a classic ride to match any in the country by the majority of the field. The event was organised by SportKeighley and Sue Ryder Care – Manorlands Hospice which was the beneficiary of over £3,000 raised.

Over 100 riders defied the rain and blustery winds to test themselves on routes of between 4.8 and 88 miles through the undulating Bronte countryside. Some participants signed up for the charity element, some to enjoy a scenic ride but most were temped by the personal challenge of this event in and the incentive to try and keep pace with a train on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway line.

The new Leeds City College Keighley campus on Dalton Lane made for an impressive start finish point for the event and riders started and finished between Shorn the Sheep and a Bronte Cow which symbolised the landscape were riders were encountering on the routes, the longest which included 21 “classic” climbs in Airedale and Wharfedale.

They were followed at 9.40am by the traditional 4.8 mile Race the Train event, starting next to Keighley Station to climbing Halifax Road to Oxenhope. This year the KWVR Diesel service revved up for the challenge by completing the scheduled 20-minute journey in just 16 minutes 28 seconds meaning that only four of the cyclists in this group managed to beat it up the Worth Valley! It is planned to get someone to hail the train next year at the request stop at Damems in order to slow it down!. The fastest finisher this year was Joe Moses at 15 minutes and 57 seconds. Andrew Blackwood matched the train to the second. Amongst the youngest were Stan Lawler and Molly Holder who started from the special point at Lees Primary School at Cross Roads. All Race the Train finishers received a bacon butty and other goodies upon their arrival at Oxenhope Station.

They were then able to relax and watch the sportive riders as they completed the initial loop of their challenge around Haworth, Oakworth, Oldfield and Stanbury and headed off towards Leeming, Cullingworth, Saltaire, Otley, Ilkley and East Morton. At this point 18 riders returned direct to Keighley, but 51 brave souls continued to complete the full 88 miles and 21 hills finishing with the Murder Mile in Silsden, Cononley, Cowling Pinnacle and Keighley Tarn. The final climb from Steeton drew several unprintable comments from riders with weary legs!

Fastest on the 88-mile route was Stefan Macina in a time of 5 hours 30 minutes and he along with four others managed to beat the average KWVR steam train speed of 15mph for the journey. The last riders home from this route took just under nine hours!
Martin Peace was the first to complete the 65-mile loop but agonisingly in a time of four hours and twenty one failed to beat the train by one minute. David Warden and Michael Thewlis shared a time of two hours and 40 seconds for the 42-mile loop and David Dobson was the first finisher on the 30-mile loop.

All riders enjoyed an “all-you-can-eat” BBQ provided by Manorlands at the finish and generally agreed that it was a memorable challenge and a great day out. Already many of the riders have stated their intention to come back next year with friends and colleagues and several people have offered further help and support for the event which is hopefully set to become a national classic.

Manorlands Fundraiser Andrew Wood who was present at the event said “I’d like to thank all who took part and volunteered at the event and a special thank you to John Dennis who came up with this fantastic format. From the feedback we have received we are expecting to be overwhelmed with interest in the 2011 event which will take place on 17th July and hopefully it will continue to raise substantial funds for the hospice.”

John Dennis thanked the many people who helped to mark the course and marshal the event, and also to Sue Ryder Care, Leeds City College, sportKeighley, Keighley & Craven AC, All-Terrain Cycles, SIS, CTC, KWVR, Sky, British Cycling, the Busfield Arms and Keighley Just Ride Cycle Club.

The next challenge in the BIGK series is the Bronte Mountain Bike Challenge from Oxenhope on Sunday 19th September – see www.brontebikechallenge.org.uk for details.

Dear All,

There is an opportunity for a meeting with the person from Bradford Council in charge of Safer Roads in Bradford District – Steve Thornton.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday 8th June at 5.30pm at Bradford Univeristy, Horton Building (opposite the Richmond Building – the building with the plastic dome) in Room D01.29.

That is on the ground floor. The meeting is for everyone in Bradford. Please come and have a chance to hear what Bradford Council are doing to make roads safer, and give your opinion and seek some positive actions that can take place. Apparently around this time local councils are making Local Transport Plans that will last for 15 years – this may be a chance to make sure we can contribute to these plans.

We aim to finish at 6.30pm (although in reality it might go on til 7pm but we will try our best to stick to an hour).

PLEASE PASS THIS TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE DANGEROUS DRIVING THAT IS OCCURRING EVERYDAY HERE. ASK THEM TO COME TO THE MEETING!

Some people have already written to me and told me of incidents that they have recently experienced. If you have time please write these down, print them off and bring them for Steve Thorton, or email them to him at Steve.Thorton@bradford.gov.uk

more details

The Idea
The idea is to cycle from Haworth in West Yorkshire to Malta, aiming to arrive in Valetta after a c. 2,200 mile ride for 21st August 2010, which is the date of my 50th birthday.

The Route
Basically, from Haworth eastwards through Bradford/Leeds and Castleford to Hull*. Overnight ferry to Europoort and then heading south through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and right down the west coast of Italy. Ferry to Sicily, down the island and then ferry to Valetta in Malta (see detailed route below). The route is entirely flat apart from the hills!

The Dates
Aiming to set off on Thursday 22nd July 2010 and arrive in Valetta on Friday 20th August 2010. Allowing for rest days on Sunday 1st August in St Moritz in the Alps, Saturday 7th August in Pisa in Italy (to lean against the tower!) and Wednesday 11th August in Rome, this averages out at approx. 70+ miles per day with the longest day being 123 miles and the shortest day 36 miles.
see attached poster

more details

www.justgiving.com/sportjohntomalta.