BikeFest is coming!

Cycle Shrewsbury's webmistress, Anna Morris, on the build up to BikeFest which takes place on 11 June at the Shrewsbury Sports Village...

I'm so excited! Bike Fest - my favourite day of the year for Cycle Shrewsbury is just around the corner! We had our final planning meeting yesterday.

This year we've got some brand new things.

Most intriguing is Solo Circus, the one man cycling circus, he'll be cycling around the Sports Village on doing tricks on various weird and whacky bikes. I can't wait to see what he gets up to.

Also new this year, we're expecting local cycling superstar Luke Mellor to attend; plus we have two new guided rides. You can join Kim, the BikeIt Officer, to ride to BikeFest from the Quarry. We're hoping she'll get a big group of people together to make a big entrance at BikeFest! Also, in the afternoon, there's a ride along the route of our new Wildlife and Waterways leaflet, and we're hoping we'll spot some interesting nature along the ride. There are some very cute ducklings in the pool on route 81 at the back of the Sports Village!

bikefest-2010-pedalling-picnic cute_ducklings

Plus, we've got loads of other great stuff which makes coming down to BikeFest a really enjoyable family day out. It's always really satisfying watching small kids getting their stabilisers off or cycling confidently for the first time and then doing loads of laps around the track. It's amazing how much progress kids can make in one day, especially when they can see how fun cycling is! There's also BMX skills and cyclo-cross for older kids who like to do something a bit more sporty.

bikefest-2008-cyclists-on-the-track bikefest-2010-cyclo-cross

My secret pleasure is getting to decorate my bike as a demonstration for 'bling your bike'. It's not often you get to stick balloons and ribbons to your bike and call it 'work'!

bikefest-2010-kim-cuts-the-cake bikefest-2007-decorated-bike

One of the highlights of last year's BikeFest was Kim's Bike It tent, and it's back again this year, with great activities such as badge making, inner tube craft and collage making with lots of glue and sparkly bits! Plus there's a cake!

It's always really fun to make a smoothie on our smoothie bike too! Yum!

I'll be walking round the site getting feedback of people, so if you see me, stop to say hello and tell me how much you are enjoying BikeFest!

Hope to see you there!