Cycle Touring Festival. Here I come!

I'm very excited! I have ordered my ticket to the Cycle Touring Festival.

After missing out last year through my own forgetfulness, this year I was prepared. I signed up to the newsletter and as soon as the tickets went on sale, I got one :-)

For those of you who don't know, the Cycle Touring Festival is held in Clitheroe, Lancashire (UK). And this year it runs between Friday 27th - Sunday 30th May 2016, with an option to stay another night for a few extra pounds.

As you can guess by the name, the festival is aimed at anyone interested in cycle touring. Doesn't matter if you are experienced, novice or just interested in having a weekend away, there will be something for everyone. The 2016 lineup is yet to be 100% confirmed, although the organisers have told me to expect Tom Allen and Neil & Harriet Pike, amongst others.

Looking at the quality of the 2015 line up, I'm sure 2016 will continue with an array of interesting talks, workshops and the chance to socialise with other visitors. There will also be a film festival area on site showing cycle touring films.

2015 was the first year this festival ran and by all accounts it was a roaring success. I read nothing but positive reviews and it was a complete sell out. 2016 looks like it will be another well organised, fun and informative event. With it being spread over a couple of days, I'm sure there will be ample opportunities to chat and have fun over a beer or two!

The festival looks great value for money. I managed to pick up an early bird ticket, which came in at £75.00. This includes all the talks, workshops, food/snacks (Saturday morning till Sunday afternoon) and on site camping for the Friday and Saturday evening. For an extra £4.00, I grabbed another night camping, so I can spend Sunday night having a couple of beers and chilling out. The theory is I wake up fresh on Monday to start my journey home!

I'm always looking for an excuse to get out on my bicycle for a few days, so with this trip booked up, I'm now looking for interesting routes to travel from Jersey. It would be a shame not to link a little cycle tour into this, especially with the beautiful areas of the UK I need to travel through. It looks like I can get a good 300 miles in each way :-) And in the spirit of the Cycling Touring Community, I have created a bicycle tour on the site for anyone to join. It would be great for people to join me on my route to and from this festival. Even if you are not going, you are still welcome to join me for all or part of the way.

So if you are in the UK, or happy to travel, do check out the Cycle Touring Festival. I think it is great the organisers are putting the effort into bringing this unique festival and getting us cycle tourists together under one roof to share our experiences and have fun! Help support the Cycle Touring Community and come along.

For full details of the Cycle Touring Festival, check out the website here.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers Pete

Cycling Touring Community