Less than 2 weeks to go for the Ritchey Bristol Bikefest 2014!

BY: Michael Wilkens

Published: 27th May, 2014

We are heading towards the start line of the 2014 Ritchey Bristol Bikefest powered by Heritage Volkswagen with less than 2 weeks to go!

As always the event will run at the beginning of June (7-8th June) and will take place in one of the most loved riding spots in the country – Ashton Court, Bristol.

The Saturday (7th June) will be all about the 12 hour relay race as well as the newly added ‘Steve Worland ride single track hard & drink a swig of cider per lap memorial cup’ while the Sunday (8th June) will focus on the slightly tamer 6 and 3 hour event – details here.

Pre-entries close this Friday:
Entries for the two days have been coming in thick and fast with Saturday being once again the busier day of the two. All categories except the Saturday solo categories are still available. Please note that pre-entries will close this Friday (30th May 2014) at midnight and that we can’t guarantee event T-shirts / Steve Worland Memorial cider glass for day entries and/or that day entries might be charged a surcharge.

Make sure you get your entry in now via the Bikefest entry page.

Charity Auction:
Besides the proceeds of the ‘Steve Worland ride single track hard & drink a swig of cider per lap memorial cup’ going towards buying defibrillators for Ashton Court as well as to the Psoriasis Association Charity we have been rather busy on the auction side of things.

The Ebay auction has already generated more than £3000 and we are very grateful for the donation from Halfords, On-One, Marin and KTM. We have currently the following items up for auction:

Kenesis FF29 frame – bit here.
Fox 36 Float Kashima forks – bit here.
Merida Big Nine Carbon team frame – bit here.
Nukeproof Mega frame – bit here.
Polaris Bike Bag – bit here.
Surly Krampus frame – bit here.
Orange RX9 bike – bit here.

But besides the Ebay activities we will have an exciting live auction on Saturday night with amazing products from Camelbak, Mavic, Sram, Decade Europe, Halo, Surly, Lezyne, Bike Wales, Ritchey and even signed One Industries shirts from the Athertons…so make sure you bring your auction paddle and your pocket money…and get yourself some great gear for a good cause!

Items will be on display from Friday onwards and there will be a ‘buy now’ price if you can’t or don’t want to wait till the auction.

Want someone fast to chase?
Besides the Red Bull Red Jersey timing section (details here) we have got someone rather fast coming to the Bikefest to race in the 6 hour event on Sunday. Guy Martin is coming to race in the 6 hour event with his team mate Jason Miles – but the guys are not riding in a ‘conventional’ pair – they will be tackling the course on a tandem. Should be interesting to watch and should be a good ‘target’ if you want to put some great lap times down.

Music, drinks and food on site:
12 hour racing is not just about riding your bike fast…there is so much more to it. To make the weekend complete we will have our Bikefest DJ playing some tunes on Friday evening and Saturday from the afternoon onwards. The Bikefest bar will be open on Friday afternoon/evening as well as on Saturday afternoon/evening and will have a broader selection of drinks available in 2014. Ian from the Drop-Off café will be serving food starting on Friday evening all the way through the weekend.

Kids race on Saturday:
There will be the Mini Bikefest kids race held on the Saturday starting at 1:00pm. Classes are under seven and over seven. Parents can enter their children on the day before 12:30pm by coming to registration in the main marquee and registering on the line. Entry will be free of charge.

All other info:
For all other info on the Ritchey Bristol Bikefest including directions, facilities and general event details, and entry facilities (secure online entry and downloadable entry form) please go to www.bike-fest.com.

See you all in June.

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