Have Bike - Will Travel

The UK National Cycle Network provides over 10,000 miles of cycle routes throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The routes comprise a well signed network of traffic-free paths, quiet lanes and traffic-calmed roads, although care must be taken because quiet lanes seem to be an attractor to 4x4s!

Sustrans is the co-ordinator of the scheme and they offer interactive mapping which displays cycle routes local to a given postcode or town name.

Cyclists take on the 3.4 miles exposed Black mountain climb in Wales on Sunday, 1 October, 2006, as part of the 100 miles 'Gold' route for the last in the series of this year's Bike Wales events.

There is a choice of three routes, a 100 mile Gold route that includes the Black mountain climb and takes in a circuit of Mynydd Mallaen in the Cambrian Mountains, a 45 mile Silver route that skirts the foothills north of Swansea and a 32 miles Bronze route around the Gower. Both the Gold and Silver routes incorporate a closing circuit of the Gower, starting and finishing at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea.

More details from BikeWales 01372 464666.

The Vuelta a Ciclista 2006 began in Malaga today, accompanied by many cultural events and exhibitions.

Tomorrow, the race leaves the Costa del Sol capital as it progresses onto the second leg of 167 kilometres to Cordoba.

Photo copyright lavuelta.com

The tour, which consists of 21 sections, finishes in Madrid on 17 September, 2006.

Following the successful staging of the Australian Open Road Championships in the charming Adelaide Hills town of Mount Torrens, this year, the event returns once again to the township of Buninyong, 11 - 14 January 2007 .

The 10km road race course in the township of Buninyong is highly regarded because of its well maintained roads with a mixture of uphill climbs, fast winding downhills and shaded spectator points.

Then, from Tuesday 16 January until Sunday 21 January the 2007 Tour Down Under will be held; planned to be the biggest yet, with a new race route set to provide an even greater challenge and a blend of new events designed to allow more people than ever to 'feel the rush' of cycling.

Cycling already rates as the fourth most popular pastime in Australia, more popular than golf and fishing and, over the last three years, more bikes were sold than new cars in Australia.

The 2006 Mountain Bike UCI World Cup at Fort William, Scotland, is this weekend 27-28 May.

If you can't be there, you can take a peep at what your missing on the World Cup Village Webcam

This year's British Motorcycle Grand Prix at Donington Park, Derby is on Sunday 2 July, 2006, with track action from 9:00 am to 5.00 pm

Buy a Raceday Ticket,
or alternatively, if you are making a weekend of it, you can Buy a Weekend Ticket and Camping.

Weekend Tickets are also available without the camping option.

Remember, it costs no more to purchase tickets through our site.

Bikers looking to ride in Wales should visit MTB-Wales.com the site is concerned purely with the mountain bike scene in Wales and their team do a great job bringing the latest news on trails, reviews of kit, features on places to ride, trail maps and vids.

They also have a useful table of trail links and downloads to digital route guides

Wales offers thousands of miles of superb riding. Relaxing forests, valley trails, technical mountain descents and tortuous hand carved singletracks; there are fabulous beaches, contrasting with the mountainous Brecon Beacons and of course Snowdonia. In the U.S.A., bikers on their Harleys make an annual pilgrimage to Hollister, "Birthplace of the American Biker". In Wales, mountain bikers descend on Llanwrtyd Wells, the smallest town in Britain and the home of mountain biking. The event, the annual Real Ale Wobble, is held in conjunction with the Mid Wales Beer festival, 17 - 26 November, 2006. Be warned, accommodation for the wobble books up fast and the event is usually held over the first weekend of the Beer Festival. Also, unlike the Hollister festival, it can be VERY WET AND COLD on the Welsh Mountains in November and the weather changes dramatically within minutes, so you may have to spend a lot of time in the local hostelries, drinking real ale and making friends with like-minded bikers.

A new world record MTB jump has recently been set in Wales by Jason Rennie, clearing a massive 134 feet 6 inches; it was caught on video but don't blink.

Lastly, let me use this post to congratulate Welsh road-racer Nicole Cooke, who single-handedly put in a phenomenal performance to take bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Geraint Thomas also won a bronze in the men's points race.

Yorkshire Post Today reports that one of northern England's toughest mountain bike trails is being extended and that chicken runs are being added for those that are less brave at heart.

Running through Stainburn Forest between, Harrogate and Otley, the trail is part of an extensive network of forest trails throughout the UK. The UK network provides over 2600 kilometres of waymarked forest cycle trails, offering a variety of cycling experiences, from wide forest roads to narrow single tracks and featuring some of the best off road cycling in Britain.