Tweed event is a tour de force
Date published: 03 July 2014
Tour De Tweed from White Hart Lydgate L to R Philip Pearson, Richard Wallis, Martin Trowman, Bob Northgate, Caroline Wallis
AN intrepid group of cyclists offered a gentle alternative to the fever of the forthcoming Tour de France’s visit to the area.
As last-minute plans are finalised for the Grand Depart from Leeds on Saturday, Saddleworth got ahead of the game with a series of fun, cycling-linked activities.
On Saturday, a touch of yesteryear came to village roads when biking enthusiasts made a nostalgic trip on two-wheeled bone-shakers from the 1920s and Thirties on a gentle “Tour de Tweed” ramble.
Event organiser Philip Pearson (42), from Slackcote said: “We really captured the joy of cycling from vintage times. We encouraged people to dress in vintage gear.”
Philip wore a false moustache, and, as a nod to the Tour de France, a jaunty French beret.
The oldest bicycle on the four-mile journey was an original 1932 drop-handle bar Chater-Lea lightweight racer owned by Bob Norgate from Meltham. Another was a veteran Raleigh made around 1934.
The riders, some dressed in tweed jackets, waistcoats, caps and plus-fours, completed the ride in drizzle and mist at the Royal Oak at Heights, above Delph, and raised £80 for the MS Society.
On arriving the group bumped into 40 nostalgia-seekers who had hired a 1947 double-decker bus to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Said pub landlord Michael Fancy: “It was terrific — the old bikes and the bus added a real touch of whimsy to the day.”
Meanwhile, the RSPB, in partnership with Mossley artist Richard Dawson, encouraged families to show their pedal power at a special event at Dovestone on Sunday.
They rode two futuristic Kinetic art bike sculptures — a bird and a fish — created by Mr Dawson and Handmade Parade which were assembled from scrap parts of cycles and trampolines, before the sculptures appear on the BBC’s “Blue Peter”.
And Saddleworth Clarion Cycling Club launched the first of a series of easy local cycle rides.
The “Just Bring Your Bike” road rides around villages focus on relaxed, social riding at a slower pace on the last Saturday of each month. Information: www.saddleworthclarion.webs.com.
