More than 50 businesses are taking part in a brightly-coloured cycle trail to welcome The Tour of Britain to Bath.
Thousands of spectators will watch Stage 5 of the Tour of Britain race swoop into Bath as around 120 of the world’s top professional cyclists go over the finish line on Royal Avenue, below the Royal Crescent, on Thursday, September 8th
The area will be turned into a Cycle Village for the day, with children’s races, mountain bike displays, bandstand entertainment, children’s competitions, food and drink stalls and more.
This is the first time that Bath & North East Somerset Council has hosted a Stage Finish of The Tour, although it hosted a Stage Start of the 2014 Tour of Britain, as well as the round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series last year.
Businesses will be displaying red, white and blue bikes outside or inside their premises for three weeks from Thursday 18 August.
A bicycle trail map showing the locations of all the bicycles is available, encouraging residents and visitors to explore the city. Many of the businesses involved are offering special promotions and competitions for people who visit their bikes or post photos on social media.
The trail has been organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council, working with local voluntary groups and businesses. Julian House, the Princes Trust and Bath Rugby Foundation provided volunteers to help paint 40 bikes with paint supplied by Rabart – Davies of Bath.
Councillor Martin Veal, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “I am delighted by the enthusiastic collective response from local businesses in welcoming and supporting the cycling Tour of Britain to our City.
There will be bikes on show right across the city, on cafes, visitor attractions, shops, restaurants and financial and legal services. Bath is most definitely a city that welcomes cyclists and is a great city to visit by bike.”
A painted bicycle will also be displayed at Bristol Airport, which, together with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, is a premier sponsor of the Tour’s Bath stage.
You can download the bike trail and find out more at www.bathnes.gov.uk/tourofbritain Minuteman press has also printed some copies free of charge, which will be available from the Visitor Information Centre.
To find out more visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/tourofbritain
You can also follow @Love2cyclebath or look out for #BathToB #ToB2016 #Bathbiketrail on Twitter.
And wouldn’t it be nice if BANES showed as much enthusiasm for cycling as a way of getting around our beautiful city and worked to make it easier and safer for us all to do so.