CycleSheffield Press Release: Next Sheffield FridayNightRide Fri Jul 4 TdF Route Dressing

CycleSheffield and its Sheffield FridayNightRide are fed up to the back teeth with the the moaners and wailers and the parochial attitude of some Sheffielders to the TdF and laments the fact that no businesses or the Council have organised a celebration of the TdF route through the urban part of city of Sheffield.
So the

Next Sheffield FridayNightRide​  on

Friday 4 July 2014 will start at

6.30 pm Herries Rd off Hillsborough Roundabout​ (there’s a big space we can assemble in, CycleSheffield will be there) to do some
TdF Stage 2 Route Dressing
 
Definitely bring scissors
and CycleSheffield will be providing lots of yellow ribbon (donations welcome) but bring some if you have some
 
Heads up! we’re going up Jenkin Rd
Refreshments: Let’s finish at The Wentworth on Attercliffe Common at entrance to Forgemasters, newly renovated  pub and sound a good place to try; I’ll do a recce.
CycleSheffield wants cyclists and residents to get out on the route through Southey, Parkwood Springs, Burngreave, Newhall, Grimesthorpe, Wincobank & Attercliffe
and tie gold/yellow ribbon around every post on the TdF route so that the peloton have a yellow ‘avenue’ for their last 9 miles
[CycleSheffield had suggested celebrating the route in this way to the Council but the idea had never been taken up]
Mick Nott, Secretary of CycleSheffield and organiser of Sheffield FridayNightRide said,
​”Last Friday’s (27/6/14) Radio Sheffield’s Breakfast Show ​featured Toby Foster hosting a phone-in on the topic, “Why does Sheffield not appear to be behind the TdF​?”  Apparently nobody has taken the initiative to decorate the route from Hillsborough to Attercliffe.  The overwhelming response from callers was negative to the TdF; bemoaning that the TdF should stay in France, road closures will cut people off and hamper emergency services, the Council have got it all wrong again​, and if cyclists want a TdF then why don’t they pay for it?  ​The ​following programme was just as miserable with ​Rony Robinson ​making disparaging and derogatory remarks about the areas traversed by the final urban section of stage 2 due to finish in Sheffield about 4.30 pm Sun 6 July.
What this shows is how little they know.  Places like Bradfield, Worrall, Oughtibridge, Grenoside and Wincobank have a full programme of events and their own festivals going on and the Council will set up spectator hubs along the route for local communities to see the race on big screens and watch first the massive publicity caravan and then the riders go by.  Loads of other stuff is going on, for instance Tramlines is hosting an excellent free gig in the Peace Gdns on Sat 5 July.  I’ll be watching it with my grandson at Abbeyfield Park as the TdF comes through Burngreave.
CycleSheffield want to say that the TdF is the biggest annual sporting event in the world and it is free to watch.  It is a credit to Sheffield that it is coming here​.  Not only do the TdF organisers recognise the opportunities that Sheffield presents for a really challenging race route it is also a vote of confidence that Sheffield can successfully host​ an exciting finish – and the seven thousand people from all over the world that work on the TdF every day!  And it can cope with and, more importantly, give a warm welcome to the 1000s if not 10,000s of visitors that will come to see the TdF here and ride the route in the future.
Sheffield has hosted ​many large international sporting events; matches in the 1966 World Cup,  the ​1991 ​World Student Games, and matches in the 1996 European Football Championships as well as numerous other international sporting events.  This will be bigger than any of them.  For one day we have the opportunity to see and enjoy a marvelous sporting spectacle and showcase our city.​  This urban route has been chosen because it is technically difficult to cycle with so many sharp turns and some very narrow streets, and it is incredibly challenging because just before the end the riders will have to climb Jenkin Rd at Wincobank which has the steepest gradient in the entire TdF route and then descend at breakneck speed through a switchback of streets around Meadowhall to finish with a final dash along Attercliffe Common to Carbrook.
We need lots of people ​to join in with the route dressing, we had 60 ​on our last FridayNightRide, and if this gets out we would like not just cyclists but local residents to come out and give us a hand as well, everybody is welcome
If local businesses want to donate yellow ribbon or tape or donate towards the cost of the ribbon or tape then get in touch with us at CycleSheffield – cyclesheffield@gmail.com
​L​et’s do it and show that Sheffield​ is a place with more than a parish mentality and that we warmly welcome visitors and the pleasure that the TdF will bring to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Sheffielders”

 

All enquiries for this press release to
Mick Nott
@CycleSheffield or @SHFbikebloke

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