Dragon Ride ventures into the Brecon Beacons

Chiltern Hills face Ride to the Horns entrants

Northern Rock Cyclone heads into Northumberland

Three big sportive rides take place this weekend,there’s the Northern Rock Cyclone, now in its third year, which starts at the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club and offers a choice of three distances including 100 miles. It is follwed on Sunday by the Beaumont Trophy, a Premier Calendar event with Olympic pursuit gold medallist Bradley Wiggins as a confirmed starter.

To the north west of London lie the Chiltern Hills, which will host the second running of Formula One star Mark Webber’s 90-mile Ride to the Horns. With a number of climbs used in the Tour of Britain plus some typical Chilterns ramps on the menu, this promises to be a real challenge, especially for anyone intending to beat keen cyclist Webber back to the finish at Mentmore.

Meanwhile, west of the Severn, the sixth Dragon Ride Wales takes place over a route lengthened to a monster 120 miles for 2009 through the addition of a starter leg taking in three new climbs before the route reaches the Bwlch, last year’s first significant ascent.

With a record 3,100 entrants taking to the start line, amongst them Paraympians Darren Kenny and Simon Richardson and Cervelo Test Team’s Daniel Lloyd, this too will be a ride to remember and RCUK will be there to see how it goes.