Sportive

Fat Lad at the Back add 25-mile route to sportives

Social-focussed rides now offer 25-, 50- and 75-mile options

Yorkshire-based cycling and sportswear brand Fat Lad at the Back have expanded their popular sportive series to include new 25-mile routes aimed at new cyclists.

In keeping with the ethos of their apparel ranges, the sportives are about inclusion and offer relaxed riding, well-stocked food stops and a post-ride barbeque ensuring the events are as much about the social occasion than the ride itself.

Fat Lad at the Back’s sportives now also offer a 25-mile route (pic: SWpix.com)

With carefully constructed rides taking in Burnsall, the Bolton Abbey estate and some of the 2014 Tour de France route, the routes boast a great backdrop but without the thigh-stinging climbs which often put newer riders off big sportives.

Richard Bye, the Fat Lad in Charge, said: “This year we have added a 25 miler as we hope to inspire some new riders who may fancy a sportive but have never thought they could!

“And we’re all thrilled at the response we’ve received as a result. We expect it to be bigger than last year and early signs are that it definitely will be.

“We focus on making the sportives more social based as well as encouraging each other to push each other further.

“Our objective is to ensure that you have an ace day out, meet some of the awesome Lads and Lasses in the FLAB community and leave wanting more. Not more to eat, however, our lunch stops are legendary!”

Registration is now open for the sportives – which still include the 50-mile and 75-mile routes too – on May 8, and riders are encouraged to book early.

The rides are fully supported by FLAMbassadors, and drinks stops offer plenty of time for mid-ride refreshment and recovery.

Registration is now open for the May 8 Yorkshire sportives (pic: SWpix.com)

The 75-mile route is front-loaded, with a climb through West End and up Greenhow Hill but also includes rolling descents through Hebden and Grasington and into the Yorkshire Dales.

The Fat Lad lunch stop arrives at the 75km mark before a winding descent off Malham Moor and back into the lowlands.

The low-traffic 50-mile route follows chunks of the 75-mile route but with less climbing, will the 25-mile option is an ‘easy 1/5 ride which will give participants a good taste of Yorkshire cycling, without biting off more than they can chew’.

For more information, or to book your place, visit the Fat Lad at the Back website.