Two weeks to go!

Two weeks to go: a new Retro Ride, rides & talks finalised, live music update and much more in our last update before the Rally!

Dear fellow cyclist,

With just two weeks to go it’s time for another York Rally update! We’ve been busy with final preparations so please read on for more details on the following:
  1. We’ve a new Retro Ride! Get out your classic steel-framed bike….
  2. The rides list is now finalised – many thanks to all our volunteer leaders!
  3. The talks schedule is also finalised – many thanks to our speakers!
  4. Welcome to American Routes – our new Saturday evening band…
  5. Rally round-up – congratulations to tricycle riders and trike builders, a big thank-you to clubs and associations supporting the Rally through programme advertising, and a reminder to bring cycling donations!

This will be the last general email newsletter before the Rally, but we will also be emailing booked-in campers with arrivals information etc. shortly before the event, so please watch out for that!

1. New Retro Ride

Polish up your classic steel framed bike! We’re delighted to have a new RETRO RIDE, departing 9:50 on Saturday 22nd June. It’s a gently undulating 26 miles to Tadcaster and beyond, taking the retro riders to a refreshments stop around the midpoint. Many thanks to volunteer ride leader David Kimberley for organising.

1. New Retro Ride

2. Rides list finalised

We have a fine line-up of rides for the 2019 Rally! You’ll find many old favourites (some with changed names) but also a number of new items, which you’ll see highlighted in red if you click the link below. The new rides include a 50k Audax (running alongside a lightly modified 100k – for both please do book ASAP so that we can order Audax UK entry cards), the new Retro, and a ride on Sunday morning to see a professionally acted “Historical Promenade” about the Solar System Greenway.

2. Rides list finalised

3. Talks finalised

Many thanks to all of our speakers who have volunteered to give talks at the Rally! We’ve everything from classic cycle racing to the latest research illuminating the helmet debate, as well of course as e-bike Q&A sessions where you can explore the latest technology. More speakers are always welcome, especially perhaps with touring talks. Please just get in touch if you’d like to volunteer for next year.

3. Talks finalised

Welcome our new band!

The Foresters, the Rally’s traditional Saturday evening band for many decades, retired in late 2018 and have now sadly disbanded. We thank them for their many fine performances at the Rally – they will be much missed!
Now for the York Rally 2019 we are delighted to welcome country-folk band “American Routes“, featuring Irene and Brian Hume, legends of the north-eastern music scene who with Prelude had a ’70s smash hit with “After the Goldrush”: click below to watch them perform it (on Youtube). Please make them very welcome, from 7:30 pm on Saturday 22nd June!

Welcome our new band!
  • Many congratulations to the Tricycle Association, who are celebrating their 90th anniversary at the Rally! We’re delighted that judging by campsite bookings there will be a splendid turn-out of tricycle owners this year. And don’t miss the TA’s celebratory display on “Barrow Lane” – the first row of campsite pitches as you enter the Rally!
  • Congratulations also to our long-standing trade show exhibitors and supporters Inspired Cycle Engineering, who at the 2019 Rally are celebrating 20 years of making recumbent trikes! Do try one out on their test track. Extra thanks to ICE for (as in previous years too) lending us their display for the talks.
  • As you’ll see in the show programme when you get one at the Rally, we’ve had tremendous support this year from other clubs and organisations with their advertising. So we thank the Tricycle Association (on the occasion of their 90th anniversary), the National Association of Veteran Cycle Clubs, whose 63rd Annual Rally (30th August to 1st September 2019) will be hosted by the Northern Counties Veteran and Classic Cycle Club, the National Clarion Cycling Club 1895 giving advance notice of “Clarion Sunday” on Sunday 14th June 2020, and to The Rough-Stuff Fellowship, the oldest-established off-road cycling club in the world. Please support all of their events and activities, just as they support the York Rally!

And finally

Please do book anything you can online ahead of the Rally – this really does help reduce the pressure on our volunteers on the day, and helps us plan. So please do book your campsite pitch, saddlebag sale table, and quiz team table in good time – thank you in advance! All online bookings will close on the Monday (17th June) before the Rally. And do please remember to bring any bikes or kit which you could donate for us to sell to help boost the Rally’s funds, as mentioned in our our previous newsletter.

Thank you again for your support of the York Rally – we’re already looking forward to seeing many of you in June!

With best regards,
The York Rally Team