Now that the 2015 Rally is over, we have archived the 2015 website, complete with this old homepage (below) and its various sub-pages. For photos and reports from the 2015 York Rally, please see here. As most of the links in these archived pages will lead to the current versions of the site, for easy access here are the other main parts of the 2015 site:
- Information for visitors (2015)
- Displays and activities (2015)
- Information for traders (2015)
- Information for cycle organisations (2015)
- Information for volunteers (2015)
- Downloads (2015)
Welcome to the York Rally website
The York Rally is an annual gathering of cyclists on the Knavesmire in York. It ran for almost 70 years since its foundation in 1945 until 2012. Now an independent group of volunteers, some new to the event and some long-serving stalwarts, have revived the Rally for 2015, supported by the Friends of the York Rally.
The 2015 York Rally is now over! This website will be updated to reflect this ASAP, but for now we just have some initial closing comments and thanks. We’re back in action again soon, doing more fundraising at our Sportive on the 20th September 2015.
The Rally will definitely be back next year, too, and please note that the provisional dates are now 18-19th June 2016. More ASAP once we have final confirmation.
Event highlights included:
- Free entry to the site and trade show!
- National Series grasstrack racing was back, forming a spectacular centrepiece in the arena. And on the Sunday there was racing in the Eleconline Summer Series from the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association.
- We had displays and activities from a wide range of grass roots cycling organisations and special interest clubs, and talks too!
- There was an amazing Pedal Power Invention Convention to celebrate human powered machines, cargo bikes, sound systems, DIY creations and more!
- A ‘Trade Village‘ of cycling exhibitors, including well-known names such as Hewitt Cycles, JD Tandems and many more.
- A wide selection of rides on offer at all distances, from family-friendly beginners to Audax rides for seasoned riders.
- The was ample space for camping: both for lightweight tents and for caravans/motorhomes.
- On the Saturday evening there was live music from The Foresters.
- The saddlebag sale cycle jumble and auction were both back!
- Watch our News page or follow us on Twitter or Facebook for the latest updates. You could also volunteer to help with the work next year!
The up-front costs of staging this event are daunting. To support the Rally’s revival, please do consider becoming a Friend of the York Rally! Sign up as you enter, or at Rally HQ.
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We are delighted to acknowledge the generous assistance of:
Our thanks to Sustrans for their assistance in organising many of the family-friendly rides from the York Rally.
The nationwide club for riders who enjoy a mix of on and off road cycling!
The York Lions Club are a registered charity and part of the International Association of Lions Clubs. They are kindly providing assistance in running the Auction Sale at the 2015 York Rally.
Many thanks to the iTravelYork team at City of York Council for their assistance!
Bike Week is an annual opportunity to promote cycling, and show how cycling can easily be part of everyday life by encouraging ‘everyday cycling for everyone’. Demonstrating the social, health and environmental benefits of cycling, the week aims to get people to give cycling a go all over the UK, whether this be for fun, as a means of getting around to work or school, the local shops or just to visit friends. The 2015 event will take place 13-21st June but events still take place through until September and beyond!
Thanks to Audax UK for organising the 100k ride on the Saturday!
Our vision for the Rally
The revived Rally is being organised by a committee of enthusiastic cyclists on a purely volunteer basis – many of us are giving up our time alongside busy working lives to make it happen, and we are not even taking expenses this year. So why are we doing it?
The long history of the Rally (under names including The Grand All-Yorkshire Cyclists Rally, the CTC Rally, and York Cycle Show) means that for many cyclists it’s an unmissable opportunity to meet up with old friends, go on rides, share memories and make new ones with like-minded fellow cyclists.
We’re also sure that the Rally has amazing potential to be a welcoming and inclusive event to attract newcomers to cycling, and for everyone to experience cycling’s benefits for active health, for quick and enjoyable transport, for recreation and touring, and as a sport.
In the spirit of the original founders of the event, we would also like to make the Rally a real rallying-point for all of the nation’s cyclists (and many beyond).
To this end we are inviting all sorts of cycling clubs, organisations and interest groups to be at the Rally free of charge and to show what they do: we’d like to bring together everything from cycle racing to vintage bikes to unicycles! We have almost unlimited space on the huge Knavesmire, the grassy open space within the York Racecourse (horse racing) track.
It would be wonderful to line the grasstrack arena and the main avenue approaching it with enthusiast club stands, a real celebration of grass-roots cycling and the people who make it happen.
We hope you can be there and will want to support the event!