Streets of Totnes to be closed off for Bank Holiday bike races

The town of Totnes in Devon is gearing up to host a series of bike races on the late May Bank Holiday Monday, with cyclists of all ages and abilities invited to take part on traffic-free roads, with cars banned from the streets for the day.

The event on 31 May follows a similar initiative last year, but the This Is South Devon website reports that this time round, organisers from the Mid-Devon Cycle Club have teamed up with Totnes Rotary Club to devise a programme of races that ranges from the fun to the serious.

Racing itself takes place on a circuit starting and finishing in Fore Street, and also taking in Station Road and Coronation Road.

The programme proper comprises events for holders of Elite and Category 1-4 licenses, as well as races for youngsters aged 8-16. The latter includes a race for under-14s and under-16s that will help determine members of the West Country team to participate in the British Games, which are being held in Sunderland later this year.

In between those, members of the Rotary Club are organising fun events, such as scooter, wheelbarrow and skateboard races.

Former chairman of the cycle club, Ken Robertson, said that the Rotary Club intended to make the event bigger than the previous year’s one and also to include in the programme races “'for people with less athletic ability,” as well as creating an enjoyable event for locals.

Businesses and other organisations in the town are invited to enter teams to help raise funds for the Rotary Club, and entry and sponsorship forms can be obtained from Totnes Town Council in Ramparts Walk and the Totnes Information Office in Coronation Road.