Gear up for festival

Streetbikes, a projected funded by Kirklees area committees and the Department for Transport, is planning to hold a community bike ride in tandem with next year’s Tour de France.

The ride will begin in Spenborough and finish at Huddersfield train station.

People in North Kirklees will be able to join the ride at any point as it passes through Dewsbury Moor, Chickenley, Savile Town, Ravensthorpe and the London Park estate in Mirfield.

Streetbikes co-ordinator Gill Greaves said: “We have decided to do a big community ride to link with the Tour De France to make people realise you don’t have to be a super athlete to enjoy cycling.

“We did a similar event in 2011 – the cycling festival which culminated at Mirfield Grammar School and we gave away 23 bikes.

“We hope this event will give more people access to bikes and get them out cycling.”

Streetbikes started out with a base in Spenborough, but has also opened a second unit in Lockwood.

Punters at the Rose and Crown pub in Thurstonland recently donated £950 to the project to help them buy new bicycles.