On Saturday the 28th August and again on Sunday 5th September I was greeted by warm sunny mornings as I arrived at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick to set up the bike track as part of the Hawick Festival of Cycling, planned by Hawick Cycling Club to celebrate the stage seven ‘depart’ of the Tour of Britain on Saturday 11th September.
Working again with the awesome Live Borders Sports Development Team we provided fun, safe but challenging bike riding experiences for young riders – and their parents too!
For five hours each day Border Cycle Speedway introduced grass track racing, and some bike football mayhem, to the welcoming residents of Hawick of all ages, ably assisted by Rab Scott of Hawick Cycle Club and Jordan Wilson from Live Borders.
It was obvious from the number of enthusiastic riders who signed in for the coached racing sessions and bike footie fun (and who kept coming back for more), and from the positive comments from their parents, that a local bike club for young riders would be most welcome.
I was delighted that at the end of each the day quite a few of the young riders hung around to talk about bikes and to help with tidying away all the kit, asking whether there would be another Bike Festival next year. I do hope so!
Trevor Bryant
07.09.2021
