Click here for a short movie (2 MB) of part of the race. You need Windows Media Player and sound up a little!		Many thanks to all who submitted photographs.

Northern Rock Cyclone 2008

The second Northern Rock Cyclone festival of cycling is going to be even bigger in 2008. The event is scheduled for the weekend of the 13th -15th June and will build on the success of the 2007 event. The weekend starts with the highly successful and lucrative Newcastle Leazes Criteriums which are held, as the name suggests, in Leazes Park, which is in the shadow of St. James Park, the home of Newcastle United and is only 800m from the City Centre. The day will start with an inter-schools competition in the afternoon. This will be followed by Criteriums for youths, Senior and Elite category riders. The Elite race will be the highlight of the night starting about 8pm and lasting 1 hour. Sponsorship from Northern Rock, Ultimate Pursuits, NEL Fund Managers and Mincoffs will make the races very competitive, as there will be many prizes on offer. Saturday the 14th is the day of the Cyclone Challenge rides, which are designed to provide and experience and a Challenge for all ages and abilities. There are a choice of three rides of 31, 62 and 100 miles. In 2007 there were nearly 1000 competitors, making the event one of the biggest in the UK. One of the unique features of the event was that prizes were awarded for those Competitors who raised the most amount of money for the Charity of their choice along with some other prizes for those who travelled the furthest, oldest competitors and biggest family groups. These prizes were supplied by the Technical sponsors Ultimate Pursuits/Shimano. This theme will be continued in 2008 and four major charities have been named as the official charities for the event. These are Cancer Research UK, NSPCC, St Oswald’s Hospice and Great North Air Ambulance. However riders can also nominate a charity of their own choice if they wish.

The Beaumont Trophy Premier Calendar Road Race will take place on the Sunday on the same course as used in 2007. It will once again feature the climb of the Ryals. The KOM is sponsored by David Anderson Business Services, the Points competition by High House Farm Brewery and the Under 23 competition by Laburnum Dental Practice. All the major UK Teams are expected to ride and possibly some Continental based riders.

The whole event is part of the 2008 Culture 10 programme and, as a result, will be publicised nationally and internationally by Newcastle Gateshead Initiative. This programme of artistic and sporting events is designed to highlight the North East as a region and bring inward investment from Tourism. It is funded by One North East (ONE) which is the regional Government funding agency.

All details about the whole event are on the event website www.northernrockcyclone.co.uk. There is an online entry facility which allows all participants taking part in any of the rides or races over the whole weekend to enter online. This online entry facility for Road Races is one of the first of its type in the UK