Horse riders warned about upcoming cycle event in Gloucestershire

The organiser of a sportive has written to H&H to warn riders to be aware of an upcoming cycling event this weekend in Gloucestershire.

The Rotary Club of Chipping Sodbury is running the Saddleback Sodbury Sportive this Sunday (18 August).

After seeing the article in H&H warning of the dangers of horses and sportives, organiser Bill Bennett contacted H&H to tell riders in the area to be aware.

Sportives are mass participation events in which hundreds of cyclists take to the roads to improve their times.

Around 600 cyclists are expected to be in the area on Sunday — to see routes visit: www.sodburysportive.co.uk.

“We have already made notices and put them up along some of the routes [from Slimbridge along the Severn valley to Chipping Sodbury] and we have teams of people going out over the next couple of days to try and cover the rest of the routes,” said Mr Bennett.

“We have also included a paragraph in the riders instructions asking cyclists to observe the recommendations agreed for groups passing horses.

“We will emphasise this point again in the safety talk given to each rider before they leave the start. We are very keen that everybody who enjoys and uses our country roads make every effort to be aware of other users and always show courtesy to each other.”

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