Suffering event withdrawal? The Malle Mile could lift your spirits
After a bumpy start there’s still loads to get out and do ‘We’re spacing things out more for distancing’
Aquick glance at the biking calendar for this year might have you feeling a bit glum about what could have been, but as restrictions begin to ease there’s still plenty of events to get out there and enjoy.
One of the best events of the biking calendar is the Malle Mile – a three-day biking festival in the grounds of Kevington Hall. After a lot of effort, the organisers have been able to confirm that the event will be going ahead.
“It’s been hard work and there’s some big changes but the essence of the event will remain,” says Robert Nightingale, founder of Malle. “Obviously all the indoor stuff will now be outdoors and we’re spacing things out more for easy social distancing but everyone is happy with our plans, so we’ve been granted an event licence. We’re returning to our roots a little and focusing more on the theatre of close-up racing.”
Running from Friday-Sunday, August 21-23, there are still plenty of tickets to the event starting from £45, with a few spots still left in most racing categories. Of course if big bike racing is more your thing, then the Covid-19 revised British Superbikes calendar could be right up your street. Compressing 18 races into six rounds from August to October, it’s set to be an action-packed few months. With a range of different tracks and no Showdown, the season ought to be full of twists and turns, culminating in a triple-header on the Brands Hatch GP circuit. There are still tickets available for each round, with a full weekend of racing costing just £40. If you’re after a traditional biker rally, MAG still have plans to scratch that itch with the Yorkshire Pudding Rally from FridaySunday, August 25-28, while autojumblers will be jumping for joy at the return of the Kempton Park and ’Normous Newark on September 12 and 20 respectively. If you’re not quite up to travel just yet, looking further ahead Malle have even more plans with a day of beach racing planned down in Margate on September 26, while those who fancy heading abroad might want to look up Wheels and Waves, which has a weekend of sun, sea and surf pencilled in for September 3-5. Then of course there’s the hundreds of meet ups and bike cafes that are gradually slipping out of their slumber up and down the country.
So don’t be down, whatever sort of two-wheeled antics you fancy, there’s plenty to be looking forward to over the next months. Just remember to distance.