“A lovely church with peaceful gardens. Well, mostly peaceful - you see dear reader every year, on the final Wednesday in June, All saint's church bears witness to the finish of one of the foremost town centre criterium races in the UK (Video taken from pov of church). On this night, usually sleepy Otley is buzzing with the sights, sounds, and smells of elite bike racing, as competitors from around the UK and sometimes further afield gather for a night of action packed racing. The men's elite race is a round of the British national circuit series, a 5-7 round (depending on the year) string of similar races across the country, Otley is generally the opening round of this series. In recent years Ilkley has played host to round 2 on the friday 2 days following Otley, meaning that riders have an easier time with travel, and the literal tens of punters which flock to this corner of wharfedale at this time can enjoy 2 nights of action packed racing within 3 days.
The circuit at Otley has not changed for years. It has a climb but this is a fast one, and the finish in front of the sainsbury's and Wetherspoons is preceded by a rapid descent which sees riders hit 70kph+ through a fast left hander to the finish. This years race was marred by scandal, as former track scratch race world champion, Will Tidball, deviated from his line in the sprint and impeded a fast approaching Matt Bostock of Tekkerz racing.
The commissaires took the requisite action of relegating Tidball's position, but his actions had slowed Bostock considerably, and Allowed Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase) to pass on the open side. The result; 1. Shoreman 2.Bostock.
Controversy erupted. The Tekkerz team, led by UK crit racing stalwart Alec Briggs (Brigga to friends and fans) were justifiably irate. They had this race win stolen from themselves and Bostock. Luckily they didn't have long to wait, as prodigious first year junior talent Milo Wills tasted glory for himself and his team at the aforementioned Ilkley town centre race just 48 hours after this calamity, and went on to back this up with another win at Guildford and solid performances throughout the series.
Bostock himself was also able to fight back in the face of this adversity, taking a popular win at the Sheffield GP around a month after Otley. All in all this meant a positive series result for Tekkerz, and the entire domestic scene breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyway the church is nice and the gardens are quite pretty too, not bike races happening here too often but fun when they are. Nice cafes, bars, and walks to be found around Otley too - try the Chevin country park.”
Churches
Churches
“A lovely church with peaceful gardens. Well, mostly peaceful - you see dear reader every year, on the final Wednesday in June, All saint's church bears witness to the finish of one of the foremost town centre criterium races in the UK (Video taken from pov of church). On this night, usually sleepy Otley is buzzing with the sights, sounds, and smells of elite bike racing, as competitors from around the UK and sometimes further afield gather for a night of action packed racing. The men's elite race is a round of the British national circuit series, a 5-7 round (depending on the year) string of similar races across the country, Otley is generally the opening round of this series. In recent years Ilkley has played host to round 2 on the friday 2 days following Otley, meaning that riders have an easier time with travel, and the literal tens of punters which flock to this corner of wharfedale at this time can enjoy 2 nights of action packed racing within 3 days.
The circuit at Otley has not changed for years. It has a climb but this is a fast one, and the finish in front of the sainsbury's and Wetherspoons is preceded by a rapid descent which sees riders hit 70kph+ through a fast left hander to the finish. This years race was marred by scandal, as former track scratch race world champion, Will Tidball, deviated from his line in the sprint and impeded a fast approaching Matt Bostock of Tekkerz racing.
The commissaires took the requisite action of relegating Tidball's position, but his actions had slowed Bostock considerably, and Allowed Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase) to pass on the open side. The result; 1. Shoreman 2.Bostock.
Controversy erupted. The Tekkerz team, led by UK crit racing stalwart Alec Briggs (Brigga to friends and fans) were justifiably irate. They had this race win stolen from themselves and Bostock. Luckily they didn't have long to wait, as prodigious first year junior talent Milo Wills tasted glory for himself and his team at the aforementioned Ilkley town centre race just 48 hours after this calamity, and went on to back this up with another win at Guildford and solid performances throughout the series.
Bostock himself was also able to fight back in the face of this adversity, taking a popular win at the Sheffield GP around a month after Otley. All in all this meant a positive series result for Tekkerz, and the entire domestic scene breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyway the church is nice and the gardens are quite pretty too, not bike races happening here too often but fun when they are. Nice cafes, bars, and walks to be found around Otley too - try the Chevin country park.”