From there, participants are directed on a pleasant loop around Cambridge, exploring new sides to the city and discovering many quieter and off-road cycle routes along the way.
As well as being an ideal summer activity to do with family and friends, CamcycleQuest also has a competitive element. Participants who add up the answers to the series of special clues will be entered into a prize draw with the chance to win goodies including a £900 cargo bike e-conversion from Electric Bike Sales, and cycling accessories from Rutland Cycling, Kingsway Cycles, Mill Road’s Cam Cycles and Cambridge Chamois Cream. Winners will be drawn at 2pm at Camcycle’s Cargo Carnival, held on Lammas Land on Saturday 21 September and part of the month-long Cambridge Festival of Cycling.
The route and clues for the quest have been developed by Camcycle member and volunteer David Earl, who has been helping to get more people cycling for over 25 years. He said, "I hope people get as much enjoyment from solving the clues as I did collecting them, and discover some bits of Cambridge they've not been to before. By cycle, it's possible to range much further than on foot, and the off-road paths give access to many beautiful corners of the city that are inaccessible by car.”
The team from Tees are also keen to spread the joy of cycling through their involvement with the project. “Cycling is already very much a part of Cambridge’s identity,” says Janine Collier, Executive Partner at Tees. “However, any action that will encourage even more people to start using their bikes, especially with the environment and climate change now so high on the agenda, is highly deserving of support and we’re very happy to be sponsoring CamcycleQuest this summer.”
The whole quest will take around a day to complete, but can also be done in sections. Employees at Tees will be taking part as a team and encourage other businesses to get involved too in a bid to share the joy of cycling between colleagues. The CamcycleQuest corporate challenge will celebrate the organisation that gets the most employees out cycling. Guides will be available from a Camcycle stall outside the John Lewis café on Thursday 8 August (National Cycle to Work Day) and can also be purchased from outlets around town including The Cambridge Gift Shop in the Guildhall, Outspoken Cycles, Townsends Light Blue Cycle Centre and Rutland Cycling’s stores at Cambridge Station and in the Grand Arcade. Alternatively, participants can purchase individual copies online at www.cambridgefestivalofcycling.org/camcyclequest or arrange bulk and wholesale orders by contacting Camcycle direct at contact@camcycle.org.uk
Camcycle and Tees are keen to find out how participants get on during the quest so encourage cyclists to post their progress on social media using the #CamcycleQuest hashtag. More information can be found on the @camcyclequest Twitter account and on the website at www.cambridgefestivalofcycling.org/camcyclequest
Camcycle’s Executive Director, Roxanne De Beaux, is grateful to all those who have helped bring this project to reality and hopes it inspires many more people to continue cycling after the competition is over.
She said, “I’d like to thank our Camcycle staff and volunteers for their hard work to produce the beautiful CamcycleQuest guide. Special thanks also goes to Tees Law for supporting our vision and helping us bring CamcycleQuest to life. We couldn’t have achieved this without them. I hope the quest inspires people to take to their bikes, tricycles and tandems this summer to explore Cambridge and continue on afterwards to even more cycling adventures.”
Camcycle, a local charity with over 1,350 members, works for more better and safer cycling for all ages and abilities in and around Cambridge.
www.camcycle.org.uk
CamcycleQuest is part of the Cambridge Festival of Cycling, a city-wide event hosted by Camcycle which celebrates Cambridge’s cycling culture. The festival launched in 2018 and includes a wide range of events to encourage more people to start cycling and raise awareness of the charity’s work. Cycle-themed events from Camcycle and its partners include rides, films, talks and exhibitions. The flagship event is the ‘Cargo Carnival’, a parade and celebration of the pedal-powered benefits of cargo bikes for local families and businesses.
www.cambridgefestivalofcycling.org
Tees provides specialist services for businesses include commercial property, corporate law, employment law and litigation. Services to individuals include clinical negligence, personal injury, family law, residential conveyancing and wills & probate. The firm also provides financial advice. It has offices in Bishop’s Stortford, Brentwood, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Royston and Saffron Walden.
www.teeslaw.com