York Cycle Circuit

wallace_and_gromit
wallace_and_gromit Posts: 3,469
For those in the York area who haven't heard about it, I can thoroughly recommend the York Cycle Circuit (at the Sports Village near the Grimston Bar park&ride on the A1079) for a trip out with the kids.

There are family sessions 11am-1pm at the weekends. All you need is a bike and helmet and £2 per child / £3 per adult. In exchange for this, you get a 1km closed circuit with a marshall to make sure no-one goes too fast. Best of all, you get a surface that would not disgrace the winning entry in a French tarmac laying competition! It's so nice to be able to cycle side by side and chat with the kids without needing to worry about cars all the time.

Another major advantage is that the family group does not have to cycle together, so the kids can miss a lap or do some slower ones when they're tired, and eventually you all regroup. I think this justifies the entry fee over the free ride up the York-Selby cycle path, which is the obvious alternative for safe family riding.

There's a sport centre with cafe on site as well, so plenty of scope for a family day out split between cycling and swimming. My only grouse would be the poor quality of bacon butties in the cafe.

Give it a go - you may have the next Laura Trott or Bradley Wiggins in your ranks! Unlikely, but hope springs eternal... :)

ps - I have no commercial link to the circuit; I just think it's a great trip out and it doesn't seem very well publicised.