Fort Vale

Sky Ride Local in Birmingham

A ride around a changing area of Birmingham, passing by industry and around the former forest of Castle Vale. Best remembered as being an airfield and Spitfire factory, or for the 34 1970s tower blocks, now long gone from the redeveloped estate.

Additional Information

Helmets must be worn by all under 18's regardless of ride level.
All ages are welcome but age 5 and under must be in a BSA approved child seat, trailer or tag-a-long.
Please bring equipment with you to repair punctures, Ride Leaders are there to help but are not responsible for your bike.
All rides leave at the time stated you must arrive early Ride Leaders will not wait.

Location and Route

Meet the Ride Leaders

• Lisa Costa Hi there, I suppose I started riding bikes with similar thoughts to many others, i.e. thinking that riding more than 5 miles requires you to be superhuman... Be positive, cycle often and you'll soon see how wrong those thoughts can be. Skyrides are a fab way to clock up those miles and make lots of new friends along the way!!
  
  In a nutshell I've grown to love everything about bikes especially stripping them to bits and putting them back together. I do all my own repairs which happily saves me a small fortune, to me having that ability is paramount as I'm often cycling alone carrying only essentials through hundreds of miles of wilderness. I enjoy it so much that over a year I'll usually cover about 9000 miles.
  
  I own several bikes for different uses etc, I'm also proud to be a member of the fabulous Kidsgrove Wheelers C C in North Staffs and race for them in my free time (luvya guys you lot rock !!).
  
  On the sporting side I'm reasonably competitive, in race trim I usually cover 10 miles in less than 28 minutes and 50 miles in about 2 1/2 hrs.
  July 2011, I completed 261 miles through Shropshire and Cheshire at the National 24hr Time Trial, a cycling version of the Le Mans 24hr car race, in the August I completed 172 miles in the 12hr event. Like the 24hr it was cool competing against many of Britain's superstars inc a couple of Olympic Gold Medalists!!... It'll be more of the same for me in 2012
  
  I get to cycle quite a bit overseas, especially the USA where I've ridden extensive distances taking in fabulous cities and breathtaking scenery!! If you're interested feel free to take a look at some photos of my many adventures on my website.
  
  http://lcct.webs.com/apps/photos/
  
  By day I'm a professional Cycling Instructor teaching individuals techniques to ride assertively, thus confidently and safely on all roads inc dual carriageways. Should you like any help to take your cycling further I'd be happy to assist (my email addy for cycling tuition is lisa.costa@live.com), anyway, I look forward to seeing you on many of the coming Skyrides, but until then 'luv life, luv ya bike !! xx'
• Gary Baker
• Kamran Asmat This is my first year as a SKY RIDE LEADER. I have been cycling for the past three years to keep myself fit & to explore Birmingham and its surrounding areas. Always enjoyd cycling around CANALS & PARKS.
  I do like Mountain and off road cycling.
  I currently have a mountain bike "Specialized Hardrock Comp". I use "Specialized Hemisphere Armadillo Tyre" for on & off road cycling.