Almost 500 females turned up at the picturesque Beaulieu Palace on 19 September to take part in Macmillan Cycletta New Forest.

The WomenOnly cycling event catered for all abilities with distances from a beginner-friendly 20km up to the mighty 150km, and many participants brought friends and family to cheer them on. This made for a buzzing atmosphere in the event village, which was full of nervous first-timers and supportive families eager for the ride to get underway.

The proceedings kicked off with a children’s Scootathlon with 4-8 year olds having great fun scooting, cycling and running on a short course. It’s one of our favourite parts of the event at Human Race, and as always, the parents were often more competitive than the children themselves! Once the kids had had their turn the cyclists nervously lined up on the start line, ready to take on the gentle rolling hills of the New Forest area.

A foggy and cold start greeted the first riders out of the start pens, but the weather soon turned into a beautiful September day with blue skies and a gentle breeze to stop our intrepid cyclists from getting too warm. The September sunshine meant riders were exposed to the uniquely British sights of New Forest ponies, colourful wild flowers and yellow hay bales in the nearby fields. The descent down to the Solent was particularly striking which helped to off-set the fact that the rolling hills were providing a tougher challenge to the riders than many were expecting.

The striking green Macmillan Cancer Support t-shirts were prolific throughout the ride with Macmillan aiming to raise £25k from their loyal fundraisers. Fundraiser Jo, who had travelled from Surrey for the 50km distance commented ‘The treat stops were amazing and the organisation was fantastic, I’m definitely going to sign up for the longer route next year’.

Human Race’s very own Cat Gaskell took part in the race, commenting that ‘the atmosphere at female only races is fantastic and the medal is a great one to add to my collection’. Liv were on hand in the event village providing expert advice on their female specific cycling brand as well as a goody bag. All finishers were provided with a Macmillan Cycletta medal as a reward for their endeavours.