WITH the Tour of Britain heading through Stroud district on Wednesday, September 10 the local authority is planning some fun cycling-related events to celebrate.

The tour is scheduled to make its way into Painswick from around 1pm to 1.30pm onto Stroud, Nailsworth then Wotton under Edge on its way to the stage four end in Bristol.

Stroud District Council’s regeneration manager, Pippa Stroud, said: “We want to encourage members of the public to get on their bikes and cycle into Painswick, Stroud, Nailsworth and Wotton to watch the tour as it flies through.

“Volunteers from the council will be there to hand out prizes to those who arrive by bike.”

The council’s chief executive, David Hagg, will be getting on his bike, with some of the staff, to cycle from the council offices at Ebley Mill to Wallbridge in Stroud in time for the tour.

At Wallbridge, visitors can enjoy various cycling-related activities as well as meeting Mr Pedersen, who has time-travelled from the 19th century to explain the fascinating story behind his revolutionary Dursley Pedersen Cycle (on loan from the Museum in the Park).

In the build up to the Tour of Britain, district residents and council staff have been busy with their knitting needles contributing to knitted cycle-shirt bunting to line the streets, connecting the event with Stroud’s woollen heritage.

To coincide with the events, the Museum in the Park is holding a mini-exhibition from Septmeber 2 till Spetember 11 relating to Neville Chanin, a Stroud resident who lived his life on two wheels, cycling more than a million kilometres across the globe until his death in 1910.

The tourism team at Stroud District council, as part of the Cotswolds Tourism Partnership, has launched the new Cotswolds & Severn Vale 7-day cycling tour map this month. The waterproof maps can be purchased from Stroud TIC for £3.99.