SODBURY Sportive rolled through Chipping Sodbury on the weekend, with over 1000 participants signing up for the ride.

Sunday, August 5 welcomed the return of the annual event with this year being its biggest yet.

The event offers riders three different routes, 30 miles, 60 miles or for experts the 100 mile journey up throughout the Cotswolds.

A new club in the area, 'All Chipping In', was the host of the event that started and ended at the Ridings Playing Fields in Sodbury. The group ran it with the support of The Rotary Club .

Peter Heffer, one of the lead members of the new group praised the way in which they had ran their first major event in the area.

"All Chipping In is a new group and we wanted to get the word out about us," he said.

"With the support of the Rotary Club we have pulled together a really lovely event. There is some great music, the participants can come back to the village and get a free massage. We don't look to run the sportive for a profit.

"These kinds of events are run all over the country, those that are run commercially don't tend to be ran as friendly as this one, that's why we regularly get told that this is one of the riders favourite events." Sodbury Sportive 2018 was expected to raise around £25,000, with the money being split between All Chipping In and the Rotary Club.

"We are sponsoring lots of charities from the area with the money raised. MacMillan Cancer Care and See Change are the two main ones that will benefit of the success of the event."

Riders were welcomed back after their routes and were rewarded with medals and massages back at the 'biking village'.

At the Ridings there was music from band 'Specs Appeal', with the clubhouse offering refreshments and drinks.

Bill Bennett, another of the organisers of the event revealed how pleased he was with the way the day went.

"We've provided a great day for over 1000 riders, who cycle over a 100-mile, 60-mile or 30-mile route and help us to raise around £25,000 and all for charity. Our Sportive is now rated as one of the best in the country, so we must be doing something right," he said.

"We can always do with more help, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve set up a brand-new charity called All Chipping In, which is the umbrella charity for the Sportive.

"I know there are lots of people out there who don’t have the time to commit regularly to big charitable organisations, but who would love to give something back to their community, if only for a few hours or a few days a year. I want 'All Chipping In' to give them that opportunity, to chip in their help to others in need.”