Hundreds of cyclists will be pedalling across the country to Burnham-On-Sea in June when the annual Chase The Sun cycling event returns after a break due to the pandemic.
Organisers have announced this year’s event will take place on Saturday June 18th, starting as usual at sunrise on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
The cyclists will cross the country, travelling through London, country lanes, green vales and the mighty Cheddar Gorge, ending at sunset in Burnham-On-Sea some 205 miles later.
Founder Olly Moore says the event started as a ‘beer mat idea’ with the challenge of ‘how far could I ride in a single day?’
Clearly the longest day of the year would lend itself best to answering that question, so on the summer solstice in 2008, Olly and two friends set off.
The proposed course charted 200 miles east to west, coast to coast, across the south of England. They set off at dawn. However, a strong storm met them in the Mendip Hills, agonisingly close to the end and they had to abandon.
Olly tried the next year, the same course, but alas, there was a similar fate. Then by the third year, word had spread about the feat and a gathering of riders lined up on the Isle of Sheppey, wheels pointed towards Burnham-On-Sea. They left at dawn and arrived just before sunset. It was possible — and the Chase the Sun event was born.
Today, Chase Sun has grown into four events, each the same ethos, each on the closest Saturday to the longest day: Chase the Sun UK South; Chase the Sun UK North, across Northumberland and Southern Scotland; Chase the Sun Italy, across the chalk roads of Tuscany; and this year, for the very first time, Chase the Sun Ireland.
“Chase the Sun Ireland starts at sunrise on the Irish Sea at the historic Titanic docks of Belfast, proceeds up the dramatic coastal road and through the Antrim Glens before heading inland to traverse forests, mountains, and loughs,” says Chase the Sun’s Philippe Webb.
“There are no timings or rankings, no medals, only the ultimate success of chasing the sun to view the sunset on the coastline.”
