Lovely weather and a great turnout led to our inaugural Festival of Steel being a roaring success (yes we are undoubtedly biased). Overall we think the recipe for our first event was decent, but we will add some seasoning for next year. As referenced above, none of it could have happened without the huge help from Belper Cycling Club, and Andre Toczek in particular. Four great rides were organised, all of them pretty testing, with over 140 riders taking part.
We were honoured to host some heroes of Mercian history, and presented them with a token of our appreciation, the 'Legends of Mercian' trophy. From Derek Woodings, an ex Pro and highly decorated cyclist who rode on the Mercian Bantel team, and Joy Potts, another top cyclist who worked in the old Mercian shop back in the 80's, to the daughter (Sue Crowther) of our esteemed founder, Tom Crowther, and Sue and Liz Betton, wife and daughter of Bill Betton, owner of Mercian from 1965 to 2002. More recent legends in attendance included Peter Breen (Mercian super fan) and Jamie Hargreaves, who also picked up his refurbished King of Mercia that only recently took him from Derby to Australia.
Final thanks to Dean Jackson from Huub who supplied some lovely retro tops and other kit for the day. Thanks again to all who attended, we hope to grow the event next year and beyond.
