Welcome to Bike to Bestival

Where to begin? Well, probably first off, a really warm welcome to Bike to Bestival – and another hugely warm welcome to the B2B blog. If you’re keen on getting involved (and why wouldn’t you be?) this is the place to pour forth your thoughts, absurdist trains of bike-related thoughts and – maybe most importantly – your ideas. At the moment what we have is a rough (but admittedly brilliant) plan – to cycle from London to the Isle of Wight (via Southampton) over two days, stopping half way to pitch our tents, knock out some tunes and (obviously) have a brew or two…

It’s going to be a fantastic way to kick off the Bestival experience and to feel justly smug when you arrive, as fit as a darned fiddle (any violin players?) – and knowing that you haven’t chugged out any noxious fumes to get there. But your help in all this would be great. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at (and probably trying out) the best routes, starting to research a venue for us all to pitch up at (possibly somewhere around Guildford) and ironing out myriad other little bits and pieces to make B2B a really cracking, memorable experience. The good people at Bestival (particularly the lovely Matt) are really pitching in – but what about you? Cycled the route before? Know any decent campsites/pubs/farmers who may want to accommodate us? Got any freewheeling notions that you think might be a blast? Do let us know.
The idea for B2B has been kicking around for a little while now, mostly through a few pub chats (isn’t that how all good things start?) with my old mate Duncan, who’s been involved with Bestival from the beginning. Last summer, myself and a group of six others (collectively known as Buskers on Bikes) took on the Land’s End to John O’Groats bike ride, but as a travelling band. We peeled ourselves of our saddles at the end of each day and headed to local pubs to belt out some tunes and raise money for Cancer Research. It was an incredible shebang – so how could we not take on the B2B challenge?
It’s probably worth saying at this point that I’m not a cycling expert, despite the ridiculously long trip last year – and neither do you have to be. You’ll need a road-worthy bike, of course, but most importantly oodles of enthusiasm – and the will to train up a bit (help with this will be forthcoming)…
So, clearly, there’s loads of things to fill you in on, and more info will be heading your way (transport to lug the equipment, music ideas etc etc) So if you're up for hitting the road with us, let us know by dropping us a line at biketobestival@bestival.net - and we'll start putting a list of likely candidates together
So sign up. Pump up your tyres. Get on your bikes… and Bike to blummin’ Bestival.
Warren