This autumn take on Rourke Cycles Cat & Fiddle Challenge and be part of the nation's favourite charity bike ride! Complete your 55-mile cycle on the road or an exercise bike, in a day or a month – it's your challenge so your rules!
Whatever your route, age, ability or where you are in the world, it's easy to join us on this cycle challenge, and what a great way to look after your physical and mental wellbeing whilst supporting disabled and vulnerable people who are most at risk from the effects of Covid-19 through our charity partner, Livability.
Sign-up to your challenge
Share and ask family, friends and colleagues to join you
Complete your 55-miles cycle
Upload your miles and claim your medal!
What makes life liveable is never down to just one thing. It's the sum of many things: from support to signposting; mobility to freedom; education to employment; and friendship to community.
We may not be able to come together this autumn in 2020 due to the global pandemic (Covid-19) but we don’t want you to miss out, so invite you to take on your Rourke Cycles Cat & Fiddle Challenge. Keeping you and everyone else safe is our priority but safe doesn't mean we can't still have fun, stay fit and most importantly raise much needed money for our charity partner, Livability.
We hope to see our event return to wheels on the ground next year, with our traditional challenging route offering many ups and downs, including the legendary 7-mile Cat and Fiddle climb. With home-made goodies and cuppa on your return, no wonder it's a staple in many cyclists' diary.
Livability is a UK charity that's committed to enabling disabled people to live the life they want to lead. We work to change what is unliveable, helping people to tackle the barriers they face and create a liveable life.
Through our services, we help disabled people thrive and live well. We believe that the people we support have the right to a full and flourishing life. They deserve the very best in service delivery. Livability's services strive to transform how disabled people connect with the communities they choose to be part of.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed life for everyone, but disabled and vulnerable people are among the hardest hit, at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus due to a range of complex disabilities. Livability is on the frontline - providing care, nursing and support for those who need it most during this crisis.
Find out how funds raised from your cycle challenge can help Livability keep disabled and vulnerable people alive, well and thriving through and beyond this pandemic.
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Established in 1972 by Brian Rourke, Rourke Cycles is one of the leading independent cycle shops in the country. Located in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, it continues to be a destination store for cyclists far and wide.
Since the Cat & Fiddle Challenge was started by Brian Rourke in 2002 it has raised well over £650k for charities. Our special thanks to Rourke Cycles staff, colleagues and volunteers for organising this brilliant event, and to every cyclist who has taken part in the event, in doing so, raising funds for great causes.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) has hit disabled people especially hard. Livability is on the frontline, providing nursing, care and support for those who need it most during this crisis. By taking part in this event you will help us to keep vulnerable and disabled people alive.
Thank you!
£10 could buy 125 disposable surgical gloves to protect residents and their carers
£25 could buy 60 disposable surgical face masks to protect residents and their carers
£50 could buy activities, toys or crafts to stimulate learning and enhance wellbeing
£100 could provide 10 hours of personalised care, keeping disabled people healthy and well
We're local, we're national, and we've been doing this for over 170 years but the care sector has never experienced a pandemic like this, and we can't do this without support from Rourke Cycles and people like you – thank you!
Welcome to Rourke Cycles Cat & Fiddle Challenge! We're delighted to have you riding with us and will support you all the way to your finish line, certificate and shiny real-life medal!
Here you can access comprehensive training guides to suit all abilities across various distances and check-in with your online Personal Trainer.
If you live close to Rourke Cycles Cat & Fiddle Challenge 55-mile route that usually starts at Rourke Cycles in Stoke-on-Trent winding through Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and the beautiful Peak District National Park, including the infamous 7-mile Cat and Fiddle climb which will leave you breathless not only from the cycling, but from the stunning scenery, you can download the GPX, map and directions below to ride this.
Please ensure you adhere to current Government guidelines on exercising and social distancing, always ride a road-worthy bike, wear a safety helmet and adhere to the Highway Code.
A virtual event gives you complete freedom to cycle wherever you want, at your own pace and enables you to stay safe through the Covid-19 pandemic.
As this is a virtual event you'll be completing it on your own, or with socially distanced friends etc. in a location of your choosing. Therefore to earn your medal, you need to submit evidence that you have covered the distance.
Evidence can be anything that proves you have covered the full distance of your virtual event. For example screenshots from tracking apps or photos of your cycling app, e.g. Garmin Connect or Strava.
If you don't have a device that tracks your route you can also post a picture of your ride, some scenery, your bike and helmet, whatever you like! This is just so we have the distance recorded and can help you keep a track of how far off your target you are.
To submit the evidence that you've completed your virtual event distance, log in by clicking 'My Account'. Here you will see Rourke Cycles Cat & Fiddle Challenge and any other virtual events you have joined and you'll be able to start the process of claiming your medal.
Complete the required fields and upload your evidence screenshots or photos from your ride. Confirm all the details are correct and hit the 'Submit Evidence' button. You'll see an on-screen confirmation that your evidence has been submitted.
Evidence should be uploaded in the form of a screenshot. Accepted formats are .jpg, .jpeg and .png.
