More than 50 Bath businesses have signed up to take part in a brightly-coloured cycle trail to welcome The Tour of Britain to the city.
They will be displaying a total of 40 red, white and blue bikes outside or inside their premises for three weeks until September 8, when thousands of spectators are expected to watch Stage 5 of the tour as it finishes on Royal Avenue, below the iconic Royal Crescent.
It will be the first time that Bath has hosted a stage finish of the tour – it hosted a stage start of the 2014 Tour of Britain, as well as the round of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series last year.
A special trail map showing the locations of all the bikes is now available, encouraging residents and visitors to explore the city.
Many of the businesses involved are offering special promotions and competitions for people who visit their bikes or post photos on social media.
The trail has been organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES), working with voluntary groups and businesses.
Volunteers from homeless charity Julian House, the Prince’s Trust and Bath Rugby Foundation helped paint the bikes with paint supplied by Davies of Bath.
B&NES cabinet member for community services Martin Veal said he was delighted by the enthusiastic collective response from businesses in welcoming and supporting the cycling Tour of Britain to Bath.
“There will be bikes on show right across the city, on cafes, visitor attractions, shops, restaurants and financial and legal services,” he said.
“Bath is most definitely a city that welcomes cyclists and is a great city to visit by bike.”
A painted bicycle will also be displayed at Bristol Airport, which, together with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, is a premier sponsor of the tour’s Bath stage.
The bike trail and other information on the tour visit is available at www.bathnes.gov.uk/tourofbritain
Minuteman press has also printed some copies free of charge, which will be available from the Visitor Information Centre.
For updates follow @Love2cyclebath or look out for #BathToB #ToB2016 #Bathbiketrail on Twitter.
