Angus Cycling Festival chiefs say they will take a breather to re-evaluate the direction of the successful event after another weekend Forfar hit.
The Reid Park event was scaled back to a single day from the full weekend programme of previous years, but Angus Cycle Hub organisers reckon around 1,000 folk from across the country enjoy the spectacle and took part in events for all ages.
Top draw was the Forfar Funduro racing which pitted mountain bikers on a head-to-head downhill course finishing in the Reid Park, with around 300 riders taking part.
There were also around 70 young riders in the kids’ cross-country competition and a new colour run event was enjoyed by a similar number.
Funding pressures had forced the group to go for the single-day programme, but they received positive feedback from the participants, including visiting pro rider Joe Barnes, a World Cup racer whose exploits with the Dudes of Hazzard have helped make the Fort William man one of the sport’s big names.
Scott Francis of Angus Cycle Hub said the competing pressures of other projects which the organisations is involved in had led to the decision to put the festival on hold for 2018.
“We are very grateful for all the local support we get, but we were turned down for a number of strands of funding that we had gone for and the budget just wasn’t there this year.
“But we still had a lot of returning visitors, there were 300 for the funduro and around 50 different riders in the airbag competition so it was a fantastic turnout overall and the weather was great again.”
He added: “We’ll take a sabbatical for a year and re-evaluate where we go with the festival, and give ourselves a but of a run at getting some funding.”
