Art bikes gear up the excitement in Cheltenham

Residents and visitors to Cheltenham will have seen nine visual cycle installations springing up across the town.

Organised by Niki Whitfield and supported by the Cheltenham Business Improvement District (BID), the town has seen decorated bikes of all shapes and sizes being installed to add to the festival feel of the cycling extravaganza.

The nine installations, listed below, have been designed and made by artists who work or live locally and have placed them along pedestrian paths in the town.

A larger art installation, ‘The Winning Bike’, has been created by artists Glynn Griffiths and David Baldwin with help from CGT lettings www.cgtlettings.co.uk, ‘Bikes4Africa’ through www.jolerider.org, and ‘Access Bike’ through www.cscic.org impressing residents and visitors at Montpellier roundabout.

The location of the bikes can be found on the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling website: www.cheltenhamcyclingfestival.org.uk

Shammy by kid crayon – Boots Corner

Blue Steel by SP zero – Waterstones

Bombay Bicycle by Beth Forrester  - The Entertainer

Gift Wrapped by Stephen Belinfante is on the High Street between Thomas Cook and French Connection 

Recycle Cycle by Amy Freeman  - Pittville Park, tunnel underpass

Racing Green by Jaynie Tricker  - Promenade long gardens

Life Cycle by Susan Early – Neals Yard

Golden Age of (Re) Cycling by Andy ‘Dice’ Davies and Troy Pulley - Imperial Gardens

The Winning Bike by Glynn Griffiths and David Baldwin on Montpellier roundabout

Ride'em Cow Girl by Laure Filho - Grid Iron on Imperial Square

All bikes have been kindly supplied by Reclaim Cheltenham with a huge thanks to Williams Cycles and George Bence & Sons for help with supports and repairs.

Cllr Rowena Hay, cabinet member for finance at Cheltenham Borough Council, says: “I’m excited to see the fantastic nine art bikes installed in the BID zone and on the race route through the town.”

Visual arts coordinator, Niki Whitfield, continues: “It's great that artists living and working locally have had the opportunity to support the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling. Their clever, quirky, colourful creations have helped generate a fun festival feel around the BID zone.”

Businesses are also being encouraged to dress their windows, with a prize to be awarded for best effort.

Kevan Blackadder, BID director, adds: “Green bikes are appearing all over town and it’s great to see the art bikes out as well. Businesses are getting directly involved and we’re encouraging them to decorate their windows.”

The Cheltenham Festival of Cycling is running a competition to see who is the best bike spotter, to enter residents or visitors need to snap a picture of themselves with one of the zingy bikes or bike art, dotted around the town. Use the hashtag #BikeSpotter and let the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling know on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Photos are available on request.

Competition details for businesses to win ‘best dressed window’ #CheltenhamBest can be found in the business toolkit on the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling website

Competition details for residents and visitors to win a competition for being the best bike spotter #bikespotter can be found on the Cheltenham Festival of Cycling website