A POPULAR South Lakes retro cycling festival has opened up a new route for this year's event.

Velo Retro, which is now in its sixth year and is part of the Retro Rendezvous Festival, attracts riders from far and wide, and organisers hope the new route, which is shorter and less hilly than the existing routes, will attract less serious riders.

"Our two main rides attract mainly cycling enthusiasts on traditional racing bikes," said organiser Alan Brenton.

"They’re not super tough, but 50 hilly miles on a 40 year old steel bike is still a proper day out, so we decided it would be good to open a shorter route for vintage bike riders and fancy dress riders with an old bike in the shed."

The event, which this year takes place on July 14, has grown in popularity after featuring on Paul Rose's ‘The Lakes’ TV series, where he rode it on a Penny Farthing.

Visit https://sportivelakes.co.uk/velo-retro/ for location and registration details.