York cyclists may not have the speed or stamina of winning professional athletes but those signing up to York’s Sky Ride soon will at least have the chance of looking like one.

The first 1000 participants to sign up for the event will be entered into a free prize draw to win a Team Sky jersey signed by 2013 Tour de France winner Chris Froome and his supporting team. The Sky Ride takes place on Saturday 14 September and numbers are increasing quickly.

The festival takes place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September from 10.30am, finishing at 5pm Saturday and 4pm Sunday. More information can be found at http://www.festivalofcycling.org.uk/

Anyone wanting to sign up for Sky Ride York should go to www.goskyride.com/York

There will be three ‘activation zones’ situated around the route of the Sky Ride – the Team Sky zone with the British Cycling cafe, the Festival of Cycling in Rowntree Park and a third area activation zone at Duncombe Place.

At the Team Sky zone, located at Clifford’s Tower, people will be able to enjoy a close up view of the actual bike that helped carry Chris Froome to overall victory in the 2013 Tour de France. Visitors will also be able to take a seat in a custom built Team Sky Jaguar car used by the team to support riders in some of the worlds biggest bike races.

The British Cycling cafe will be on hand serving refreshments throughout the day and Jaffa will be handing out nutritious jaffa fruit, ponchos, reflectors and Tesco vouchers. Halfords will be supporting Sky Ride York with some of their experts on hand to give bikes the once over and make minor repairs and checks.

There is free cycle hire provided by York Sports Village so that those who don’t own bikes can still enjoy the Sky Ride experience. Free Disability Bike hire will also be available from Quest 88, an adapted cycle specialist.

At Duncombe Place cyclists can pull over to decorate their bike outside York Minster. A professional artist will be on hand to help turn the average bicycle into a work of art. There is also a mobile climbing wall for people to scale dizzy heights to view more of the city centre spectacle and York St John University will be offering various cycling fitness tests using state of the art technology.

Families are also invited to look in at the York Festival of Cycling at Rowntree Park where there will be a unique opportunity to enjoy a wealth of free cycling related entertainment, activities and information. The amazing stunt show riders – The Clan – will be performing and you can try a bike of your choice in the themed try-out areas including a main track, KMX Karts zone, learner and toddler areas.