A DAMP start failed to stop scores of cyclists from enjoying the 2015 Otley Cycle Fest.

This year's event took place on Sunday, July 19 and featured a selection of varying difficulty rides - ranging from a 5km 'Tour de Otley' to a 80-mile plus road trip to Kettlewell - throughout the day.

A special ladies ride, to the tearooms at Bolton Abbey, was also held as part of Otley Cycle Club's aim of encouraging more women to take up the sport.

The events were all run from Weston Lane Junior Sports and Social Club which rounded the festival off in the afternoon with a family fun day featuring a barbecue and traditional games, including croquet, quoits, dominoes and giant garden darts.

Otley Cycle Club committee member Jill Birch was pleased overall - but sorry that the pre-publicised children's coaching sessions couldn't go ahead.

She said: "It was a lovely day.

"It was raining heavily in the morning, which might have put some people off, but when we set off on the rides the sun came out.

"We were due to have some children's coaching but unfortunately all our coaches were fully committed, so we had to cancel that bit. That was unfortunate.

"It was not quite the event we were hoping it would be, but we still had about 100 cyclists riding, including a number of people in the ladies ride.

"A lot of women feel intimidated about joining a cycling club, but there is an initiative to encourage them to take it up and we recruited a number of new members to the club on the day.

"We want to encourage people to be confident in going out for a bike ride."

The club holds the free to attend festival, which was launched in 2012, each year as a way of promoting local cycling amongst all age groups.

As well as road racing it runs time trials, grass track, cyclo-cross, sportives, Audax - long distance - and other events.

For more details about the club, which has British Cycling qualified coaches and more than 200 members, visit http://otleycycleclub.co.uk .