A COUPLE from York will on Monday launch a new cycling holiday enterprise based in the city.

Steve and Judith Morrison have taken a year to put together Scoot Cycling Holidays, which will attract leisure cyclists to North Yorkshire from the UK and all over the world.

Their first clients – a party of four from Brisbane, Australia – will be taking the Town and Country Tour – one of ten trips available.

Steve, who for 25 years owned Mor Music in Fossgate, York, before selling up in 2007, was himself a cyclist and determined to contribute to York’s tourism offering by creating the tours along with a cycle hire section.

After the sale of their shop, the couple toured the world than, set themselves a year to bring together the details of the venture, from plotting routes and creating a website to vetting accommodation and marketing heavily in national and international publications.

Now, with the help of a rural grant, the dream has come true with the arrival of 30 shining new cycles – vehicles kept under security away from their head office in Stillingfleet. They are tough machines designed to go anywhere, from mountain paths to city centres.

Steve said: “There are rivals who offer cycling holidays, mostly abroad, but we specialise exclusively in organising two-wheel trips in York and North Yorkshire under the slogan, Discover Beautiful Yorkshire On A Bike.

“We have various lengths of tours which are graded in terms of difficulty. For example, under the heading of Culture and Style visitors would be taken to some of the great country estates, market towns and villages and the city of York itself.

“You need to be a regular cyclist to do that route,” Steve said.

“On the other hand, we have a number of routes, for example under the heading Easy Rider – simple cycling that your granny could do, taking you to Beningbrough Hall, Kirkham Priory and Castle Howard, meandering journeys with lots of stop-offs.”

The couple have lined up 50 hotels and bed-and- breakfast establishments throughout the region. “We were determined to find a good standard of accommodation – and have priced the holidays accordingly. We want to make sure that after an enjoyable day in the saddle people can relax in style.”

The hiring facility is being marketed at hotels throughout York and will cater for short-stay visitors in the city, with a delivery service.