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How far can you go in 24 hours on the track? Find out at Cyclone24

Epic new velodrome event aims to raise finds for homeless charity

Want to find out how far you and some friends can ride on the track in 24 hours? You'll get your chance on May 14 at the inaugural Cyclone24 at Newport Velodrome.

The format is simple: teams of up to six riders will ride in relays, with one rider on the track at all times, for up to an hour at a time. Greatest distance wins.

Racing will start at noon on May 14 after bike sizing (Dolan bikes will be supplied or you can apply to use your own), briefings and warm-up.

The following 24 hours of relay track riding will be peppered with a mix of on and off track challenges to keep everyone awake. A rest area and refreshments will be provided to help keep energy levels high. After the racing there'll be an awards ceremony and a meal.

The event is a fund-raiser for homelessness charity The Wallich and organisers are aiming to raise £30,000 from a mixture of entry fees, sponsorship and personal fund-raising by participants.

The Wallich has been providing accommodation and support services for homeless people for over 30 years, starting with a 20-bed hostel in Cardiff and expanding to a multi-project agency working in 15 local authorities in Wales.

Donations an be made through the event's Just Giving page.

Participants will have to be certified as competent track riders. Organisers  will be running drop in sessions at the Newport velodrome in the run up to the challenge to allow riders to get certified. This is a simple process that involves being taken through a number of on track routines, enabling riders to demonstrate a basic level of competency and safety. Any riders who are already certified will be asked to provide evidence of certification ahead of the event.

Entry fee for a six-person team is £1,200 and squads from the BBC, Continental Tyres, and NatWest have already signed up.

For more details see the Cyclone24 website.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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3 comments

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Aapje | 9 years ago
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Homeless charity events should be held outdoors. Don't be a snob with your 'roofs.'

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jollygoodvelo replied to Aapje | 9 years ago
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Aapje wrote:

Homeless charity events should be held outdoors. Don't be a snob with your 'roofs.'

I was thinking similar - someone should hold something like this at HHV.

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dnmvisser | 9 years ago
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raise finds?

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