"Spring forward, Fall back," goes the American saying about which way to adjust your clocks, watches and sundry other timekeeping devices twice a year. And the clocks going back in October provides the inspiration behind a new event, the Red Bull Timelaps, which will take place in Windsor Great Park and is claimed to be "the world's longest one-day bike race" - because it spans 25 hours.
Starting on midday on Saturday 28 October and finishing at noon the following day, the event will see up to 150 teams of four riders take on a 6.6 kilometre closed circuit inside the park in the shadow of Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
Only one rider from each team will be allowed on the circuit at a time, meaning that "participants will have to demonstrate a mixture of strategic nous, endurance and determination to overcome the challenge."
The winner will be the team completing most laps within the 25 hours - and to spice things up, laps completed on a special shorter circuit during a 'Power Hour' starting when the clocks go back at 2am will count double.
Organisers say that the event will see Windsor Great Park "opening its gates to a cycling road race for the first time ever" - although in fact, it hosted the individual and team road races at the 1948 London Olympic Games.
They add: "The park’s well-surfaced, undulating and traffic-free roads will provide the perfect location for the race."
Team entries cost £250 or £200 if all riders are aged under 25, and you can also enter as an individual, in which case organisers will hook you up with three fellow riders to form a team.
Head here to enter or to find out more information.
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7 comments
What is the closing date to apply for this?
I just wish that loop was open on a normal day. It's hard to make a decent loop in the Great Park due to the various gates and private sections.
Strange rule - "Drafting is allowed with members of the same gender"
Also, going to be open to public to walk on the course as normal.
A few months back Windsor GP had laid down a lot of surface gravel making pretty much every corner dodgy for cyclists even at ~10mph.
That's the "no staring at stranger's arses" rule (doesn't apparently exclude gay cyclists, which is nice and inclusive of the organisers... ).
hmmm... the weather at the end of October could make this a bit of a wet and windy slogfest if they're not lucky (although not that different to August at the moment I guess), sounds like it could be fun though
Will no doubt appeal to the Regents Park crowd as a relief from the boredom of 3 mile laps !
This is cheating, everyone knows that the Earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds to rotate regardless of your clocks.