Why are we doing it?

Pat Long, head of news development in the Times digital team, passed away from a longstanding illness in August. Pat, 41, was cared for in his last weeks by the wonderful staff at St Christopher’s hospice in south London. It takes £20 million a year for them to deliver their services and community outreach and the NHS only provides a fraction of what they need to survive.

What we are doing

A team of cyclists from The Times and The Sunday Times will take part in the world’s longest one-day road cycling event at the end of this month and raise money for St Christopher’s hospice.

Red Bull Timelaps is a gruelling 25-hour race against time on the weekend the clocks go back. Set in the picturesque location of Windsor Great Park, our team of rouleurs will ride into the evening and power on through the night. In a cruel twist, at 2am a ‘power hour' is activated; and riders shift to a shorter course where laps count double.

With one rider needing to be out on the course at all times it’s a case of most laps wins. In Le Mans style each team will have their own area in the pits where riders will strategise who should go out next, if getting some sleep is an option and how to stay off sugary caffeinated energy drinks. Some have spent hard time training in the saddle while others have been perfecting their excuses for not being able to fulfil their 3am stint.