Change designed to draw more riders

The popular Round the Mountain Cycle Ride has been shortened to attract more riders.

Event director Robert Coe said the ride, which attracted more than 500 cyclists this year, will now bypass Hawera in favour of a route that will encompass Rahotu, Opunake, Te Kiri and Kaponga.

Coe said the change of course, which shortened it from 175km to 153km, was also at the request of riders hoping to enter the Bone Collector section.

The Bone Collector works with a team leader, who covers the entire course, picking up other members of his or her team from different points.

"We've had so many people wanting to do the Bone Collector that we couldn't ignore it," Coe said. "It seems like there is a lot more people interested in it."

Teams entering the Bone Collector can choose to have between three and nine riders.

Coe expects the number of teams to be well up on the 20 received for this year's race.

"The teams that did it last year were in absolute raptures about it," he said. "They said they'd never enjoyed themselves so much."

The enduro ride, which covered 275km, has been scrapped because of the lack of participants.

Proceeds from the January 16 event will again go towards Taranaki Velodrome Trust.

Spokesman Russell Martin said the trust had received a major boost recently with the TSB Community Trust and the Taranaki Electricity Trust indicating they intended to help fund the project.

The international-sized cycle park, including a purpose-built velodrome, is planned for the ground bordering Bell Block's Hickford Park.

Although initially priced at $2.2 million, Martin believed costings could fall given the price other velodromes were being built for around the country.

"We've got just over $700,000 now," he said. "We're only a couple hundred thousand away from the $900,000 it is going to cost to build the velodrome itself. We're really excited about where it is going now, that's for sure."