World Champion cyclist Ed Veal is about to attempt what he is calling the “hardest 24-hour ride that has ever been done.”

The current Canadian Best Hour Record holder will be at the Forest City Velodrome this weekend for a fundraiser. The goal is to fund upgrades to the 14-year-old facility.

“We hope to raise money to get more heat in here,” says owner Ron Schelstraete. “The boiler is from the 1950s and sucks gas like you wouldn’t believe. The lightning is from the 60s and the current hydro rates aren’t helping us.”

What made Veal a champion is the four-kilometre, four-minute pursuit race, so he says this “is out of his wheelhouse.”

The reason they have decided to do the 24-hour ride at the south London venue is to make it even more extreme.

“There is crazy embankments here, and 51 degree corners, the G-force and the pressure will make you adjust multiple times,” adds Veal.

“I’m predicting it will be five to six thousand laps of this…making it, in my opinion, the hardest 24 hour ever [to have] been done.”

Some of the money raised will go toward helping their youth program called VeloKids.

“Over the 14 years there has been a number of kids who have gone onto Junior World Championships and Joe Veloce went to the Olympics,” says Youth Development Coach Art Adams.

“The mandate is to educate kids about bikes and we also have the racing program for kids who want to compete.”

This facility was the dream of Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame member Albert Schelstraete-Coulier.

After he passed last year, Ron and his brother Bob are attempting to bring the venue back to life.

“I wish my dad was here to see it. This is what he’d want,” says Schelstraete.

Forest City Velodrome

Forest City Velodrome fundraiser