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A "Ray’s style" indoor cycling facility could be opened within Greater Manchester by next winter, according to Daniel Makin, the man behind the proposed Dirt Factory project.
"Dirt Factory will accomodate all types of mountain bike and bmx, aimed at all abilities. The key is to make it fun but also progressive and non-intimidating. We will have indoor flow trails, jumps, foam pits and many other features," says Makin.
Having been in discussions with the property agents of a 86,000 square foot facility in recent months, Makin and his team has spent the past four years developing the idea and are now focusing on building a funding pot.
With a goal of £500,000, Makin is now launching a funding syndicate to raise the remaining funds needed.
Makin told BikeBiz: "We believe a funding syndicate is the way forward, i.e. a collective group of people and/or organisations. This could be mostly equity investment and then part sponsorship and crowd funded, also we have £25k of our own money committed to the project, along with three years research and development work, an earmarked premise, 50,000 tonnes of dirt and 2,600 Facebook followers so far."
The proposed location also has outdoor space that will see the creation of a cross country loop linked indoor and outdoor, dirt jumps and pumptracks. Shipping containers will also be used in order to ensure there’s a good amount of elevation gain in the buildng, which has a 10 metre high roof.
"We are not here to replace the outdoors – we can’t do that. Dirt Factory is about making mountain biking more accessible and convenient by opening it in a big city like Manchester.
"Dirt Factory can be used whenever you want, whether you want to practice some key bike skills or just go for fun, our facility will especially help during winter and rainy months or after work when you don’t have much time to travel to a trail centre."
A website is now live at dirtfactory.org and Makin is contactable on the below details:
Email: dannymak@dirtfactory.org
Phone: 07825381109
Twitter: @dirt_factory
Facebook: www.facebook/Dirtfact
