Two bikers who are going to ride through 12 countries in six days will be GPS tracked, so supporters can follow their route in real time.
John Hale and Andy Thomas plan to raise £20,000 for the charity Riders for Health with their 2,700 mile journey called 12 in 6, starting next Friday (12th June).
Now they have been sponsored by the UK’s leading GPS tracking and vehicle telematics company VeriLocation.
It has installed tiny GPS devices on their bikes, so supporters will be able to see their real time location on their website www.12in6.org 24 hours a day.
“The technology is based on that found in your sat nav but with an added twist,” explained VeriLocation’s Andrew Overton.
“The GPS devices on the bikes know where they are in the world at all times, by receiving signals from the GPS satellites. They are fitted with SIM cards and use the mobile phone networks to send this information back to the UK instantly.
“It’s the same technology we use to track more than 10,000 other vehicles. It means you can open a web page and watch John and Andy’s progress in real time, either tracking them on a map, or overlaid on satellite images.”
The 12 in 6 ride will start at 10am on 12th June in Croydon.
It will go through France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany, Switzerland; Italy; Austria; Slovakia; Hungary; Slovenia; Czech Republic and the UK.
The bikers aim to raise enough money to build and equip a new workshop in Zimbabwe for Riders for Health.
This vital charity uses an innovative social enterprise model to help health workers maintain their motorbikes and stay mobile between poor communities in Africa.
VeriLocation has been in GPS tracking and mapping since 1995. Last year it used the same technology to track celebrities Alan Shearer and Adrian Chiles on a sponsored two day bike ride.