Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson gets on his bike to Download

Iron Maiden's lead singer Bruce Dickinson will be flying in from Germany following two sold-out Maiden shows in Frankfurt so he can join the Heavy Metal Truants in cycling the final 25 mile leg of the bike ride into the Download Festival, taking place at Donington Park, Derbyshire from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th June 2013.

The charity bike ride to Download Festival at Castle Donington is organised by Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood and Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas. The riders arrive on Friday June 14th, the day before Iron Maiden's headline appearance and is to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, Childline and Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy.

Bruce Dickinson quipped, "It's the first time the headliner has shown up on a bike!" He added, "I do use my bike to get around in London when l get the chance and have turned up at the BBC on a bike before, although the Commissioners were a bit surprised as they are too used to seeing limos! These are great causes, I am only sorry that due to our tour schedule l can't do more of the ride, and hope our fans will support our efforts. I look forward to a day off after the ride seeing some great bands before we go into full Maiden action on the Saturday, with every intention of giving the fans a memorable show. Download and Metal fans are the best there are, so everyone expects something very special."

Starting on Wednesday, June 12th, over 40 riders will set off from Alexandra Palace, London, cycling 165 miles up to Donington Park, arriving as the first bands take to the Download stage on the afternoon of Friday 14th. The sponsored riders will also include band members from British Lion, Paradise Lost, Pendulum, Tesseract, Thunder, Trivium and Young Guns alongside music journalists, radio presenters and music industry participants, and even an MP – the Rt. Hon Mike Weatherley.

Joining them will be a variety of heavy metal fans who have all signed up for three days of hard cycling to raise funds for the Children's Charities.

Download is headlined by Slipknot on Friday, Dickinson's Iron Maiden doing their 'Maiden England' set on Saturday, and German industrialists Rammstein on Sunday at Donington Park over the weekend of Friday 14th to Sunday 16th June 2013. Also confirmed are Queens of the Stone Age, A Day To Remember, Alice in Chains, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Bullet For My Valentine, Motorhead, The Gaslight Anthem, Mastodon, Stone Sour, Coal Chamber, HIM, 3 Doors Down, Airbourne, Amon Amarth, Asking Alexandria, Black Dogs, Buffalo Summer, Cancer Bats, Converge, Down, Earthtone9, Enter Shikari, Five Finger Death Punch, Goldsboro, Hacktivist, Hardcore Superstar, Heavens Basement, Hellyeah, Huntress, I Am I, In This Moment, Jimmy Eat World, Korn, Last Witness, Limp Bizkit, Motionless In White, Parkway Drive, The Hives, The Sword, UFO, Vision Of Disorder, Walking Papers, and Young Guns. Download will offer three days of heavy rock music with more than 100 acts over multiple stages. For the latest line-up details and rumours as available please click here.

Tickets are priced at £165 for a weekend arena ticket, £190 for 3 nights with camping, and £195 for 5 nights with camping. Family camping is also available, and advance parking is priced at £20.

A Weekend Arena & 5 Night Camping ticket can be paid for over 3 payments and are available to any customer buying a ticket between 13th June 2012 and Monday 31st December 2012 at 23:59. The first (non-refundable) payment will be £50, with a second payment of £70 per ticket made on or around Monday 28th January 2013 at noon, and the final payment of £70 made on or around Monday 29th April 2013.

To buy tickets, click here.

Latest Updates