New GTA 5 mod lets cyclists hook up their own street bikes to game and pedal round Los Santos

A modification for Grand Theft Auto now lets cyclists pedal their own bike for exercise around the video game’s mean streets from the comfort of their living room - but it could take hours to set up.

The GTA V “mod” was developed as a hobby project during lockdown by keen cyclist Nestor Matas, whose day job is as a senior software engineer for GPS firm Garmin in Canada.

The hugely successful heist game lets users create their own transport methods, weapons, paintwork and clothing, which are available for download by others.

This latest mod works by hooking up existing virtual cycling software such as Swift and Sufferfest to the bike via one of their smart dynamo-style rear-wheel flour mounts connected to the console, which even controls the resistance felt pedalling the hills of Los Santos.

Players can choose one of the three courses or explore the detailed digital city in free-play.

They can ride on the game’s roads, which brings with it the real-life dangers of reckless car drivers and the need to dodge distressed pedestrians if the cyclist mounts the pavement.

The on-screen character is apparently “able to point and shoot while on the bike and give the finger”, Mr Matas said, however it is cumbersome to operate a handheld controller while pedalling.

The new mod is currently only available in “story” mode so cyclists cannot rally with friends online.

After the session, a .FIT file is generated that can be uploaded to tracking app Strava.

One of the first cyclists to try out the mod was veteran Commonwealth Games racer Chris Pritchard, who said it took him five hours set up and get all the connections working, but found it gave an excellent at-home workout.

However, Mr Pritchard also found a bug that did not allow the character to re-mount the bike after crashing into a ravine.

Mr Matas, who goes by the online username Makinolo, said: “I started learning how to mod GTA V in early 2017 and it took me all this time to master it enough to be able to make this piece of software.

“The recent self isolation situation we are all living these days just sped up the polishing process to get it ready for publication.