Did I Survive My First 480km Ultra Cycling Adventure? | Great British Escapades 2024

How did I do in my first ever race and ultra? Join me in the video to find out as I take on the 480km Great British Escapades course.

The Great British Escapades is a long distance gravel event. It starts in Canterbury in South East England before taking you across the North and South Downs. Whether it’s your first event or you’re an experienced ultra racer the course offers something for you.

It’s got tarmac, gravel and some single track trails along the way and can be treated as a 3 day bike packing or adventure or completed without sleep (if you so desire). The event has been running in June now for 7 years and shows no sign of slowing down with 100 racers at the start line this year!

If you’re thinking about doing your first ever long distance event.. DO IT. And my advice would be to make it this one. No matter how your race goes you will feel supported by the organisers and the atmosphere was truly incredible. Hopefully the video inspires some other riders out there to join the event next year!

If you enjoy the video please like and subscribe and if you have any questions chuck them down in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer.

Finally, if you want to watch more of me check out my adventure series where I cycle from Alaska to Argentina! It’s not yet finished though with more videos coming soon!

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[Music] Before the video starts please remember to Like and subscribe Really helps the channel grow Thank youuuuuu So we are about to jump in the car and start the drive over to Canterbury Where I’ll be taking part in this year’s Great British escapades not only is it my first ever Ultra race it’s also my first ever bike race so let’s get in the car and give this thing a go so after a 4-Hour drive up to Canterbury found a nearby car park and started preparing my bikee could already see some other Riders nearby said hello introduced myself and met Bruce and Andrew we traded stories as we prepped our bike once I got into my bike gear I got ready to head over to the race start line which is in a nearby place called beborn we then arrived at the Village Hall registered ourselves before I met up with a few friends you guys will remember Ryan from the recent night riding video I checked up although the pre-race nerves are well and truly here at this point atmosphere was absolutely incredible he had some serious Riders who were planning on going super fast it was a real mixture of people but why was I even nervous the course might explain why this was the seventh ever Great British escapades which is based around the southeast of the UK due to its location it’s the perfect access point for the north downs and allows you once you’ve completed the north Downs to turn back around and hit the South Downs the more technical riding comes in the first 190 is KM before you hit cp1 with the spicier climbs coming before cp2 along the South Downs final 140 km is slightly flatter and a bit more forgiving and is more Road based but it does chck the old curve ball in there there for you in total it’s 484 km of riding with just under 8,000 M of elevation this is why I was nervous back at the Village Hall I prepared my bike with the tracker and race number and got ready for the induction Kevin ran through the final race details before letting the first 20 Riders know who they would be one of them was me he also let us know that we’d be setting off in 5 minutes which is when I realized I should have spent less time chatting to other Riders and more times prepping my bike I did the final prep Che my GPS and GoPro on the bike just in time for Kevin to shout stop we the minute I began pedaling my nerves disappeared as I was lost in the race but as soon as the race had started the heavens opened and we were in the middle of a downpour the mix of adrenaline and energy from my first ever race meant I didn’t want to pull over to put on my rain jacket felt like if I stopped I’d be losing time I was cruising along the road chasing the race leaders not even worried about getting wet even after the first few climbs I couldn’t be deterred I was on a mission I carried on pushing and then found myself up front of the race with two other riders with the rain still coming down and the adrenaline still pumping the first hour of the race just completely shot by that was until halfway up a climb when I looked down and realized I had a puncture this is where my nightmare began to save you viewers 5 minutes of me me talking in depth about my puncture problems here’s the four things you need to know one I prepared incorrectly by bringing Trader in a tubes my bike only holds prester meaning I had no inner tubes that could replace my old one entirely my fault number two in my chaotic efforts to get the puncture repaired as quickly as possible I’d lost the valve core of the punctured inner tube meaning not only could I not replace my own tube I couldn’t even repair the old one I was essentially stranded 30 km into the race number three half the race had passed me by the time I realized points one and two but after 15 minutes I managed to flag a man named Ryan down who Gra ly gave me one of his spares forever in this man’s debt and four unfortunately this wasn’t the end I got two more punctures on the same Tire over the next 10K anyway back to the show following 60 km were less focused on me racing and more just trying to limp into the nearest town I arrived in at 10:30 p.m. to Rochester and left my bike with some other races that were at their 24-hour McDonald’s whilst I nipped over to Tesco in a last ditch attempt to see if I could find some inner tubes of course there were none so there I was my tire had flat again at McDonald’s I had no inner tubes left and I had about four repair patches left so after mulling over the decision I decided that the only option was to stay in Rochester for the night at a hotel get to the bike shop alford’s in the morning for the parts I needed absolutely deflated I fixed the fourth puncture and then cycled over to the hotel [Applause] alfords didn’t open until 8:00 a.m. the next day so it was a bit of a late start I got ready in the room and had a quick coffee before cycling back the way I had come yeah Halford’s was a 12 km detour I checked the leaderboard to find out was firmly in last place quickly realized the goal for this race for myself had now changed was just a finish after picking up some breakfast and the inner tubes I needed I set off again I chucked some music in as I left Rochester and began climbing towards the north Downs the route through here was very closed in quite narrow riding I wasn’t very used to but incredibly cool I never really done riding like this before so it was a big learning experience but before I knew it I was absolutely powering along the flats and just loving The Descent and as section one progressed I finally managed to catch up with some other Riders the atmosphere was really good amongst the other races had some chats along the way wishing each other good luck it was really cool to see I had one more puncture taking my puncture count up to I don’t know why I’m holding up a one to five but I was powering toward towards check .1 up until we hit this Sandy stretch which definitely tested my patience but I managed to get through unscathed and arrived into cp1 at 2:50 p.m. I decided to push on for another 30 km to a place called Hazel mayir where I stopped for an early dinner the next stretch along the South Downs would have limited resupply points for food and for water so I topped up on both made sure I was good to go through the night despite everything that had happened the night before I found that this was my lowest point so far in the race for some reason I was absolutely knackered my energy was really zaap mindlessly cheering on my dinner staring into the abyss of the night [Music] ahead I left Hazel Mir with a full stomach and found my energy levels had been restored had a brief problem on some of the climbs here with my leg cramping my like right quad kept seizing up but I pushed on until I hit a little town called graffam which is the entry point to the southbounds Before the Race some of the Riders have warned me about this part seem to be firmly in gravel Riders nightmares and I could see why the gradient ranges between about 15 to 20% and the surface is just a complete mess left by loggers so I hopped off and began walking once I got to the top though I started powering along the South Downs and it was absolutely stunning I was blown away by the beauty and some of the descents were just breathtaking I mean get a load of this [Music] [Music] [Music] as the sun set in the distance there was nothing that could get me off of Cloud9 actually scratch that this can to dealing with my sixth puncher I continue plowing on to a BP garage it was past midnight now and the temperature had absolutely plummeted so it was here that I sat around for about 30 minutes deciding what to do in the end grabbed the Red Bull down that and got back on the bike the witching hours weren’t too kind to me though and my average speed definitely took a hit I found that at night I was constantly worried about whether I was going in the right direction turned the backl off my GPS um to save battery and was just never really sure was always confused as to whether I was going the right way I got two more punctures through this stretch which really slowed me down as well I was getting cold every time I had to stop for 10 15 minutes took a mental toll for sure I did see plenty of riders through the stretch though bivi up at the side of the route and for the first time in the race felt like I was catching up with the main group of riders which was nice as The Bleak and coldest hours started to hit me just an edge of sunlight creeped up along the horizon gave me a glimmer of hope so I pushed through the pain made it into cp2 at around 4:30 a.m. I think I Cruis along another 20 km or so into a place called Haim where the shops are finally opening up at 6:00 a.m. and I managed to take stock and grab a coffee again another blank stair into the abyss as I stopped for coffee I checked the leaderboard for the first time in a while and saw that I was now in 25th it had been a while since I felt like I had a position to protect and this gave me the motivation I needed to get back on the bike this is the exact point now that the race starts playing tricks on on you because you feel like the race is almost over you forget you’ve got hours left in the saddle still my mind started doing calculations so I was telling myself I only had 4 hours left completely unrealistic I chugged along though and linked up with a few other Riders it was nice to meet Johan and Andrew again who I’d met earlier in the race we rode together for a little while before I pushed on at this point my bum hurt so much that I couldn’t sit down on any off-road sections so the spicy little off-road sections we would have I would have to Pedal out of the saddle which was annoying surprisingly though my legs didn’t feel too tired I had one final puncture along this last stretch which I think takes this total count up to nine and then we entered the final 40 km which might be some of the longest CS I’ve done in my life again I don’t think it was cuz the legs were really tired or at least it seemed that way was more just wanting the mental battle to be over by this point the final 10 km in particular they they dived away from the nice Road and gravel rid and took us on Bridal ways and some of them were just bloody Fields I was just absolutely done at this point I finished off the final 60 M climb made the last few turns into Beckers born before arriving back to the Village Hall and collapsing final turn is in the books we’re almost at the Village Hall 480 km comes through a cloth 300 M plus the extra 12K I had to do for the spare parts and it’s done here we go pulling in [Music] Kevin and Joe the wonderful organizers were there to receive me as well as a few other Riders I took a minute to process the last few hours before Kevin let me know I come 22nd with a finish time 46 hours and 1 minute he admitted it was quite a feat as he thought I was going to scratch when he saw me at the McDonald’s on the first night which did feel like a very real possibility at that time but I’d done it completed the 484 km race my first ever Ultra and I was incredibly proud of myself all in all I had an absolutely incredible time from my first race and I’m super thankful to the event organizers for making it feel as welcoming as it does it it’s perfect for firsttime Riders I would encourage anybody thinking about doing it or thinking about doing their first ever endurance race uh to make it this one just for that reason and if you do think of joining RC on the start line next year in terms of the bike and Equipment there is a ton of things I’ll be changing before my next race you will be unsurprised to know that the tires will be one of them I think I would like to try out tubless but I would need to do it I think for my weight on a wider Tire which would mean a different bike gearing as well would be something I’d change especially on some of the spicier climbs across the South Downs they were unridable on on the gravel gearing rehydration would be a big one I would change for the next race would definitely take take a backpack as an unexperienced off-road Rider I didn’t realize how difficult it is sometimes to rehydrate just using water bottles practically impossible to make sure you’re rehydrating I think it’s necessary to have a camel back fueling I think went well although the one thing I would change would be Savory food on the bike at times I was really done with sweet food just like some wraps or sandwiches on the bike would be good GPS lighting all my electronics I would try and get as greater battery life as I could just that you’re not worried about charging them through the night and finally saddle and maybe bib shorts towards the end of the race the bum was in disrepair and I would definitely look into seeing if there a way to mitigate that I come for you saddle more support from the bib shorts maybe if you’ve made it this far I hope you enjoyed the video please don’t forget to like And subscribe and if you have any questions about the race let me know in the comments I’ll see you on the next [Music] one so proud of myself I mean at the start of the race thought I might scratch just because of all the problems I was having went from 19 9th came back from last place I think I’m in maybe 23rd at the moment just loving the North and South down some of the places where you get to really send it and and go for it they were super fun