When the Deloitte Ride Across Britain team sent over these pictures, my jaw dropped. The ride looks stunning.
Covering 3 countries, over the course of 9 days and pedalling a total of 969 miles. This has to be the biggest challenge in UK cycling.
Starting on Saturday September 6th 2014 from Lands End in Cornwall, the event draws over 900 attendees.
Event registrations are open now from the website and this sells out every year.
Before the ride starts, you receive a tailored training programme as well as advice. You get access to online tools that help you track your progress and an area where you can chat online with fellow participants.
During the ride, the support is incredible. The entire route is signposted so there are no extra miles from wrong turns. There are chaperone guides that you can chat to along the route and help organise the group. If you wish, you are organised in to groups to enjoy the a peloton style experience (this was my favourite part of the London Revolution).
In the nights there are warm showers, hot dinners and breakfast and tents with inflatable mattresses (which is much appreciated after a long ride!).
Along the way, there are pit stops with snacks, medical support and mechanics.
You can read about Sam’s experience of the ride last year here. Personally, I’ve tried the London Revolution which is organised by the same company and I was thoroughly impressed with how well thought out everything was. This meant I could just get on and enjoy the ride without worrying about anything.
If you are looking for an enjoyable challenge in 2014, then this huge route could be it. The 56,000 feet of climbing is certainly something to brag about when you finish the ride! If you are looking to start off with a smaller challenge, then it is possible to pick a shorter segment to ride.
I’ve just signed up for 2014 having done it this year. If you can ride a bike, you can do this. Cannot recommend it highly enough and I cannot wait for next year !
Where can I find the GPX or KML file for the whole thing? This site is taking forever:
http://www.mapmytracks.com/events/deloitte-ride-across-britain-2013
Can you do this if you’re a bit on the fat side, not particularly athletic (5’11, 15 stone).
I met people on this ride around your height who weighed 20 stone and they did it. Word of warning, you may lose a stone or two by the end of the ride. I weigh 11st 6lb and last year was 10st 8lb at the end and didn’t scrimp on the protions.
I did LEJOG of my own accord in Summer 2010. Started training at 18 stone 3 (6ft) and within 3 months got down to about 16. by the end I was 15 stone 5. We did 912 miles in 16 days. It started tough, but beyond the first 5 days you go from strength to strength.
I say do it Big Dunc (but maybe not in just 9 days!)
Big Dunc.
We have people of all shapes and sizes taking part every year and so don’t worry if you are currently carrying a little extra timber. The main thing is to build steadily into the training. We have a day by day 9 month training programme to keep you on track as well.
If you are interested then give us a call on 0845 486 2012 and we can chat through things in more detail. Hopefully we can persuade you to join us on the start line in September.
Yes I did it this year and you can do it, the whole thing is amazingly well organised and the support is just fab, the photos above are only a hint of the sights and sense of freedom and space and joy that comes from cycling eating sleeping x 9 days on the trot. Do it! More is in you!!!
I think describing this as the biggest challenge in UK cycling is to succumb to the event’s own hype. It doesn’t really compare to something like the London-Edinburgh-London, which is 875 miles over a little under 5 days with no support except for food at the controls. That said, doing 100 or so miles for 9 consecutive days is a challenge for most people and good luck to those that enter.
Dunc – I’m 5’6″ and was heavier than you when I started training & enjoyed it all enough to be going back again next year.
Sorry, but £1600 is barking. The London-Edinburgh-london only cost a shade over 200 quid, and that included all food, mechanical support, timing and routing. At just under £200 quid a day, it would actually be cheaper to stay at top class hotels and eat at some very good resturants twice a day.
Nigel, Hats off to you. London-Edinburgh-London is not for the feint hearted. RAB makes the challenging end-to-end achievable for even casual cyclists and allows them to do it in only 9 days.
Beautiful, no doubt about it. However these scenes are still there if you simply pop out on your bike to any of these places. Bike on.