Basically it'd be LEJOG off-road but with a mass start and a bit of event buzz about it.
Pointless or fun?
Bike Forum
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Could there be a UK Tour Divide equivalent?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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Could there be a UK Tour Divide equivalent?
No, in the same way that Blackpool ain't Las Vegas.Posted 1 year ago # -
I don't see why not, I've had a few fun nights out in Blackpool in my student days too
Posted 1 year ago # -
Maybe take a small entry fee for publicity, a few signs perhaps and alerting facilities en-route so they can make a bit of a fuss if they want some extra business. Like making sure the riders can smell cooking sausages and bacon from a burger van early in the morning, for instance
Posted 1 year ago # -
so like a transwales or transcotland then ?
Posted 1 year ago # -
No, nothing like a Trans Wales. That's a stage race.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm keen. If you just sort out the route...
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'm going to say that the wrt is the nearest thing we've got at present ... although it's still a million miles away.
In both you'll be expected to
• Be self sufficent
• Navigate yourself
• Sleep under the stars (at some point)You'll also get nothing for coming back first
Posted 1 year ago # -
No.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yeah a bit like the WRT but end to end.
The route should not be a problem, lots of talk about this kind of thing online. Only thing is there's no waymarked route so you'd need maps or some other means of allowing foreigners to find their way.
Otherwise we'd need the largest order of course tape ever placed.
Posted 1 year ago # -
allowing foreigners
i'm out.
Posted 1 year ago # -
For anything to be like the TD I think you need the element of "vastness". I'm sure we could come up with various fun routes but the closest you're gonna get in the UK is the Highlands & it just isn't vast enough. Besides, how are you going to replicate the feeling of danger-sleeping in grizzly country whilst smelling of pizza and chicken nuggets?
Posted 1 year ago # -
It would not be a substitute or even much like the TD, anyone knows this isn't the Rockies.
But it might still be a larf...
Posted 1 year ago # -
wouldnt be the same type of course but the idea of doing it self supported and all starting at the same time would be good.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I thought you were planning on doing the tour divide with panniers molgrips? Wouldn't anything in the UK just feel incredibly lame in comparision?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I suppose you could do all the big long distance off road routes with linking sections... Plymouth to porlock, then sarn helen mtb route, then pennine bridleway, West Highland way and then remote tracks to Cape Wrath.....
sounds fun.
I'd be up for it (if I could get a pass).
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wouldn't anything in the UK just feel incredibly lame in comparision?
Just because something's bigger elsewhere doesn't mean you can't do stuff at home. Alpine riding is immense but you still ride locally, don't you?
I was kind of thinking of marketing it to foreigners - would be a cool way to see the various parts of the UK from a different perspective.
Posted 1 year ago # -
molgrips - Member
I was kind of thinking of marketing it to foreigners - would be a cool way to see the various parts of the UK from a different perspective.
Marketing? You really don't understand the Divide.
I think something more like the Colorado Trail Race would better suit the UK. More technical, less distance covered per day. It's something that I would like to work on next year when I won't be racing so much.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Marketing? You really don't understand the Divide.
Yes I do. Are you sure you do? Is it the same for everyone? Does everyone do it for the same reasons?
This would not be the divide replicated. Obviously it could not be.
This would be something else along similar lines but modified to make it work. People know about the divide through word of mouth, I believe the experience would could be made better if people had heard of it and knew what was going on. I would not want to wait 10 years to see if word of mouth made it popular or not.
Btw I should say 'publicising' rather than marketing. Ie making sure people know about it. Lots of people doing a recognised event would make it slightly different to just doing the route on your own.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Only thing is there's no waymarked route
is the divide marked?
I was under the impression it was not.
I think an end to end 'official' route would be good but i think it would be a very different experience to the TD.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think it is marked... Or at least the GDR was and the long distance Great Divide path is marked.
i think it would be a very different experience to the TD
Of course, it's inevitable. Different country = different event. You'd hardly need to carry any food or water, you could probably get away without a tent even by staying in B&Bs or even hotels.
More options though. You could have it like the WRT so that you simply have to collect checkpoints along the way, to add an element of route planning.. hmm...
Posted 1 year ago # -
smells a bit like audaxing to me ....
Posted 1 year ago # -
allowing foreigners
philconsequence - Member
i'm out.marketing it to foreigners
You don't learn do you.
I'm out too.
Posted 1 year ago # -
What's wrong with foreigners?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think that it's a not a bad idea. Another idea would be a off road European stage race. Say four-five routes each about 300-500 km so that overnighters were required. Self sufficient. Routes could change every year so different countries were involved. Ideally gap between routes are not too big. Maybe check point style, you choose which order to do routes in?
Posted 1 year ago # -
molgrips - Member
What's wrong with foreigners?Don't get me started.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Another idea would be a off road European stage race
Oh yes.. top stuff. Setting it up would be a fairly heavy operation though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
No, you don't understand it, molgrips. The GDMBR is not way-marked, it is mapped. It changes every year as they try to improve the quality of the riding, switching road for off-road and boring off-road for singletrack.
Given that I've ridden the race, know most of the original racers, and I'm in regular contact with the organiser of the Tour Divide, I think I do know what it's about.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I like the idea of a more 'local' route with a mass start...
I think as soon as you start marketing or publicising extensively then you run into issues.. too many people on the trails, people signing up and not being prepared etc. (quite a nice debate starting on Bikepacking.net about the future of the TD race)
What about looking beyond the UK .. must be European versions of this forum.. stitch a gps route through to maybe southern france from a start here in UK.. publish a start time and place.. away you go.. alot of the trekking trails in France .. e.g GR5 would make excellent riding but wouldn't support alot of traffic.
Grenzstein Trophy is in its 3rd or 4th year... I had no idea it existed and found it by chance... off to do it this year...
... low volume of riders and big miles is the appeal in these events..
Posted 1 year ago # -
silly mol
i've got nothing against people born in places that i wasn't born in, i dont even know what the tour divide is!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Paul hit the nail on the head. Marketing is the enemy of that kind of racing unless you have a gigantic pile of cash to spend on logistics, permits, and insurance.
Posted 1 year ago # -
'Tis true, once the numbers start to increase then the emphasis changes and before long you've got a stage race on your hands ... Trans whatever.
There'll be around 90 riders on this years WRT. If they were all going the same way it would be too many and certain elements would be lost.
If you were to try and keep numbers down on a uk TD style event, then it might become elitist and obviously small numbers would mean you'll be hosting it for the love Posted 1 year ago # -
Scottish Divide:
BBC SCOTLANDPosted 1 year ago # -
There'll be around 90 riders on this years WRT
Which makes it at least as popular as the TD
edit - Scottish Divide looks really cool. /goes off to have a look at the maps of Wales...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Never thought about it like that ... I can say however, that it's the most popular 3 day, bikepacking event held in Wales at the end of May, in the WORLD!
EDIT: Don't bother, I've already got a "Welsh Divide" route underway ... seeing as there is a physical mountain divide running N to S for a great part of it.
Posted 1 year ago #
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