For all you dotwatchers who have some free time now that HT550 and Tour Divide are over, here’s another event to follow

GBDURO started on Saturday morning. Its not all about the sharp end but it has been astonishing to watch Lachlan Morton power through to Mid Wales by Sunday. He’s currently approaching Scotland!

Oops Tour Divide still going. Didn’t mean to shortchange their efforts!!

Yep I’ve been following it. That dudes incredible. He’s going to waiting around a couple of days for the party…

Seemed like a potentially interesting race that.

But then am I right in thinking that the guy in the lead was one of those EF Education UCI pro tour guys that raced the (amateur) Dirty Kanza? and then Amgen Tour of California as a warmup for a UK (amateur) ultra endurance race?  or is that someone else?

And then I come across one of the (roadie) youtuber guys, whose girlfriend is the media team, doing MTB descents on a gravel bike, calling the race a gravel bike race, when I suspect it might be more of an MTB bike packing route?

I’d quite like to see what the other riders are riding… proper bike packing bikes?

Certainly like the concept/route, ie the hilliest and most mountainous route through all 3 countries of the mainland from end to end.  But they should scrap the 4 stages, keep the clock ticking from grand depart to finish. But maybe have compulsory check points TCR style to prove you’ve followed the route, and/or relegate people that can’t finish in time.

The clock ticking issue is deliberate. Over tired riders and getting killed by traffic.

Lachlan Morton is indeed the EF Education UCI pro tour guy, he’s comments on the Dirty Kansa video about why they were doing stuff like this was pretty open & honest, they just wanna ride, be challenged & have fun. I believe that they may be documenting his GBDuro ride, but i’m pretty certain it’ll be under the scrutiny of The Racing Collective & their ethos of no support. Mike Dion did it with Ride The divide & the race still maintained its integrity, but showcased the concept to the masses.

I think even for a Pro UCI World Tour rider, used to pre/post ride massage, bottles being handed to him from a car, luxury hotels etc, his efforts are pretty phenomenal.

Check out Instagram #gbduro19 for the other riders & their bikes. Local to me, Andy Deacon is in the main group battling it out, he’s on a full fat bike.

andytherocketeer, I wouldn’t worry yourself. I don’t think the organiser cares if you’re pro or amateur (just all long as you’ve got some outdoor sense!). Personally I would have no issues with being whooped by a pro. It’s fascinating to see how they compare with us norms. Lachlan admits to this being way out of his comfort zone and he seems respectful of the spirit of the event.

As mrmo says, the suggested stops at the checkpoints discourages sleep deprived riding and encourages a more sociable element.

Francis Cade gets support from someone in his video, isn’t that against the rules?

Probs. Report him. PS who cares he scratched.

No he was definitely carrying that double airbed and 2 man tent in his seat pack 😉

I guess there are riders coming from quite different backgrounds… UCI pro tour, self-supported ultra endurance, supported multistage sportive, etc. so I guess it’s only to be expected that there’s slightly differing take on the spirit of the rules (and my take is probably a bit different, as I’m sitting here stalking Tour Divide dots, and seeing some respectfully relegating themselves from racing to touring after interacting with outside friendly assistance).

Several of the Spot trackers in GBduro weren’t updating for hours at a time (like all day for some riders!). So impossible to follow anyway.  Maybe some of the media stuff is covering “all” riders, but I just haven’t seen it yet.

UCI pro tour riders competing in amateur events is probably one for another thread.

Let’s reassess after the 3 Peaks!!!

The Tour Aotearoa in New Zealand has this rule:

Between 9am one day and 9am the next, every rider must spend at least one block of at least six hours not travelling. In other words, the maximum time any rider may spend riding each day will be 18 hours (between each 9am-to-9am period).

External help? Depends if it was a stranger or support known to him or another rider.

That looks like a great event, How come I only heard about it three days after it started?

I think it’s especially encouraging to see a pro like Lachlan Morton participating in something like this, but bugger me his pace is ridiculous! (assuming the spots are accurate) he’s like double the pace of anyone else…

Don’t forget that many of the riders opted to take a rest between stages 1 and 2 at CP1. Lachlan probably has a plane to catch to recommence his day job!

I have no issue with the pros giving it a go, i know it is part of EF Education/ Rapha collaboration to widen what they do as a team, i think because they do not have the funding of the likes of Ineos to garner sponsorship, but they can raise their profile and media interest by doing things a little differently.

I always liked events where as an amateur you could ride the sportive on the saturday then watch the pros on the sunday, like Paris-Roubaix or Flanders, makes you appreciate just how good they are.

Just found out about this (via YouTube) looks a great ride to add to the ‘one day’ list

Anyone know where exactly CP3 is?

Lachy is about 130 miles from my house at the moment, was hoping to catch a few miles with him this afternoon but doesn’t appear to be moving yet?

This is full of lovely pics – it’s great to see a WT rider do some of these challenges, gives an idea of how strong the are compared to us mortals.

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/06/lachlan-morton-just-keeps-riding/

Met Miles Resso at Loch Ossian hostel this morning.

His quote something like, this isn’t racing anymore, it’s survival.

He’s pushed on a bit today but not sure he’ll make the finishers party tomorrow…