GBDURO 2020 starts today

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

https://www.theracingcollective.com/gbd ... l#tracking

"​Our objective is to apply the ultracyclist mindset (self-supported, self-actualised, self-motivated) to go beyond 'Leave No Trace' to leave the world in a better state than we found it. This means not just following the 'Leave No Trace' principles when riding/wild camping, but extending these principles over time to permeate every aspect of our lives."

Almost 600 K IN 1 day 16 hrs assuming 8am start yesterday (saturday)
six to seven days maybe to finish?

https://gbduro20.maprogress.com/

[slowster]

Many years ago I watched an australian TV programme in which two small groups were set the challenge of a race to cross a wild part of Australia on foot over several days. One group comprised a few australian SAS solidiers, and the other some aboriginal tribesmen; both groups were accompanied by a presenter/narrator and cameraman.

The first to cross the line was the SAS team. The presenter with the aboriginal team got a bit of shock on the first day, because once they had set off into the jungle he found that the tribesmen had no intention of going anywhere quickly, let alone to the finish line. They were not interested in the race, in competing with the soliders and certainly not in 'winning' anything. Instead they just made their way through the jungle going where they wanted. They foraged for food and water as they went along with ease and naturalness, which contrasted with a clip showing the soldiers shooting a bird for food. At the end the Aborigines took the presenter with them to one of their tribes' sacred places in the jungle, somewhere that normally they would not take a white person.

A programme which had been conceived of as a race and a competition with a winner, instead became a comparison of cultures and attitudes to the world in which we live. The solidiers 'won' and got through the potentially dangerous and inhospitable wilderness using their physical fitness and modern kit as quickly as possible back to civilisation. The Aborigines were completely at home in the wilderness, and in no hurry to go anywhere.

Dressing up a competitive bikepacking event like GBDURO as being environmentally friendly, low carbon etc. etc. is just that - window dressing.

The broken Tailfin rack itself is an example of that: a component which is unsuitable for the purpose and which has only been chosen to save weight and so be faster/more competitive. The rider was willing to take the relatively high risk that it would break because it increased their chance of winning, rather than choose equipment which was reliable and durable and increased their chance of actually completing the ride. What value the rule prohibiting the disposal of non-bio-degradeable waste during the race, if the race neverthless results in the avoidable creation of even more such waste? Delaying its disposal until after the race achieves nothing.

Bikepackers talk of 'leave no trace' and 'take less stuff' but many seem to be continually buying the latest, newest kit, when their existing kit is not broken or worn out. What people do in the 'wild' isn't environmentally friendly, if it involves ever more consumerist consumption and creation of more, often plastic, waste beforehand and afterwards.

The GBDURO hypocrisy is similar to so much modern shallow greenwash, which makes it not a contributor to the solution but part of the problem, because it perpetuates the same fundamental culture and attitudes to the world in which we live, just with a few sops to lowering the carbon footprint and being environmentally friendly.

We need to be more like those Aborigines, instead of coming up with ever slightly less worse ways of continuing to live and behave as we have done for the last 50 years.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Yes that's a good read slowster

I've bought a few bargain bucket panniers for my training bike and a bike I use for doing long distance rides camping et cetera.
At a £1 each.
I normally keep my panniers to the worn out and then I might repair them.
I have a rucksack actually several, which I've been using for the last 30 years on my bike motorbike and bicycle, I reckon it will last another 10 or 20 years probably yet because of the quality.

Not all of us when Growing up and even today with a difficult situation of downturn, go out and buy new sparkly gear.

So one day you wake up and decide to change your life and do a bit more exercise and try to stress out little.
this club has only 3000 members on paper, they are not all pro riders with loads of sponsored customised gear.

This sort of ride is never really going to catch on is it is simply too hardcore.

When I posted the ethos of the site it was just to maybe attract remarks, seems to have worked.
I'm not endorsing anything they say at all.

[rareposter]

What value the rule prohibiting the disposal of non-bio-degradeable waste during the race, if the race nevertheless results in the avoidable creation of even more such waste? Delaying its disposal until after the race achieves nothing.

Agreed although I suspect the ethos of it is "if you carry it in you can carry it out" and intended to give the participant / competitor the incentive to go lightweight and look at sustainably packaged things (paper or food like bananas).

I agree though, there's no harm in finding the nearest bin and just dropping it in because that's what's going to happen at JOG - in fact you could argue as JOG is a very remote place that adding extra litter to bins up there is really not helping the community much at all whereas disposing of it in a town centre bin that gets emptied twice a day is neither here nor there.

The whole self-sufficiency thing sounds impossible to police and where do you draw the line - if I fill a bottle from an outdoor tap in a churchyard, is that me being self-sufficient? Or do I need to go to the River Severn and suck it out of that instead?

In fact I think the self-sufficiency is also not helping anyone - local communities, cafes etc absolutely rely on passing trade from cyclists, walkers throughout the summer season and saying "you can't even stop and buy a pie or some cake or a bottle of water" is taking the whole ultra-masochism to a whole new level of pointlessness.

The event is not benefiting any communities or businesses en route. It's seriously increasing the risk that participants will be ill / underfed / under-watered because they haven't carried enough or because they're drinking water from dodgy sources. And it's not even being done in a blaze of publicity to say "look at what is possible if we put our minds to sustainable living". Literally no-one outside of a few people on here and bike-packing / dotwatching will even know it's on, never mind the rules behind it all.

[1982john]

It's just a bit of fun it's not a UCI world calendar event

[slowster]

It's just a bit of fun it's not a UCI world calendar event

I would have taken the same view, had I not read the self-serving cant on their website, which castigates the UCI pro tour for its carbon footprint, and promotes GBDURO as a better, more sustainable alternative. I think there is an argument that elite professional sport is justified in having a higher carbon footprint than amateur sport, especially niche events like bikepacking races: millions follow the TdF, and professional cycle racing has encouraged millions to take up cycling.

The website boasts about how no participants are allowed to fly to take part in the event, but that is a pathetically low bar, given that for decades many cyclists have cycled from home to the start to take part in events, especially audaxes - including Paris Brest Paris. The comments justifying the fact that some bikepacking 'star' flew to the UK to take part in the event last year further illustrates why events like GBDURO are part of the problem they claim to be addressing: the star was 'special' and he and the event deserved for an exception to made for him.

He embraced The Racing Collective philosophy and it was incredible to watch an exceptional athlete rip the route to shreds. And of course in doing so, he bought GBDURO to the masses - would you have heard about GBDURO if it wasn't for Lachlan?

So he "embraced The Racing Collective philosophy" by getting on plane and flying to the event?! What utter BS. I'm one of the masses, and I didn't hear about GBDURO, and I've never even heard of this Lachlan chap. He is a big fish in a small puddle. That's the difference with the TdF: tens of millions, probably hundreds of millions will be following the Tour and watching to see if Egan Bernal wins again.

It doesn't bother me if they want to hold a bike race, but it very much bothers me if they claim to be better for the environment when in reality the event perpetuates and encourages the same patterns of behaviour and attitudes that are causing the climate crisis and impeding the serious changes we all need to make.

[thirdcrank]

It's one thing to use them for a road but off road was always going to be too tough. There's quite a few riders with them.

I'm amazed anyone's using them when there's a Tubus rack that's lighter,as rigid,costs half the price and will take as much rough offroad use an adventure tourist can throw at it
https://www.tubus.com/en/products/rear- ... -edelstahl

They may have got it for free for the race - I know at least one has. But yea why would you not go with something with a proven track record

I've had a stainless steel version of the Fly for around 20 years which my son uses now. It's truly bombproof.

https://www.tubus.com/en/products/rear- ... -edelstahl

FWIW, they didn't give them away to publicise them. I bought mine after reading a review by a chap called Chris Juden.

[1982john]

It's shaping up to be a good contest between last year's runner up and a previous TCR winner.

Last year's winner was a pro cycling riding for ef education first who smashed everyone out of the park

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Yes are starting to hot up a bit. Isn't it.
And we are still looking at probably seven days to finish?

[1982john]

Hi,
Yes are starting to hot up a bit. Isn't it.
And we are still looking at probably seven days to finish?

Sometime around sunset on Saturday is my prediction

Two scratches so far fourteen left

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
https://www.theracingcollective.com/gbd ... l#tracking
Not half way yet and 3 1/4 Days gone.
I'm not sure but I think they're actually going slower now?
Still 50 K between the first two.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
https://www.theracingcollective.com/gbd ... l#tracking
Not half way yet and 3 1/4 Days gone.
I'm not sure but I think they're actually going slower now?
Still 50 K between the first two.
Definitely looks like they're slowing down so it's going to be seven days isn't it easy plus.

[1982john]

Yea I think late Saturday is looking optimistic now. Just over halfway in 4 and a bit days.

Could they speed up towards the end by riding through the night and having a lighter bike but obviously fatigue will be a major factor.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Day three 233 km or second place but a little bit more I think, that tells the story on how hard it probably was.
There was a wave of weather coming in was in there I wouldn't be surprised if they batten down the hatches I would.
Been able to see each other probably has an advantage the guy in front will fight hard to maintain the lead which seems to have been all the way from the start.
Not sure there's any feedback or any information media et cetera on the Internet yet so we don't know exactly what's happening and how hard it is, probably bloody hard

[Paulatic]

Hi,
Not sure there's any feedback or any information media et cetera on the Internet yet so we don't know exactly what's happening and how hard it is, probably bloody hard

You can pick up a bit of the chat here...
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=%23gbduro20&f=live