Bikes of The Wild West Country 2024

Nicky Shaw

Age: 34

Cap number: 33

Location: Harrogate, UK

Bike: Rondo HVRT CF2 2021, SRAM Force AXS Groupset with 10-36 at the back. Up front I’m running a Rotor Q ring, 48-32.

Hunt 4 Season Wheels with fresh kicks: Continental GP5000 28mm, set up tubeless. Pedals are the Crankbros Eggbeaters.

Key items of kit: Apidura Top Tube Bag - Snacks, Electronics, spare AXS batteries. Apidura Saddle Pack - Clothing inc. warm layers for the night shift. Muc-off bar bag - Tools & spares, capacity for snacks. 2 x 950L bottles for hydration. I’ll be riding in Albion kit as standard, let’s go!

Pat Wirenski

Age: 32

Cap number: 38

Location: Southampton, UK

Bike: Singular Peregrine. Gearing set up is a 32t chainring paired with a 9 speed 11-46 cassette and a bar end friction shifter. Tyres 38mm and 42mm up front for comfort.

Key items of kit: Big pack up front with all the food. Tools and bits in the frame bag and sleeping kit on the saddle bag.

Ben Chuilon

Age: 44

Location: Oxford, UK

Bike: Enigma Eclipse Ti (2009), Campagnolo Bora One 35 wheels, Campagnolo Centaur 10spd groupset, 50/34 by 13-32t cassette, GP5000 28mm tyres, Charge Knife saddle.

Key items of kit: Restrap Race Saddle Bag (7L), Restrap Race Top Tube Bag (1.5L), Rockbros frame triangle bag, Roadrunner Burrito handlebar bag, Garmin Edge 530 (+Edge 810 as a backup), 2x Magicshine RN1200 front lights, 2x Cateye Viz 150 rear lights, 20'000 + 5'000 mAh powerbanks, Quad Lock phone mount, Alpkit Hunka bivvi.

William Ogborne

Age: 36

Cap number: 09

Location: Pilton

Bike: Enigma Escape Ti.

Key items of kit: Hunt Wheels with son 28 Dyno hub. GRX 810 group set. 48/31 - 11/28. Redshift shock stop stem. Tailfin & Restrap bags. Exposure Revo/Redeye, Trace, TraceR.

Benjamin James

Age: 38

Cap number: 35

Location: Warwickshire, UK

Bike: Fairlight Strael

Key items of kit: Apidura frame and top tube bag with jackets, gloves, thermals, electrical and food. Musette bag for carrying extra food, saddle bottle holder for extra water (I’m not a vest fan) Custom build front dynamo front wheel and exposure light set front and rear

Jon Regler

Age: 49

Cap number: 10

Location: Blandford Forum, Dorset

Bike: Cannondale Topstone Carbon 4 Gravel with recently upgraded Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Adventure wheelset + Schwalbe G-One Speed 40mm tyres.

Key items of kit: I have found my Restrap aero-bar bag stores all my clothes and makes for a perfect cockpit/surface for food, the Restrap frame bag for tools, food, gloves, first-aid kit and quick layers. 10,000maH pack, cables, PH electrolytes and more snacking in the toptube bag. 2 x sets of Magicshine front and rear lights, Garmin Edge 1030 Plus, iPhone and Beeline Velo 2.

I'm still 50/50 on packing a bivvi bag and mat, if so there will be 3l pack on my forks, however I have been eyeing up some mighty fine Audax hotels along the south coast and in north Dorset ;)

Aaron Hoyle

Cap number: 43

Location: Edinburgh

Bike: Genesis Croix de Fer

Key items of kit: Tent, sleeping bag, roll matt, lights, spares, pork pies.

Dot Perkins

Age: 49

Cap number: 54

Location: Cardiff

Bike: Trek Checkpoint SL6 AS SRAM Rival eTap AXS, 12-speed Mavic Open Pro UST Disc Rim with SON delux 12 Dynohub Bontrager Paradigm Comp 25 rear wheel

Key items of kit: Bontrager MIK Utility Trunk Bag Bontrager Adventure Top Tube Bag Bontrager Adventure Boss Frame Bag Son28 Front Dynamo Hub, Son Front and Back light Outdoor Research Helium Bivvy Ayacucho Lite 700 sleeping bag

Will Miners

Age: 34

Cap number: 25

Location: Bristol

Bike: Orbea Terra H30 gravel bike with road wheels and 32mm Continental GP5000s.

Key items of kit: Alpkit seat pack with warm/spare clothes. Podsacs frame bag with various tools and tubes. Halfords top tube bag for snacks and device chargers.

James Gill

Age: 36

Cap number: 37

Location: Royal Wootton Bassett

Bike: Enigma Evoke frame Hunt 54mm wheels Continental GP5000 ASTR 28mm tyres Shimano Ultegra 11sp mechanical groupset, but with a special GRX long cage mech and a 40T cassette, giving a bottom gear of 36/40. Profile Design aero bar cockpit

Key items of kit: Galibier down jacket Exposure Six Pack front light Castelli Perfetto Gilet Waterproof socks!

Amy Powell

Age: 29

Cap number: 21

Location: London, UK

Bike: Avec Sythe, a relatively new brand from the brains of East London bike fitter Tim Allen. This model has a raw carbon finish and a Shimano 12sp mechanical groupset (with spinny gears to keep the legs happy). It's built for endurance, with 165mm cranks and 36cm bars, providing an aero fit with comfort over long distances. It's finished with Parcour Strada wheels and deda aerobars.

Key items of kit: With all the climbing involved, the plan is to travel light. I'll be using a Restrap race saddle bag for layers and jackets, Restrap top tube for batteries and snacks, and a Wizard Works frame bag for any extra calories I find on the way. For hydration, I'll be using an Albion cargo vest with a 2l camelbak - with extra pockets for even more snacks!

James Scrivener & Alison Dockney

Age: 34.38

Cap number: 53 & 52

Location: Macclesfield

Bike: Both Orbea Terra M30's, one slightly more colourful than the other!

James' gearing: 1x40t chainset + 11/42 cassette

Aly's gearing: 46/30 chainset + 11/34 cassette

Key items of kit: James' gear:

• Restrap Race Top Tube Bag Large
• Restrap Bikepacking Frame Bag Large
• Outlier 11l Seatpack

Aly's gear:

• Restrap Race Top Tube Bag Large
• Restrap Race Frame Bag Small
• Altura Vortex 12l Seatpack
• Riverside bikepacking bottle bag/food pouch

Harvey Tye

Age: 58

Cap number: 2

Location: Carlisle

Bike: Fairlight Strael frameset with Redshift kitchen sink handlebars. Hand built wheels by me. Sp dynamo front hub DTSwiss rims, 32mm continental 4 season tyres with tubes (I agree with Sean Kelly. Im not a fan of tubeless) 1x set up 38 chainring with an 11-46 cassette and GRX rear mech.

Key items of kit: I try to buy shorts with the thickest chamois. The most important bit of kit is always the one bit that I've left at home. I carry 3 water bottles the smallest of which is used for everything other than water, coke coffee tea beer.

Steve Cole

Age: 37

Cap number: 36

Location: Stroud

Bike: Specialized Roubaix SL8

Key items of kit: Packable rucksack so I can stock up for a hotel room picnic at the end of each ride stint. Anti bacterial body and clothes wash so kit can get washed the same time as me in the shower, and an old lip balm tin filled with Chamois Butt'r ultra balm.

Sanjay Laidlaw

Age: 28

Cap number: 15

Location: London

Bike: Kinesis RTD

Key items of kit: I'll be riding my Kinesis RTD with Shimano groupset and hunt wheels with a dynamo hub powering a front Edelux light. Frame and top tube bag kept mostly empty for ALL the snacks. Saddle bag with layers and a light sleep kit. Mat, bivvy, sleeping bag liner and puffer jacket make up the sleep system.

Emma Karslake

Age: 30

Cap number: 6

Location: London

Bike: Custom steel frame

Key items of kit: Many bottles cages, homemade inner tube bikepacking bags, one proper Apidura bag

Jon Pugh

Age: 47

Cap number: 14

Location: Gloucestershire

Bike: Rondo Ruut Ti with 1x GRX, Hunt Wheels and 32mm Continental GP5000 AS tyres.

Key items of kit: Exposure Lights, Garmin 1040, Ortlieb Bikepacking Bags, OR Helium Bivvy. Planning to reach a hotel on the first night but bivvying after that.

Jenny Rice

Age: 38

Cap number: 12

Location: Cumbria, UK

Bike: Liv Avail SL 2 Shimano Tiagra 11x34 cassette and 34/50 chainset

Key items of kit: Zefal top tube bag full of food, plus tools, pump, inner tube etc. Planet X podsacs saddle bag with extra layers, toiletries, cables & chargers. Wearing - Salomon race vest - more food, plus suncream and other bits & bobs. Lights - Lezyne 1300+ (borrowed, thanks Rick!) and Lezyne 1000+. Sleep system - b&bs! Garmin Edge Explore 2. Lucky item - food!!! (specifically Graze lemon and blueberry flapjacks!)

Adam J

Age: 38

Cap number: 24

Location: Copenhagen / Stroud

Bike: Planet X - Tempest Ti

Key items of kit: As light as possible this time!

John Hale

Age: 36

Cap number: 28

Location: Oxford, UK

Bike: WORX aero road bike that I've been riding around on for a while now. 50mm WORX wheels and 25mm GP5000 tyres. Have popped a pair of aero bars on there in vain hope that there's some flat on this route.

Key items of kit: Restrap top-tube bag, modified old Aerolab bag for tools, small drybag with a few extra bits of kit. Cateye & Moon front lights and an Exposure Tracer rear.

Rupert Kellie

Age: 47

Cap number: 34

Location: Hampshire

Bike: Trek Domane SL5

Key items of kit: Mainly Restrap bags: Race Aero bag, Top tube bag, Race Stem bag, Saddle bag. Apidura frame bag. Hunt Superdura Dynamo wheelset. Klite Backpacker Ultra dynamo light and USB charger. Outdoor Research Helium bivvy, Sea to Summit SP1 sleeping bag, Sea to Summit ultralight mat.

Sean Parrett

Age: 36

Cap number: 49

Location: London

Bike: Trek Madone 4.7: Shimano Dura Ace 50-34 chainring and 11-34 cassette

Key items of kit: Apidura top tube and seat bags, Exposure lights, Wahoo Element Roam for navigation, Favero Assioma Pedals.

Jess Golding

Age: 33

Cap number: 48

Location: London

Bike: My beautiful Cervelo Aspero will be carrying me up the brutal ascents of the moors with the support of a 46/30 chainset and 11-34 cassette, whilst Profile Design aerobars will help me recover on the "flats". Hutchinson Challenger tyres will hopefully keep me puncture-free (I know I've just jinxed it), and my Redshift suspension stem will save me from the turbulence of potholed roads.

Key items of kit: My trusty Tailfin for keeping my sleep system and extra layers dry through unpredictable British weather. Restrap top tube bag for easy access to my power bank, tools, and lip balm. Riverside frame bag for every brand of chamois cream under the sun.

And this year I've opted for the snack pouch double whammy for carrying leftover chips and other questionable food items.

John Wilson

Age: 41

Cap number: 17

Location: Bristol, UK

Bike: Giant Defy

Key items of kit: A mix of Apidura/Topeak/Specialized bags. Profile Design aerobars to help save my hands on some of the Westcountry's finest roads. Using Exposure lights throughout with StradaSB as my main light. In the frame pack I'll be carrying a powerbank, tools/spares and some food. Saddlepack contains some extra clothing to keep me warm and the top tube bag will have various bits including suncream, tracker, phone, cables etc.

James Neal

Age: 44

Cap number: 32

Location: Somerset

Bike: Cannondale Topstone 3 Carbon

Key items of kit: Frame bag, top tube bag and saddle bag. Running GRX 46/30 - 11/36 on a set of 28mm Victoria Rubino pro.

Calvin Friedman

Age: 36

Cap number: 56

Location: Kent

Bike: Boardman SLR. Ultegra di2, Zipp 303 wheels, profile designs aerobars, Pirelli Race tlr 28c set up tubeless.

Key items of kit: Exposure lights with 8.7AH support cell so I don't need to charge lights during the event. Restrap frame and saddle packs. Restrap bottle bag between the aerobars so I can carry 2.5l of water in total. Apidura top tube bag for food only. Hoping for warm and dry weather, but still carrying a Rab down jacket for the nights and a Shakedry as you never know what the weather will really do!

Ian Trevis

Age: 40

Cap number: 22

Location: Totnes, devon

Bike: Norco Valance SL, rim brakes

Key items of kit: Restrap and alpkit bags Wahoo bolt + 20,000 battery cell 1 x 11 ultegra Di2, deore XT Di2 rear mech 42 chainring, 11/42 cassette Redshift seatpost Redshift stem 3T carbon drop bars Zipp clip on TT bars 80mm riser Garmin vector 3 pedals 40mm carbon rim wheels by jrc components Plenty of warm stuff despite Carrying loads of food so the bike will get lighter the more I eat. bivvy kit loaded

Caz Buckland

Age: 33

Cap number: 27

Location: London

Bike: Liv langma advanced

Key items of kit: Restrap and Apidura bike bags

Mark Kowalski

Age: 38

Cap number: 40

Location: London

Bike: Canyon Endurace with a full bike fit by Niel Copeland with final tweaks a couple hours before catching my train to the start of WWC2024. I’ve suffered knee and back pain since TCRno9 last summer and the adjustments and new parts feel really good. Though even fresh knees are bound to suffer on this route.

Key items of kit: Bags full of food will see me through the first 24 hours only stopping for water and maybe an ice cream or two in what is forecast to be the first hot cyclist weekend of the year.