There are a few things that characterise a British Bank Holiday weekend: a lazy, late morning lie-in, maybe a bit of breakfast in bed, and nearly almost certainly, most probably, rain.

Guess which of those three the remaining Dales Divide riders got to experience in the last 24hrs?

Northern England sent some of its finest hydrogen and oxygen starting late last night. Holly Seear and Steve Davidson (riding as a pair) found time to document this after nightfall, and possibly just before the aliens beamed them up.

India Claire was planning on some stonewalled shelter, checked out the first bothy on the tops but felt that getting a few extra kilometres in was a good idea and popped along to the second where she spent the night, nice and dry.

A group of riders including Saoirse Pottie, Matthew Vickers, Cedric Maes and Leanne Bently, felt they would push on last night when they reached the bothies, but the weather turned not so friendly very quickly and they tried to get to Dent as speedily possible. They didn't make it until 5am, but did take the chance to grab a few zzz’s before pushing on to the finish.

Saoirse was experiencing a severe case of chafing on the rear. In an attempt to reduce the searing pain when in contact with the saddle, she procured some sanitary pads from the limited open shops, gave the saddle some extra cushioning and kept it all in place with a buff. 10/10 for resourcefulness.

Olly Bowles and Ollie George made it to the finish during the night, Ollie G a little later and a little wetter, but thankfully Olly B has a warm dry car. Double Ollie/ys are now recovering, warm and dry.

In yesterday’s header image, you may have noticed 2 gentlemen with fantastic coordinating outfits. They were Paul Sweet and James Dyson and they are part of the team 3RT (Ritz Rebels Race Team from Brighouse), along with Mick Collins. It seems they not only race, but have a great radar for pub lunches:

Angus Young was conscious for a few moments today and gave us a few words about his straetgies that helped him snag the win. His plan was to not go out too hard, and followed some sage advice from Alex Pilkington to leave the racing to after Scarborough. Not immune to tyre issues, there was a little pressure loss while riding but the sealant did its job. Stopping was the key to success - or more accurately, not stopping, Two stops in shops (once in York and once in Catterick) at no more than 5 minutes each was the lot. So if you have the new FKT in your sights for 2023, it seems you need to get really good at not stopping.

These are only a few tales of the incredible riders that managed to make it through the extra weather option to arrive on Arnside. Let’s take a moment to celebrate all the full list of riders who finished since publishing last night. They can now recover, safe in the knowledge they don't need to open and close another gate tomorrow:

• Ali Macleod
• Richard Beaumont
• Ollie George
• Tim Ellis
• Jade FIeld
• Dan Critchely
• Holly Seear and Steve Davidson
• Rory Oliver
• Cedric Maes
• Leanne Bentley
• Saoirse Pottie
• Mark Lewis
• Matt Barnicott
• Jake Feasy
• Paul Coats
• Chris ellison
• Mike Jacklin
• Nye Carrick
• Martin McShane
• Lynne Davis
• Samuel Barnfather
• Emily Chappel
• Anisa Aubin

Congratulations to all the incredible riders!

In the race preview, we mentioned Steve Wikeley as a fast, resourceful and enthusiastic rookie. When his social media went dark after the first morning, I was a little confused. Catching up with him today gave quite a tale:

Last social updates from Steve were him having a good time pushing up some hills Friday morning. Not long after that he managed to lose his phone somewhere on route (along with the rest of the contents of his backpack). But he kept going.

As he progressed towards Bogland throughout Friday, he managed to blow out both his tyres and rip his sidewall. Sat in a bog at 11pm trying find a solution to his inflation woes, he was discovered by other riders who didn't stick around for long. Viewing the state of affairs, it seemed such an impossible task to fix, that the other riders said their goodbyes thinking Steve would scratch.

Scratch? I don’t think this word is part of Steve’s vocabulary. In a flash of genius he came up with a solution: he filled the tubes with sealant, jammed the tube valve into the wheel with some cut-up inner tube around it, and made it into a semi-tubeless bodge. This bodge then held for 500km. And he kept going.

The hours of walking through bog had given Steve trench foot and he wasn’t able to do the hike-a-bike sections. A clean dry pair of socks were needed stat - but he didn’t have any. He did have a couple of buffs, which were now his new socks. Hastily put on, he was good to go. And so he kept going.

The buffs have an unusual fit when employed as socks, and he couldn’t close his shoes properly. Cue Achilles issues. Not one to give in easily, Steve got his hands on some frozen peas and stuffed them into the buffs. And he kept going.

The innovative semi-tubeless set-up, buffs as socks, and the frozen peas were all he needed to get him to the finishline in 2d09h09m. Not bad a for a rookie.

He managed to track his phone down today in a shop, and is back online. So next time you’re out and your plan goes a little pear shaped, just ask yourself ‘What would Steve Wikeley do?’

Scratch report

We got wind of a couple new scratches in the last 24hours: David Cunnigham called it quits in Scarborough, and Usman Bin Omar called it quits not long after the yorkshire pudding, feeling he didn't have the legs to get him to the end.

We hope they both enjoy the last of the bank holiday weekend and will be thinking about returning in 2023. That makes a total 20 scratches in the 2022 Dales Divide.

As the sun sets on the Yorkshire dales, the riders are now faced with one final task - to remove the yorkshire dales mud that is coating their bikes. The end of a bikepacking race is not glamorous, and if you are in this for the glory then it's best to keep on walking because you won’t find it here. What you will find is a great community, a lot of funny stories, visit some incredible places and see some wacky food creations.

The biggest congratulations goes to Chris Ellison and his team for creating such an incredible event this weekend!

I will leave you with Ali Macleod's accurate depiction of the end. Until next time incredible dotwatchers!

(header image by dotwatcher local Robert Nash)

The finisher train was fully packed today!

Shortly after publishing this morning, the first (and maybe only) singlespeed piloted by Ben Yarnold arrived at the pier after 2d02h08m. An incredible feat to cover over 7500m climbing. As if that isnt enough, it is incredible he found a gear ratio that kept spinning through the rough stuff and moving fast along the flats. Congrats to Ben!

12 minutes later the 1st woman arrived at Arnside pier: Meg Pugh. She had held on to the 1st place afer passing Nicky yesterday, and kept pushing through until this moring. She was not without some mechanical issues today, but they didnt hold her back. Looking quickly at her data on trackleaders she had a total stopping time of 7h49m, mostly from the first night, and average route speed of 11.5 kph. As a very experienced and accomplished athlete, she knows her body and calculated the sleep needs well to come in with a strong win.

Congratulations to Meg for a great ride and taking first Woman Finisher!

Next to the finish was Tom Hall and Lorah Pierre who were the first pair at a time of 2d02h28m. An excellent ride from them both and Lorah's first experience!

The next 2 people to disembark from the finisher train were Nicky Shaw as 2nd woman finisher, and Niel Copeland who completed the last few kilometres together after 2d04h07m of ride time.

Bobby McNicol was the next rider to finish in the same hour (2d04h24m). The sushi dinner must have been a good choice to power him around the dales.

Between 1pm and 2pm BST, Danny Lane and Sam Cordon rolled to the finish 20minutes apart. For the front pack of finishers, sleep was on the low side. Once stopped, sleep took control and couldn’t be stopped even for some food:

The 2pm -3pm shift was occupied by Graham Bryce and Crispin Hoult (the fat bike rider) 39mins apart.

Rush hour was 3pm - 4pm with 5 riders celebrating a finish: Maurice (Mo) Guy, Sarah Rose (3rd woman finisher), Nick Cooper, Louis Moorehead and Will Barker closing the hour at 3.59pm arrival.

4pm on the dot, Richard Norgate (who had been supplying some great social media updates) kicked off the next wave, and was followed by Steve Wikely, Ian McNab, Mike Sheldrake and Andrew Mannings.

Matt Chiltern was the only one to arrive between 5pm and 6pm BST, but had a pack chasing him including Andrew Broadway, Alan Goldsmith, Simon Usher, Andy Dodd, Taylor Doyle and Sam Davidson. The last rider to have made it home is Thomas Casey after 8pm tonight.

Warm congratulations to the 28 riders (with dots) who made it back to Arnside today since publishing this morning!

Now the Men’s podium have had a chance to have a quick nap and some food, they shared a little more about their experience. Chris Hinds' ride was scuppered by some tyre issues which is what caused him to fall back into second place.

The most unbelievable thing is that this was Harry Walton’s first ever ultra race! We watched as his dot clung to the front like a barnacle on Arnside pier, but what we didn't know is that it was nearly game over when crossing the fjord at Grosmont. If I was a betting person, I would put a couple of bob on his dot in the future.

Tim Ellis, who is currently just west of Northallerton, was sporting the bikepacker facial this morning, which is never a choice, just a privilege:

Usman Bin Omar has given us our first sighting of a yorkshire pudding being eaten in yorkshire! Of course, it is filled with all the good sunday roast bits, and a side portion of chips/fries, and a bap, and a coke. He is powered to go now!

Taylor Doyle did some expert papping today (before she decided to finish in 4th place in the women’s field) of a very relaxed rider even giving their feet an airing, We are not sure who it is, though.

India Clare had to deal with an allergic reaction to nettles after deciding to roll into them whilst on her bike. She is also asking the tough questions, like what is the optimally absorbent material to stuff in one’s cleavage whilst backpacking to avoid sweat rash? And where is best to do some lumbic twists to keep the mobility up? (answers on a postcard to India directly, please).

Emily Chappel is very much enjoying the dales divide now it has turned into a ride and not a race. She is an influencer in many ways, and it seems the predecessors to the Northallerton cafe had been adopting the #Chappetite with vigueur. One rider had ordered 3 paninis and 2 croissants. Chapeau!

Emily is also a mobile lost and found of an orange DHB Aeron Jacket (size M) that was found on route. Give her a nudge if you think that is why your bike is a bit lighter.

Anisa Aubin couldn't find her bivvy bag at home, but missing a small item such as that is not enough to keep an experienced bikepacker like her at home. As a result, she has been staying in some very nice looking shelters. We offer last night sleeping accommodation as exhibit a:

We had a note from Adam Sherlock about his scratch, with some very helpful advice for bothe rookies and the veterans, we felt we should share. (edited below)

The first thing to say is that Anna Dews is not his partner (we incorrectly reported this in the scratch report) - he is happily married, and not to Anna. Apologies. Anna was simply his scratch partner.

Everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth (Mike Tyson) and boy did I get punched in the mouth by #DalesDivide 2022. Fundamentally I made two rookie errors: The first was to imagine I could rock up and do this having not been on my bike in four weeks, and with less miles in my legs by this time of the year than any point in the last decade. The second was to totally fail to listen to my body, for the first time since my early audaxes 15+ years ago, and just not get anything like enough food in me during the race. I consumed about 2,000 calories in a ride where I used 10,030 calories! The body – my body – simply can’t sustain that level of depletion. I lost 3.5kg in weight in 24 hours. A lot of that – but not all of it – is simple dehydration. Anyone after a top tip? Listen to your body and listen to #chappetite! 3 - I used a brand-new bike which I’d never ridden before and which only got finished the night before the start; 4 - I had a mechanical with said bike which required a return to the workshop the morning of the race, which meant I missed the start and set off on my own from Arnside at midday Friday. I take a lot of positives from the #dalesdivide experience: (1) Every adventure is an opportunity to learn, improve and tweak things; (2) I saw some beautiful places – sunset over Malham Tarn being an absolute highlight; and (3) I met some terrific people, specifically two I want to mention: Pat at the food & drink van at Ribblehead viaduct who took pity on me and gave me a couple of cups of tea and a bacon and egg sandwich, for free, because I had no cash (only card – another lesson: always carry some fiat currency!); and the absolutely lovely Anna Dews whom I met as we pushed our bikes (again) up a(nother) big hill, in the mist near Bolton Abbey at 6am on Saturday morning. We leapfrogged each other a few times, me commenting on her lovely Isen Goat bike, and then we decided to make the “pact of the trail” and fall in together, self-flagellants in the shared struggle! Realising we were unlikely to make it round the full 600km by nightfall on Monday, and both having work in central London first thing on Tuesday, we agreed to scratch together and head into Harrogate, from where we took trains to Leeds, Carnforth and back to our cars in Arnside. Having some companionship for those last kilometres was a life-saver and I feel like I’ve really made a friend. Overall message? Take this military adage to heart – the 7Ps: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P*ss Poor Performance. To end with another quote- I’ll be back!

Scratch report

John Witt was the pilot of the scratch bus after he scratched (unsure of reason why). Having a lift back to arnside came at the right time for Kevin Francis and Marcia Roberts (already reported) to get them back to their cars.

Stephen Haines looks to have scratched after a problem with his freehub.

Track Leaders is also showing Graham Tagg and Peter Weldon have scratched, and who have not been previosuly reported.

We think that makes 18 scratches in total as we head into the last night.

A full day of celebrations in Arnside with many happy legs resting with a refreshing beverage. Sunday night on the hills will still be a busy one: 44 trackers, and a few more riders may bed down one more time with the slugs and awake for a final push tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will try to capture all the final highlights before closing coverage. See you back here then!

(header Image by Kitty Dennis)

Picture this: the beautiful dawn chorus floating through the morning mist, while the sun rises over rolling Dales hills, shining its golden glow over winding dry stone walls and lambs bouncing through the fields that glisten with morning dew. The dales at their finest.

Except the beauty of this Sunday morning may be a little lost on our riders after 2 full days on the Dales Divide, with limited to no sleep, slugs as bed companions, and a strong possibility that the last bog they walked through was more sheep droppings than marsh. Yet still they soldier on!

After the incredibly fast finish by Angus last night, Chris Hinds rolled into Arnside only 1hour and 3minutes after Angus, taking second place on the podium. Chris was a fearless competitor to Angus, taking the lead for most of the race, and not giving up at any point. Coming in 1 hour behind Angus is not reflective of the speed and skill he demonstrated across the hills - and always with a smile as company. With only 2h 44m stopping time, the ‘pizza in cargo shorts’ trick worked well to keep him moving, with an average route speed of 16.4 kph.

Another hour passed by and the 3rd place on the podium was filled by Harry Walton, the final member of the trio that has been battling hard together since leaving Arnside. Harry finished with a time of 1d 13h 52m - coming in only 8 minutes after James Cravens’ 2021 record.

A big congratulations to 3 incredible riders who didn't let up throughout, and gave us some exciting and very fast dots to watch - let the feeding and sleeping commence!

Saturday night also brought home more of the top 10 finishers:

Matthew Garthewaite and Ollie Hayward had been so close through the race, you could have assumed they were riding as a pair - but it was just some strong ambition powering them. Matthew arrived in 4th place at exactly 2am (1d 18h route time) to be followed 6 minutes later by Ollie (taking 5th place finisher) chasing Matthew's flashing rear light until the very end.

Keeping the night time finishing flow going was Donnacha Cassidy who took 6th place at 1d19h32m. A satisfying finishing time for his first race of the season, and definitely a dot to keep an eye on for his upcoming bikepacking races this year.

7th spot was napped by Jesse Yates after 1d20h27m. He logged an average route time of 13,6 kph, and only stopped for 3h 21m - a performance not be sneezed at as a first time bikepacking race. We're looking forward to hearing his thoughts after he has finally slept and started the post-race chow down.

Carl Hopps was just 16mins behind Jesse, and claims 8th spot, with the 9th finisher Samuel Fuller coming in 10 mins later. Nick Percival was almost in the spray back zone form Samuel finishing 60seconds later and taking the last of the top 10 spots.

The final finisher to come down to the pier was Paul Herron after 2d 45 mins making his way around the north of England.

Congratulations to all the finishers now recovering in Arnside!

The women’s field has been shaking things up again through the night. Meg Pugh is now in 1st position and is charging towards the finish line and set to take first finisher of the women’s category.

9pm BST at Osmotherly is where the action started. Meg hopped in front of Nicky and they both kept riding hard for a while, until Nicky paused momentarily at Kirby Fleetham, while Meg pushed on through Catterick Garrison around midnight. And that was the last time either of them stopped - 11 hours later they are both still riding hard with Meg about 35 minutes ahead of Nicky at the last checkpoint.

Despite riding very fast and efficiently, we won’t have a new women’s FKT this year, and Sally Ozzane will keep the honour after last years great race at 44hrs and 39 minutes.

In 3rd place is Sarah Rose (and not Saoirse Pottie as previously published - apologies to both riders!), storming along to CP13 and only 70km to go. Sarah has kept her 3rd position since yesterday and doesn’t look to be leaving any room for Taylor Doyle (currently in 4th) place.

Taylor has been riding very strongly and finding expert bivvy spots, but yesterday had a scarey over the bars in a bog. Happily, fellow riders were around to help out and make sure she was ok, and they even found a wash spot later to get clean. She is not injured, and looks like has found her cycling spirit again.

All the women are now over half way, being brought up at the rear by Lynne Davies.

We received confirmation that Lorah Pierre is riding as part of a pair with Tom Hall, so we have shifted her to the pairs category.

Lorah and Tom are in good spirits and very close to the end (Lorah’s tracker is now off, follow Tom’s for updates) as they approach Milnthorpe. Lorah has had an incredible introduction to bikepacking and showing us what she is capable of. The rumour mill claims that she is prepping for the HT550. The lineup for that race is getting hotter by the day!

The second pair (that are officially riding as a pair, that we know of - the rules of Dale divide make it a bit hard to tell) Holly Seear and Steve Davidson have been working through the trauma of slug bivvies with second breakfasts, and posting pictures of smiles. We can assume that the marriage is not going to be left on the Dales Divide hills. Currently east of Osmotherly, they have about 150km of sunny Sunday riding to get back to Arnside.

The dots are not stopping though and we have our first Singlespeed rider Ben Yarnold not far away from the finish line.

Some good news for Simon Usher, on arrival to Scarborough he managed to get the cold milk he had been craving. Nothing better than a bit of cow juice to mark riding across a country. He is now moving back westwards with 414km under his belt.

Claire Frecknall and Elaine Boroughs decided to divert to the short route yesterday, and are very chuffed with their choice. The alternative route not only saves on some distance and climbing, but is also free of bogs and boulders. They are feeling quite smug with themselves heading west, currently close to Catterick.

Sam Barnfather has been riding like a trooper and is as sore as he is determined. He is in Scarborough at the moment and can celebrate making it over half way - just nobody break his spirit and tell him about the elevation profile for the return leg…

James Oldroyd has had an eventful Dales Divide starting off with a trip over the handlebars way back at Ribblehead, resulting in a rear hanger mishap. Luckily, Chris Ellison’s farm was not far away and they managed to fix it so he could cycle on and find the local amenities of a children’s playground-come-campsite. Electing to do the shorter route has not deprived him of enjoying the sunsets, and he is approaching Bainbride this morning after a night in what appears to be a bothy with a fireplace. Pure luxury!

Dan Critchely has been slogging away hard with 18 hours in the saddle on the first day, prompting him to reevaluate the gravel bike choice over his fellow riders straddling the squishier MTB or fat bike options. Nonetheless, he is ripping away on the return leg just west of Northallerton with less than 150km to go.

Alan Goldsmith has been in his element taking in all the Dales Divide trail has to offer, and sharing the beauty via lovely insta shots. Weighing in on the bike choice debate, Alan noted that some of the bumpy tracks around the field edges can’t have been much fun on a Gravel bike.

Niel Copeland has said that if he sees another field edge track he may cry. We hope the last 50km doesn't test him too much and he can get to Arnside without future nightmares about fields in Yorkshire.

(photo of Niel Copeland looking fast and hopefully not crying)

Scratch Report

There was a few more surrenders to the scratch yesterday that we want to relay:

Nye Carrick was having a great ride, but the head just wasn't in it. You may have noticed his dot taking a different route back to Arnside from Osmotherly where he scratched. Hoping a pint with a few Dales Dividers in Arnside will boost the spirits, Nye.

Marcia Roberts (and Paddington Bear) called it quits yesterday at 11am. Her head was strong but the body wasn't keeping up. Marcia is quite an incredible athlete not only holding a guinness world record, but also doing this as someone living with IBD making her achievements even more impressive. Looking forward to seeing Marcia at GBDURO later this year!

Tony Milsom had a sunny start to the ride, but gear gremlins showed up a little later. Despite some help form the guys at Stif Mountain bike the mechanicals and dealing with bogs in the dark were a fast track to scratchdom. He is enjoying the more leisurely pace back to Arnside now though. Good luck with the next ride Tony!

Ian Mclean experienced the worst of the yorkshire moors while putting on an incredible effort pushing through until 2.30am Saturday morning. He had a fall jarring his wrist badly during the night but kept going with a short bivvy sleep. Unfortunately the pain was too much and he scratched yesterday morning. An incredible effort for a first time Ultra Distance race, and in his own motivational words we look forward to him showing more #spiritiofadventurebikepacking on our maps in the near future!

The additional 4 scratches takes our total to lucky number 13 as we publish today.

The top 10 finishers may be home, but the action is not over yet. Back this evening to see how the women’s field finishes and what easter eggs turn up for the riders travelling west to Arnside.

(all photos by Kitty Dennis - Header Image of CHris Hinds)

James Craven officially logged the Dales Divide route record last year at 39h44m.

The big question we have all been thinking is ‘Will there be a new record this year?’

Angus Young heard the challenge and picked up the gauntlet with a cheeky grin, and he has delivered.

Tonight at 7.43pm BST, we have a bouncing dot owned by Angus Young setting a new route record* of 35 hours 43mins and 46 seconds (provisional and to be confirmed).

Unfortunately his tracker hasn't been logging stopped time, but looking at his speed/time graph it is clear that being stationary was not on the menu for Angus. He registered an average moving speed of 16.9 kph across the 604km of rough terrain.

Congratulations to Angus for such a great ride!

Not long behind him is Chris Hinds who had been leading the race and enjoying himself throughout. Having reached the top of the final climb, he only has 20km to go before he can stop and enjoy a pie at the pier with angus.

Harry Walton has been keeping Chris company since the beginning also, but seems to be just off track now. With not long to go, we hope he course corrects soon to roll through to the finish line and complete the podium after a well deserved competitive race.

Matthew Garthewaite and Olly Hayward have been keeping each other on their toes since leaving Arnside yesterday, and neither is giving in. An incredible feat of endurance competition! They both have the final big climb to the highest part to the route to take on, as well as the last gift from Chris before the finish, and are currently 20km in front of Carl Hopps, Donnacha Cassidy and Jesse Yates.

The women’s race has seen Lorah Pierre keep the 1st place positon throughout the day. This ride is the furthest Loreh has ever done and her first time riding through the night. An incredible acheivement.

This is no thanks to Nicky Shaw who has kept Loreh in view since leaving Scarborough after her 45minute nap, and has been relentless. They are both approaching Northallerton and will be abel to refuel for the first time since leaving Scarborough. The strategies that each of them will take could influence the order of the finish line because Meg Pugh is back in the game.

After we published this morning, Meg seems to have woken up with a fire in her legs and has clawed back into 3rd place. SHe is now only 5km behind Nicky.

How each of them will approach the remainder of the hilly terrain is going to be interesting to watch.

Niel Copeland has been having a rough time with his tubeless set-up. Starting this morning in Scarborough after 328km in 24hours, he had to tackle getting a tube in with a defective pump. Luckily he managed to disturb a gentleman having his morning tea, who gave him a mini pump to take with him and the use of the floor pump. Resourcefulness at its best. He is now headed towards Northallerton with the aim to finish sometime during the night.

Luc Mockridge has been liberally applying deep heat to his achilles, and then getting knee deep in a bog a few hours ago. Maybe he should have tried the footwear of choice of Jade Field who is definitely on team sandals:

Luis Moorhead made it to Scarborough earlier this morning and was treated (controversial statement) to the sounds of bagpipes on arrival.

Olly Bowles has been picking up the subliminal messaging of the yorkshire villages:

Claire Frecknell has been showing the way to fuel whilst on and off the bike, matching a round waffle to her barbag pockets, and hauling all the discount food from M&S to enjoy on the heath.

Emily Chappel has been enjoying the relaxing pace of the ride versus a race, and today was the real life version of a classic Ultracycling meme:

She has of course been keeping up her #Chappetite with a good dose of vegetables, quiche, orange juice and chocolate pretzels. The nutritionist will be rejoicing in the balance of vitamins in today’s instalment.

It appears that the slugs of the dales have been trying to get in on the action and cosying up with the riders during the night.

Scratch report

After yesterday's happy times, a few people have fell fowl to the scratch goblin and will be leaving the yorkshire hills today:

Andrew Dumbill had knee issues throughout the day yesterday, but a sleep at Driffield last night seemed to make things a bit better for a short while. Unfortunately it wasn’t for long, and at kilometre 370 he decided to call it a day. Hope the knee gets better soon Andrew!

Richard Shardlow made a very tough decision at Bolton Abbey to leave the dales divide as he was feeling physically and mentally rough. A lot of pain in various joints and saddle sores made things hard, but also knowing his wife was back home with COVID was weighing very heavy for him. To add insult to injury, he was part of the masses that had to scratch last year due to hypothermic conditions. We hope that everything starts to get better soon RIchard, and being back with family will make this seem like a preparation for next year’s entry.

Adam Sherlock and his partner Anna have scratched today. We are a little light on the details, but wish them a safe return home and hope to see them next year in Arnside.

Beckie Davies was embracing her first bikepacking race, and experienced all the emotional rollercoaster of an event yesterday. Unfortunately, she decided that it was time to end the rollercoaster today. Big congrats to Becky for getting to the start line and having a go. We hope to see you back again soon.

We have heard that Vic Peel has also scratched although we are not sure of the reasons why.

With 6 fresh scratches today that we are aware of, it brings our total scratch count to 9. If you have information about others, please let us know.

Again a race where the pointy end laid down the hammer and never stopped. Angus’s experience and singular focus gave us a fast race to follow. Congratulations again to Angus!

Tomorrow morning will undoubtedly deliver more bouncing dots, completing the main podium, and a view as the women’s field inches closer to the pier.

Back bright and early tomorrow!

*The route this year is slightly different to the previous year and are awaiting the organisers to confirm the race record validity.

Full moon and clear skies - perfect conditions for the pointy end.

Angus Young, Chris Hinds and Harry Walton have been battling it out through the night, all together. As we bedded down for the night, not one of the 3 leaders did. Chris Hinds had a few kilometres lead over Angus and Harry as they left Driffield until reaching Scarborough.

This was the moment for Angus to jump ahead while he and Harry sped through the seaside town and Chris took a 15 minute stop at 2am BST.

Now approaching CP8 at Glisedale with Angus in front, the rough stuff of the westerly bound route awaits all three riders with no sleep. We are sure they will not let this slow them down and they will keep each other very firmly in their sights.

Ollie Hayward and Mattthew Garthwaite (4th and 5th respectively) have kept their race pace and places, travelling through the night together. They were briefly joined by Donnacha Cassidy for a few hours, but he has now slipped back to 8th position.

Occupying 6th and 7th is Carl Hopps and Jesse Yates. Carl has been quiet on the socials since leaving. We assume he is focused on pedalling. Averaging a very good 17km/h moving speed and keeping his stops short he has justly earned his 6th place.

Jesse has embraced the no sleep ethos and has only stopped 1h13m since yesterday morning. Eyes on his tracker to see how he manages this heading north out of Scarborough

The Women’s race had quite the shuffle during the moonlit hours! As night time fell, Meg Pugh was leading with Nicky Shaw behind and Taylor Doyle in third.

Around 1am BST, Taylor stopped towards the east of York, and Lorah snuck past into 3rd. 30 minutes later (a bit further east) Meg lay down for some rest in the hills and Nicky pedalled quietly past, and then Lorah Pierre span past Meg’s sleeping bike also.

Nicky (now in 1st) and Lorah (close behind in 2nd) kept going to Driffield, where Nicky took a time out at 5am BST. Lorah seized this and has now moved herself into 1st place!

The new Women’s leader board is as follows:

1. Lorah Pierre
2. Nicky Shaw
3. Meg Pugh

Lorah Pierre is not taking this one lying down. Although averaging a slower speed than Nicky, she has been incredibly consistent with only 1h38min stopping time. That is just 14 minutes more than Chris Hinds who was leading most of the day.

Nicky is faster but has stopped a lot more (2h44m). Her last stop in Driffield may be a tactic she can rely on from her 2VS race last year getting a caffeine load early in the morning. Also worth remembering that this is the first off-road race for Nicky who is translating her skills fantastically.

Elsewhere on the route, Niel Copeland (in 8th place) managed to find a petrol/gas station that was open at 11pm in York. The stop gave him some time to get the layers on and try to figure out the source of the slow puncture and get a dynaplug in there. Success was acheived and he was rolling through the night.

Simon Usher has been having a great day. His paralympic Gold medalist wife, Anne Usher, has been delivering social updates and it seems he is craving cold milk.

Chris Ellison (the organiser) had some puncutre issues comoing off the hill into Pately Bridge. The only thing for it was to get forty winks in this rather glamourous bus shelter:

The dry weather of the weekend was not to the liking of India Claire who required more moisture, and went and found the bog - up close.

Luc Mockridge had a cracking day one, maximising the riding time and minimising the stops. 1st stop was in Bolton Abbey, for a caffeine and pasta refill, then a shop stop somewhere along route, before finding a McDonalds in York and ingesting 2 burgers and some fries after a great 256km under the wheels. Bivvy on the side of the track was the accommodation of choice, and was comfy enough he overslept and was passed by a couple of riders this morning at 5.30am.

Liam Yates (who is not racing this event) has been enjoying a spot of dotwatching of his brother and others while setting up some tubeless tyres at home. Always eagle eyed, he spotted that Bobby McNicol was making the most of his friday night and went for a sushi dinner in York. No McDonalds for him, thank you very much.

The full moon brought with it battery free light, and also some strange behaviour. Saoirse Pottie had a great day yesterday (and is pedalling in 4th place currently) and trialed out recovering on the petrol/gas station forecourt with some chips/fries:

Solidarity in the pack has been showing up in many ways including Chris Lewis buying Becky Davies an ice-cream because the coins were too heavy to carry 600km. Or teamwork bog manoeuvres being led by Matthew Vickers. He was last seen on social at 12.22am BST enjoying the bright night, if a little unsure where he is:

Scratch Report

No new scratch intel has come our way since publishing last night, keeping our scratch count at 3 as of this morning.

The yorkshire dales were sprinkled with hooped bivvy bags last night as a dry night has given way to a misty morning - setting the scene perfectly for the day ahead. How will the return leg unfold for the 3 leaders? How much more shuffling can happen within the women’s field? And will there be some seaside frolics in Scarborough?

An exciting day of bikepacking to report on tonight, and maybe a few clues as to what will happen to the route record later today. Back again tonight.

Header image Alex Pilkington

The organisers estimated that 160 riders were gathered at the pier today to take on the route. The delivery of sunshine showed up later in the day, but the riders brought the smiles right from the start.

The pointy end meant business from the beginning. Chris Hinds has been leading the pack for most of the day but he has not been alone. After a few hours of leapfroging with Angus Young and Harry Walton over the first section, he took his biggest lead heading into Bolton Abbey. The gap was closed not long after, and the three have been travelling in close proximity since.

Now only 30km from Driffield, the east coast is within their sights, and (at risk of jinxing things) potentially the route record?

Ollie Hayward and Matthew Garthwaite have formed a following duo 25km behind the leader, having sped along the flats to York and are now stopped in the city momentarily.

Jesse Yates has been getting acquainted with the steep hills of the yorkshire dales, and is enjoying it even with a few expletives. Currently part of the Morrisons party in Boroughbridge refuelling for the nighttime hours.

Niel Copeland is in 10th place and about to hit the outskirts of York right around closing time. It is clear he has deinfintely brought his game face to the Divide having only stopped for 15mins. This may have been acheived by getting all the selfies with other fearless riders in before starting. One to watch through the night.

Leading the women’s field is Meg Pugh. As we thought, she has brought her fast legs with her and is now at 195km, enjoying the flats that will take her into the evening and to York, along with quite a few other riders.

In 2nd is Nickly Shaw, only 15km behind Meg. She has just reached Boroughbridge and is not stopping. Her tracker is showing 43mins stopping time so she may have everything onboard, and having taken enough nature breaks, to be able to keep pushing along into the night.

Taylor Doyle is the next woman (with tracker that we know of) who received a very enthusiastic cowbell and chalk salute from the Cold Dark North team today on route.

Beckie Davies had been going through the full range of bikepacking experiences and emotions: relishing the trails, having a tracker malfunction, regretting having even entered, feeling better after some pub grub, and back to elation as the golden hour lit up the hills and the lambs as she heads though. She is taking on the short version this time round.

Emily Chappel gave a fantastic speech to set the riders on their way this morning, and then promptly had her own adventure start. A Wahoo failure meant she was stalled for 1 hour before getting going again. Luckily she was able to to keep the #Chappetite topped up with some nut butter straight from the container and an ice cream from the ice-cream van on a farm track (is this a normal location for an ice-cream van in yorkshire?). Nice variety in the macro-nutrients to complement the snack preparations at #Chappetite central.

Food and water was very welcomed by the riders as they passed through Chris’s farm and got some vitamin hits with fresh apples and bananas before moving on.

Food refuelling has been luxurious and varied with riders treating themselves to cakes-a-plenty at the tea rooms along the ride, and Chris Hinds has even stuffed a slice of pizza in his cargo shorts’s pocket.

Surprise capture today was seeing how much dotwatching IRL has really taken off with the locals in the dales:

The real winner of the day are the gates. Normally the organiser is the one being cursed but this time the sheer number of gates has trumped even the madness of the route selection. So much so, it has even tried the patience of Marcia Roberts, until she found cake again and was a little less grumpy. As one participant from last year proposed, it should really be called ‘The Gates Divide’.

Scratch report

Today’s sunshine and smiles were also accompanied with a few mishaps for some, and they have made the tough decision to call it quits on Dales Divide 2022:

Ben Pfender had just came out the other side of a chest infection this week, but the string of the yorkshire hills were a bit too much so soon. Rest well Ben!

Leighn Chambers has suffered a race ending mechanical. We are not sure on the details yet. Leighn is in high hopes to make it back another year to complete the route.

Callum James managed to snap his chain and mess up his drivetrain and called the end of the ride at kilometre 140 on a grassy verge.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the trackers over the night and trying to get some more info from the field after a fun filled day. See you tomorrow to check out how the riders enjoyed the dales during night one, what creative sleeping solutions were found, and how far people can actually ride in 24hours.

(photos by Alex Pilkington, unless otherwise stated.)

At 8am BST this morning, a packed seafront at Arnside was temporary home to 101 trackers attached to bikes, and quite a few more steeds sans tracker, while an attentive group of cyclists marked the start of the Dales Divide 2022. The pier was quiet as all ears turned towards the wise words spoken from atop the bench by Pat Hall and Emily Chappel.

A welcome calm that will have put the riders at ease after some synchronised nervousness that was visible along the beachfront railings. The carefully groomed kit grids of the previous days are long forgotten with panicked stuffing of snacks and kit into any available spot in a bag.

Speaking of kit grids, we would like to award Leighn Chambers for best contemporary interpretation of a pre-race kit grid:

Scanning the crowd, sharp-eyed observers will have noticed that amongst the jittery riders there was a stoic fellow who will be doing the route with Marcia Roberts and lending a smiling face to anyone behind her:

Setting off on time, the eagerest of all beavers is Jesse Yates and close behind Saoirse Pottie who are leading the group out and up. We have no reports of any malfunctions at the startline, and assume all riders are pedalling happily towards the first few climbs.

Location, Location, Location

Sleep is definitely an optional extra for the weekend. Starting off strong, many vans were occupying the Albion Pub car park last night. Between the pre-race nerves, some night time dampness, and a potentially loud snorer in the vicinity, we are curious to see rest levels of the riders this morning.

Those that couldn't find space at the Inn, parked up at the startline in their van or car. A very strategic choice leaving not only more time, but also greater access to tools, for the all important pre-ride faff.

The #Chappetite

We have our first visual record of snack preparation and it is a high quality mix of cashews, mini twiglets, jelly babies and haribo type jelly sweet (other brands are available).

Estimating this to be a 150g of the haribo, Jelly babies and cashews each, with 50g twiglets, we think Emily Chappel is starting the race with approx. 2006 kcal. A solid start.

Emily has not been the only one stocking up locally before rolling out this morning. It seems the locals will be going hungry for a porridge breakfast this weekend as Usman Bin Omar (a Silk Road Mountain Race starter this year) captured the evidence of what happens when bikepackers descend on a town’s supermarket:

Pre-race scratch report

A few people had to gracefully bow out before even starting this weekend:

Phillipa Battye created a bit of excitement with her teaser insta post, but has decided to take her wheels over some terrain towards the south this weekend. Next time perhaps…

Meg Dickerson has fallen victim to the dreaded ‘rona, and will be getting her bikepacking satiation via some dotwatching like us. Hoping that COVID doesn't stick around too long and we get to see her and her bikepacking bags on a startline soon.

James Stockton is taking the train in the wrong direction due to a cold with bad timing that just won’t leave. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Allen Boardman will also be resting up at home instead of roaming the moors due to knee problems. Looking forward to seeing him on a startline in the future.

We will be back this evening with a recap of the events of day 1. In the meantime, wishing good luck, and a lot of fun, to all the riders out there starting the Dales Divide 2022!

Header photo Allen Boardman

Ambassador, with this startlist you are really spoiling us! (Too niche a reference?)

Dales Divide 2022 has a 5-star line-up of dots to keep an eye on. If you’re new to bike packing, this event is your boot camp in getting to know the long-termers through to the fearless rookies of the UK contingent.

Let’s have a look at some pie charts - because when there is a choice, always chose a pie:

A pretty typical gender split for any event. Not much more to say. Le sigh.

That age split, though! Be still my beating heart! An incredible mix of youth, experience, and hopefully some wisdom somewhere, could mean some varied strategies and tactics.

The data doesn't lie - this event has definitely opened up the joys of bikepacking to lots of new riders this year, and even manages to keep bringing them back.The orange slice is the 2 people that have completed the race 3 times and are back for their 4th. The remainder didn't share their status.

But who is behind the numbers?

It is safe to say jet lag will not be showing its ugly head for this race - only 3 riders on the start list are not from the UK:

Cedric Maes is popping over from Belgium. Coming from Ireland, is Anthony Carton and Donnacha Cassidy, the latter finished 2nd in the Great British Divide and came 2nd in the Transatlantic way. This is a prologue to his entry for the HT550 later this year.

Angus Young is back to join his first event this year. 2021 was a big year for him with his 1st ultra win at the Panceltic Race, a national 3 peaks record, and a disqualification at GBDURO while on his best ride yet. Ambition is not a stranger to him, and we are sure his mason will be flying round the route.

Chris Ellison - the organiser - is having a go at his own mad creation, which may bring some relief to the riders as they slog it out. Chris has been doing long distance solo tours on a bike before many of this year’s riders even got on their first balance bike.

Stu Taylor is also part of the organising team helping bring this to the world, and has found time to decide to follow the tracks with the other riders too.

Steve Wickley - a relative newcomer to the ultra cycling world who brings with him the ability to ride at speed for quite a long time and problem solve with ease, skills that are only surpassed by his enthusiasm. This is one of his preparation rides for the GBDURO entry later this year, so expect to see full commitment and some lively social media updates from him.

Alan Goldsmith, whose name features strongly in the expletive sounds echoing off the highlands from HT550 riders, is set to try out some terrain with slightly less midgies south of the border.

Rob Borek is a Bristol based wheel builder. Could be a good person to ride with knowing he is allowed to help if things go wrong, and you can always stop and buy him a pint at one of the pubs.

David Hawkins has swapped his dotwatching and writing skills (he supplied the excellent coverage here for Tour Divide 2021) for some time on the hills starting Friday.

Jesse Yates of the Yates dynasty is having a crack at the Dales Divide. With his heritage, and youthful energy, we could see some interesting riding.

Kevin Francis is the organiser of the Great British divide, and will be testing out what it feels like to travel east then west for a change.

Maciek Tomiczek is normally found immortalising the character building moments of the GBDURO race as the photographer, but will be behind his handlebars instead of the lens this weekend.

Sam Davidson is a rookie to the event, and seems to have a liking for wet british weather after signing up for the great british escapades a couple of years in a row.

Also in the rookie category for Dales Divide is Stephen Haines, but far from a rookie to ultracycling having finished a very respectable 32nd place in TCRNo5.

Tom Casey is back for the second year to the pier, with also the experience of the Great British Divide under his wheels from 2021, and Everesting in Greece 3 years ago to raise money for Cycle for Cancer.

Leighn Chambers is travelling south from Oban, with finisher kudos from TCRs No7 and No8. Most recently he stepped in for his wife during the 2VS 2021, using her bike, jersey and helmet. Despite crashing towards the end he still made it to the finish line. Fingers crossed for some more rubber side down time on this route.

The women’s field is stacked to the rafters with ultracycling pedigree

First up is the opening speaker: The fact that Emily Chappel found bicycles is one of the reasons the world turns on its axis. After spending her 20s as a London bike messenger that fuelled her first book, she went on to enter - and finish 1st female of - the 2015 Transcontinental Race, and then put pen to paper for a second book. Her long distance escapades have not stopped since. Bringing many years of experience in the saddle will definitely be to her advantage, but off-road has not been a big part of her racing legacy, and she is up against some strong riders. We will be trying to keep a running tally of the legendary #Chappetite over the weekend to understand just what it takes to get around a course like this.

Not only is Nicky Shaw a local to south yorkshire, but she has some fine racing experience to lean on having completed the 2VS twice. Coming in hot after finishing as 1st female and 10th overall in the TransEngland race a few weeks ago, and no stranger to spending sleepless nights on the hills of the UK, she is always a dot to watch. Rumor has it she is racing every month, and with a place at TCRNo8, you might want to bookmark her tracker ID to save yourself some time in the future.

The Ultradistance scholarship is being represented by its founder Taylor Doyle and last year’s mentor Anisa Aubin. When Taylor (hailing from Ontario, Canada) isn’t shaking up the cycling world and bringing more BAME riders to Ultracycling, she can be found rolling along the dirt tracks of Britain on routes like the badger divide or scouting Steezy collective outings in the lakes - very occasionally also spotted doing hills reps, on tarmac, in London. She had actually forgotten she had entered the race until the email reminder a week ago - her experience is preparation enough, though.

Anisa Aubin was last year’s scholarship mentor for good reason. She not only finished GBDURO in 2020 (a feat only achieved by ⅓ of the start line), but did it the year they made the riders pack-in and pack-out everything. This will seem like a breeze, and the leave no trace experience will be welcomed by the sheep, and their wild neighbours.

Holly Seear is doing this as part of a pair (with her husband) in preparation for a few off-road events later this year (watch this space). Although a rookie to this event, she is a very experienced competitive cyclist and athlete and has been coaching for over 10 years, including running the women's Rapha team in London. A quiet one that will definitely make some noise on the way around.

Beth Crumpton, well acquainted with the rough stuff in her local derbyshire hills, is as fast as an early morning hare across the hills. A dot to watch with some coffee in hand to keep up.

India Landy is back on British soil after having a great time at the Granguanche gravel audax. Following great success at ultras events on road (read her 5mins with… interview here), she seems to now be trying out the rougher stuff.

Meg Pugh finished both the transatlantic way and TCRNo6 in 2018, before finishing in 9th position at GBDURO the year later. Her strava profile shows a few new PRs in the bag in the last week - will we see her grabbing some QOMs this weekend?

Marcia Roberts is bringing the Guinness world record prestige to Arnside as the Fastest female journey from Lands End to John O’Groats. Although mostly found on her road bike in southern England, her roots are in the rough stuff and she will be making her mark this weekend.

Is an ultra event even an ultra if there isn’t a pro satisfying their bikepacking curiosity? Meg Dickerson is part of the Skoda DSI academy, and has decided to give the Dales Divide a go.

Saoirse Pottie is one of the greatest people to have at an event that is helping people enjoy bikepacking. Not only is she behind the incredible bikepacking buds community, crazy enough to get others out camping in January, she can also ride a bike very well.

Trends and anomalies in the kit

Taking some time to ogle the bikes of dales divide is always a pleasure. The ogling will not give an answer to the everlasting question of ‘Gravel bike vs. Hardtail Mountain bike?’ though - and has even thrown in some curveballs (or bikes) too.

Pushing out to the extremes of comfort and control we will be watching the dot of a fat bike entry this year form Crispin Hoult, bouncing along on a luxurious 4.0’’ tyre set-up. As a HT550 veteran he may be onto something, or maybe he has started taking advice from his goats on the farm after one too many lockdowns…

James Stockton is set-up for maximum send on his full suspension Cannondale Scalpel, and Chris Herbert is betting hard on the belief that increased squish = better ride, kitting out his gravel bike with a dropper seat post, front fork and 650Bs with 2.1" tyres.

Locals know best, and getting some of your kit from the locals can’t be a bad thing. Mick Knight is on a On-One Rocky road - a Yorkshire based bike company specialising in off-road for 20 years. Dave Hawkins will be astride an Orange clockwork gliding (or sliding?) across the bike's home Yorkshire turf this weekend, and a few Hope wheelsets will be rolling out of Cumbria toward their red rose homeland just south of the start on Friday.

Many have opted to repeat the tyre combo from last year’s winner, shoeing up a Vittoria Barzo upfront, and Mezcal behind. A school of thought that is more and more common in the off-road events: a tyre with less grip in the back is enough thanks to rider and kit weight helping supply traction, without paying the price in lost output due to increased friction; the grip and traction is then all up front to help keep the rubber in contact on those climbs.

Gearing to get up the aforementioned various terrains and climbs without pushing is important. 32 teeth upfront is the range of choice, and 50 teeth - or even 52 teeth ! - topping out the cassettes behind. Victoria Peel is a bit more ambitious and has decided to give the quads a workout with 40t upfront.

A couple of maverick thinkers are bringing some spice to the set-ups: Holly Seear is pioneering the inner bar ends from SQLabs for some extra hand positions and potential musette transportation after a re-supply.

Matthew Davies is living the life of a carefree rider navigating with his watch, and including an all important ‘poncho tarp thingy’ for any northern weather events. He is also on team mascot (look out for his bear) along with Alan Boardman who is keeping his essential kit list to the minimum: sheepy the mascot and his sense of humour. Both very critical.

It is impossible to preview all the incredible riders that have committed to taking on the Dales Divide challenge in advance of Friday. Rest assured there are many more incredible people and bikes that we will get to know over the long weekend.

There are currently 98 trackers registered for our dotwatching pleasure, and Kitty (who is a major enabler behind Dotwatcher) will be hopping about the route, doing her best photographic journalism to bring us extra coverage.

See you back here tomorrow morning for some Easter chocolate fuelled dotwatching of surprises and excitement!

What is better than spending a long weekend with fellow bikepackers, riding across the width of northern England, twice, over the lumpy bits? If that sounds like fun, then the Dales Divide is right up your country lane.

On returning from the Tour divide in 2018, Chris Ellison wanted to do something to help bolster the UK bikepacking community, especially for people wanting to push their first few pedal strokes in an organised event - and so the Dales Divide was born.

Thanks to the genesis of the event, there are a few things that are unique to Dales Divide making it an accessible and great first (or 100th) experience for the riders :

• Riding in pairs/groups is allowed
• Offering help (mechanical, sharing a pie or words of encouragement) to your fellow riders is allowed, and strongly encouraged
• The event is 100% free for all participants
• A spot tracker is not compulsory
• A set route has been created with a very detailed route guide, including info on good pubs, food and water resources and their opening hours
• Navigating through the main cities is up to the rider and not forced to follow the route, to allow for resupply and avoiding busy streets

Now in its 5th year, our eager dotwatching eyes will be turned to the trackleaders map on Friday 15th at 7.30am BST with an early morning beverage. At that same moment, gathered at the pier in Arnside, 219 pairs of wheels and their owners will be quietly waiting to hear from Pat Hall (mother of the late Mike Hall) and Emily Chappel to mark the start of the event.

Let’s talk route

At a whisker over 600km and 7750m climbing for the full route (or 400km with 4400m climbing taking the shortcut) the Dales Divide route not only offers the best of the north of England's varied terrain, gate hinges, and hospitality, but also lures you into a false sense of security.

Starting in Cumbria, the route heads south, and up straight away, but (thankfully) mostly on tarmac while the legs warm up for 40km. As a welcome to the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the riders will be delivered some serious climbing, a dash of singletrack, and a chance to get their feet wet on a river crossing. Engineering fans will be treated to a view of the famous Ribbelhead viaduct, then turn on to the pennine bridleway to cross the UK’s longest span timber bridge up onto Thieves Moss. The bikes then get to take advantage of gravity and will pass Alex Pilkington’s house, and Chris Ellison’s farm - where there is some food and water available, or continue on to a great pub in the local village.

It is then the turn of the geography fans to get their fill, by crossing over the water divide where water will now flow east to the north sea, and no longer west. With the flow of the water are some ups and downs on gated roads or farm tracks, and the many gates that go along with it.

The good news is, the riders will now be about 150km into the route, and the hardest section is done. Phew.

Riding out of Summerbridge, nice bridleways and country roads deliver up a short punchy climb and then a 20km downhill to Boroughbridge where refill and rest is an option.

After the treat of some resupply, its east on flat roads to York via sustrans network and the main cycleway. By the time the riders have hit York Minster they will have climbed over 3100m, with a maximum grade of 14.4% and covered 230km, if no detours were taken. It will be a well deserved moment to hunt out some easter chocolate, while trying to avoid the easter weekend crowds.

Heading east out of York, the C2C Way of the Roses follows a disused rail line, and history buffs will be pleased to enjoy arriving at Stanford Bridge, scene of the famous battle of 1066. Then it’s flat roads for a while.

Seems a bit too easy, right? Out of nowhere at Bishop Wilton, the next big climb becomes visibile and the easy, flat miles will soon be a distant memory, as the riders will even have to get off and push. Any overzealous resupplies in York will now be regretted.

More steep and short climbing and descending (both on- and off-road over the moors) for the next few kilometres to Driffield (with resupply options). Nearing halfway, the riders will then head north to the tallest stone monolith in England, and onto woodland tracks in the direction of Scarborough and a chance to see the Sea Front Promenade and go around the Castle Headland.

For the next 120km, there is little resupply for the riders as they pedal over forest bridleway, now turning west, which can become quite difficult in wet conditions. After the woodland, the riders will get to experience 500m of a famous road featured in the Tour de Yorkshire and many, many car advertisements. More TV fan opportunities for the lovers of Heartbeat in the cafes at the local villages. Small recompense for the numerous valleys the wheels will go up and over, and not around.

Even though Chris claims the first 150km is the hardest, this section leading to Northallerton has 2 river crossings, a climb at 20% and another at 33%. Type 2 fun at its best.

Skirting around the Catterick Garrison military base, final resupply options are plentiful and even open 24hours, to get the riders through the last 110km rolling west. Once restocked, the riders will shortly come across 3 bothies on the moor tops for a kip, before a gravel descent and some bridleway climbs to reach the highest point of the route at 590m.

With only 60km to the finish, it is predominantly downhill. Predominantly but not exclusively! A steep kicker at the end up to a wind farm (never a good omen for cyclists) over bridleways and singletrack are the last challenges before reaching the Irish sea and congratulating themselves on a great ride.

Britain has no climate, only weather.

When signing up for an event in the UK, the route profile is only half the story: the weather will bring the rest of the ‘fun’. This week showed some rain early on that will help to lubricate the paths along the tops and maintain the bogs in a suitably humid state prior to the start. For the rest of the week, the probability of rain is limited and the riders may even need to find some good sunnies as the big ball of fire shows its face over the weekend - and some warm clothing for the night time temps that are forecast to reach close to zero, with a full moon lighting their way.

James Craven’s incredible 2021 effort (slicing 7 hours off the route record) was undoubtedly aided by the dry and cold conditions that lead up to the race and delivered a fast course. His ride was not perfect, with mechanical issues causing him to stop many times to put his chain back on, and a couple of navigational errors. This year the weather doesn’t seem to be quite as perfect, but is coming in close, building the anticipation of what could happen across the width of northern England.

The riders who didn't make it home early in 2021 had to endure torrential rain and cold, which we don’t wish for the class of Dales Divide 2022. One of those was dotwatcher’s fearless leader Beccy Waters who refused to be defeated: she stuffed her survival blanket down her jersey and pushed on to a finish. That is how you race in the UK.

The dark art of weather forecasting is only that, and the weather apps will be on the top of the screen time minutes for 219 people this week, as they eagerly try to make last minute decisions with some degree of certainty.

The Dales Divide is one of the great early season openers of the bikepacking world thanks to all the key ingredients: fast and tough course with a shortcut option, unpredictability of weather, great community, and accessibility for many (in both time and zero cost) thanks to the work from Chris Ellison.

Up next in part 2 of the preview - the people and their bikes!