Ultracycling

250 riders all buying bottles of water, big Macs, crisps and cans of Fanta several times a day for two weeks is the other thing I often think about.

Sure some of it might end up being recycled or something but I'd say the majority ends up in a bin.

I know there's a few plastic free initiatives out there but at this point most people aren't participating to my knowledge, and consumables feel like a big part of the overall footprint of these events which is rarely mentioned by organisers who might be pushing other 'green' initiatives.

Add in single nights of accommodation

There is orbit360 in Germany, basically what you describe. Seems like it's 29 routes now, supplied by different people and you ride them in a certain time frame, record, and someone is fastest. Started as a ride during Corona thing.
If I remember correctly all the start points are close to public transport.
And it's also definitely inclusive as the routes are available and then you just go ride.

And there's gravel brevets around Berlin now, will probably ride some next year.

I don't think it's lack of imagination, it's just the ultra omg so hard thing ultimate whatever that makes people think it has to be in a far away place, high mountains, the north cape.

Yes, just one standard Berlin brevet is probably over 200 bottles of water transported by truck, bought at gas stations.

Of course, Slough business estate isn’t so insta inspiring… unless you are a tile hunter

Late reply to this, but if you’re considering staying overnight at dover for this then why not try the Eurotunnel bike service (disclaimer: not actually tried it myself, the minibus only has ~6places and was full when I tried to book it to get to Corsica overland in September). Gets you to Calais tgv station in an hour, rather than the many many hours of ferry limbo, costs less than a bike on the Eurostar too. I think the bike has to be assembled however, so you’d be rinko’ing it in Calais.

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/travelling-with-us/vehicles/bicycles/

I had moderate success with my diy ‘rinko-lite’ setup on the tgv. Just had to take deraileur and wheels off and strap them either side of the frame, much easier with big tires as they hold the rims away from the frame. Also had full frame bag, saddlebag and bar bag left on the bike, took about 15 minutes to disassemble at the station, still rather stressful though. Fits on the luggage rack as long as you can get it to yourself.

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Thanks for reminding me about this - 8am start makes it a useful option.
And well done on the TGV rinko - good to hear of it being done successfully!

Slough business estate isn’t so insta inspiring… unless you are a tile hunter

Talk to me :D

Not sure if its been said, but best bet id have thought is train to Bari and the ferry across to Bar in Montenegro. 40-50k then on the other side. Its basically 24hrs by train to Bari.

ive done a sleep in italy down to Puglia. Had my bike in a bag in my cabin and was fine. Not sure if they let you have an unboxed/bagged bike in the cabin.

Yes, I think a ferry from Italy would be the way to go, but not sure that route is running any more. Dubrovnik or Durres seem to be OK though.

Josh just did a video
on his Japanese Odyssey ride.

Ian To's Via Race has been launched with a reasonable amount of info here.
https://via-race.com/faq

I'm kind of tempted to apply as the route should be good - Picos, Pyrenees, Massif Central, Alps, Appenines, etc. Lots of places I've never ridden, and no crazy off-road parcours.

No real details of where the controls are yet (maybe he hasn't worked it out), but the actual application won't be until Jan so it just costs £10 to have the option of a place.

It is self-routing but should be plenty of options, not like Eastern Europe. And drivers are OK in France and Spain - but not Italy.

I like doing the first edition of something.

He has been a bit of a tease with the application and is clearly a bit Insta-obsessed, but maybe that is the way that you have to market these things to Young People nowadays.

I'm not entirely convinced but I think I'll risk the £10 and see what develops. Anyone else fancy it...?

I like doing the first edition of something.

I think I'm the opposite and generally prefer to see if it's worth entering based on previous editions. Same as not installing v1 of software :)

I nearly signed up this morning, but like @hippy I'm not sure about doing the first edition of something... on paper it looks up my street.

I think I might wait until I speak to some of this year's crop after it's happened and make a call : )

TransAlba applications are open. Absolutely doing it this time round, home event n all. June 16th.

https://www.transalbarace.com/new-site

June is https://www.lesperitdelbikepacking.org/el-piri-route for us

(no, I'm not @skinny marketing department)

I do want to have a go out the Cairngorms on gravel bikes at Easter maybe...

That looks lovely, but:

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To be fair he did do l'esperit de Girona so he knows what's up, and our events rock. But he also did do the first edition of it, so he is a walking contradiction. But we will let him off, as he's a good supporter of l'esperit!

"generally prefer"

In skinny's case I told him very early on I'd ride his event (l'esperit), without having a clue what it would involve. Having actually finished that now, I'm very happy to throw more money at him for a gravel event in the same area(ish).

I'd ride a first edition of your event @frank9755 if I could make it, simply because I'm forum-loyal :)

I'm only joking, and I'd have ridden it too, if the dates had worked!

Oh no - I'll have to organise one now!

No pressure. ;)

Hippy is scared of rain n midges, pass it on.