Pro Cyclists, Amateur Bikepackers

Back in August Ben Thomas and his Ribble Outliers team mate took part in the Dorset Divide bikepacking race. Despite being highly experienced at one day racing, it was a step into the unknown for Ben in particular. In this blog he reflects back on the experience. Over to Ben...

Earlier this month, Metheven and I took a break from “serious racing” to ride Dorset Divide, a 531-kilometre bikepacking event with 6,705 metres of climbing. Meth is well-versed in these multi day epics. Me, not so much. My longest rides to date included Unbound 200 (miles) and Stone Circle (200 km); both around nine hours of saddle time. You could say that while I'm a pro gravel cyclist I'm definitely an amateur bikepacker. This became increasingly obvious through the two days of riding in Dorset!

An early start

At 5 a.m, still bleary eyed we rolled out of our Weymouth accommodation for a little warm-up ride to the start line at Portland Bill Lighthouse. First mistake: adding 15 km before a 531 km ride. We arrived first, had a few minutes to realise we’d forgotten toilet paper (second mistake), and had to make an emergency dash to a nearby campsite. Lighter, happier, and slightly embarrassed, we returned just in time for the flag drop.

Despite this being a multi day bike packing event the racer brain kicked in and I edged us to the front. As soon as the flag waved I clung nervously to the back of the lead group of very serious looking bike packers riding like it was a three hour UCI gravel race rather than a two day epic. Luckily, after the first few kilometres, sanity prevailed and the pace eased. Dorset Divide was officially underway.

Settling in

We soon rolled back through Weymouth, yes the same Weymouth we’d left two hours earlier. The day blurred into gravel, coastlines, castles, and photo opportunities where you wanted to stop every five minutes. Swanage gave us sea air and snacks, and then came the most important discovery of the day: jam donuts fit perfectly into Restrap frame bags, while a pack of Jaffa Cakes are a perfect fit for the Restrap top tube bags. Pro tip: Jaffa Cakes are dry when eaten five at a time. Hydration is definitely required.

Gear wise, we’d gone fairly light. We were kitted out by Restrap with their custom frame and canister bar bags holding my nutrition, their Race saddle bag with clothes/electrics, and Race hydration pack with waterproofs. Sensible, right? Except I also packed two sets of everything including arm warmers and two gilets. Over two scorching days, they were used for… about zero minutes. Expert packing, 10/10.

Who says bikepacking means sleeping in a ditch?

Through the New Forest, we zipped along perfect gravel and fun little MTB trails grinning like kids. After 11 hours we reached Shaftesbury where we rode down the famous cobbled Hovis hill. Then finally we reached Blandford Forum where we collapsed into food heaven. In the next 90 minutes  I consumed an entire Swiss roll (pudding first), then pizza, garlic bread, and chips. I ate until I felt physically ill, binned the leftovers, then lay in bed until 2 a.m. groaning in self-inflicted pain. Another amateur move. You might have noticed that I mentioned "bed". While the race continued through the night, Meth and I had already decided to choose the comfortable option and check into a hotel for the night.

Day two arrived far too soon. The 6 a.m. alarm dragged me out of bed feeling like I hadn’t slept at all. I felt better yesterday before we stopped and ate too much food! We had 220 km left. The tarmac opening hour was a blessing for sore legs. As we caught up to other riders, spirits varied, some were buzzing (including the winning woman, who apparently slept just 15 minutes… absolute machine), others were curled up on the roadside out of the burning morning sun and maybe questioning their life choices.

Locks, electrocutions and treacle tarts 

The day brought endless gates to open, each one a new puzzle, none the same. Meth electrocuted himself on an electric fence, and I took aim for the prickliest gorse bush for a mid ride nap, I’m still finding thorns weeks later. 

The highlights weren’t just comic though, the Cannington Viaduct, Milton Abbas’ fairytale cottages, and countless rolling hills were jaw-dropping. The lowlight? Realising treacle tarts give you sugar wings for all of 10 minutes and that they melt very quickly in a jersey pocket.

As fatigue set in our stops got longer. At Lyme Regis we paused for 20 minutes, almost as long as the entire stoppage time of the men’s winner, who covered the whole route in 27 hours. We were way more committed to bakery appreciation.

The final stretch was brutal. The Jurassic Coast threw relentless climbs at us. Up, down, up, down. So steep at times we resorted to pushing. The finish line over on Portland was in sight but just never seemed to get any closer as we rode up and down the steepest hills in Dorset along the Jurassic Coast. The route was so amazingly beautiful but what we were suffering big time by this point.

Eyes on the finish line

Finally we could see the finish just below us, we were back on familiar territory, from here I knew most of the route back to Portland. A fast 15 minute descent took us back through the bustling seaside town of Weymouth along the sea front. The sandy beach, gentle waves, ice cream stalls and chip shops would have to wait another couple of hours because we still had to ride along the Chesil Beach causeway and then up the 10-minute 6% gradient climb to the finish line. 

We’d massively underestimated the route, Dorset gravel is rough, the climbing relentless, but our Ribble Ultra Grit bikes with Rockshox Rudy forks and 50 mm Schwalbe tyres took it with ease. We finished in 37 hours 13 minutes, winning the pairs category (bonus!) but for us it wasn’t about results. It was about ditching the race tape for a few days and just enjoying riding the bike with zero pressure. We achieved this and learned so many lessons as amateur bike packers. 

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You can follow Ben's racing and adventures on his Instagram page. While you are at it, check out Metheven and the Ribble Outliers team. 

Thank you to Dorset Divide for the start and finish line photos.