THE RACING COLLECTIVE
"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the road in Robert Frost's famous poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth super-highway on which we progress with great speed, but at the end lies disaster. The other fork in the road - the one 'less travelled by' - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth."
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962
About us
The Racing Collective is a not-for-profit bikepacking club for self-supported racers.
Inspired by races like the Transcontinental and the Tour Divide, we set out to construct a series of UK trials that carried this spirit of self-sufficiency, but which could be completed in a weekend.
We take the road less travelled by, in our riding and in our search for a sustainable way of living.
Our objective is to apply the ultracyclist mindset (self-supported, self-actualised, self-motivated) to go beyond 'Leave No Trace' (#beyondleavenotrace) 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. As a club we endeavour to take the path less travelled, to reject business-as-usual, and to drive forward change by showing there is a demand for sustainable solutions. Doing this alone is lonely and futile; doing it together is difficult but empowering - it was on this bedrock that the club was founded.
The founding members of the collective met on the #ClimateKilometre ride from London to Paris for the UN climate talks in December 2015 (COP21). The formation of the collective was Inspired by Erlend Knudsen and Daniel Price of Pole to Paris, two climate scientists who ran and cycled to COP21 in Paris from the North and South Poles respectively... they made us realise the future is in our own hands... if we want it enough.
Our values are best summed up by Yvon Chouinard (founder of 'Patagonia' in his book 'let my people go surfing' 2016...
"The basic tenants of our philosophy are a deep appreciation for the environment and a strong motivation to help solve the environmental crisis; a passionate love for the natural world; a healthy skepticism toward authority, a love for difficult, human-powered sports that require practice and mastery, a disdain for motorised sports, a bias for whacko, often self-deprecating humour; a respect and taste for real adventure (defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive - and certainly not as the same person), and a belief that less is more (in design and in consumption)."
Inspired by races like the Transcontinental and the Tour Divide, we set out to construct a series of UK trials that carried this spirit of self-sufficiency, but which could be completed in a weekend.
We take the road less travelled by, in our riding and in our search for a sustainable way of living.
Our objective is to apply the ultracyclist mindset (self-supported, self-actualised, self-motivated) to go beyond 'Leave No Trace' (#beyondleavenotrace) 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. As a club we endeavour to take the path less travelled, to reject business-as-usual, and to drive forward change by showing there is a demand for sustainable solutions. Doing this alone is lonely and futile; doing it together is difficult but empowering - it was on this bedrock that the club was founded.
The founding members of the collective met on the #ClimateKilometre ride from London to Paris for the UN climate talks in December 2015 (COP21). The formation of the collective was Inspired by Erlend Knudsen and Daniel Price of Pole to Paris, two climate scientists who ran and cycled to COP21 in Paris from the North and South Poles respectively... they made us realise the future is in our own hands... if we want it enough.
Our values are best summed up by Yvon Chouinard (founder of 'Patagonia' in his book 'let my people go surfing' 2016...
"The basic tenants of our philosophy are a deep appreciation for the environment and a strong motivation to help solve the environmental crisis; a passionate love for the natural world; a healthy skepticism toward authority, a love for difficult, human-powered sports that require practice and mastery, a disdain for motorised sports, a bias for whacko, often self-deprecating humour; a respect and taste for real adventure (defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive - and certainly not as the same person), and a belief that less is more (in design and in consumption)."
Our mission
"THE FACT THAT SUSTAINABILITY SEEMS ALMOST A NON-ISSUE FOR MOST CYCLISTS BEWILDERS ME, AS THE FREEDOM WE EXPERIENCE AS CYCLISTS IS SO CLOSELY INTERTWINED WITH THE ENVIRONMENT WE RIDE IN. IF WE LOVE WHERE WE RIDE, WHY NOT ACT ACCORDINGLY?"
LIAN VAN LEEUWEN, FOUNDER OF SHIFT CYCLING CULTURE, FRIEND OF THE RACING COLLECTIVE
To rewild ourselves through self-sufficiency
To help prepare TCR hopefuls for the challenges that lie ahead
To create 'wilderness' by supporting rewilding projects
- A hundred thousand years ago, our Stone Age ancestors were as "wild" as the animals they tracked and hunted for food and clothing. Life was intense, often desperate, but undeniably human.
- 21st-century woman and men are fully domesticated. We eat processed and packaged meals, sleep in climate-controlled houses, and the closest most of us come to an authentic wilderness experience is watching a survival reality show on TV.
- The Racing Collective is an attempt to rewild ourselves; a chance to get away from 'organised-fun' and instead ride routes that make us feel alive, free, and wild.
To help prepare TCR hopefuls for the challenges that lie ahead
- Don't expect to finish the TCR if you've just 'put the miles in' at a collection of audaxes.
- Most people fail because they aren't proficient at route planning, navigation, and night riding.
- The Trans trials are designed to allow you to practise these skills with distances ramped up over the months to create milestones in your TCR training plan. Please note we are not affiliated with the TCR.
- The XDURO trials are designed more because we love gravel, bikepacking, wilderness, and adventure, but there's no doubt they contribute to your bikehandling skillset.
To create 'wilderness' by supporting rewilding projects
- As ultracyclists we believe in setting objectives that seem unattainable at first - indeed, if failure is not a significant risk, then our ambition isn't high enough.
- With that in mind, our long-term aim is to establish a series of rewilding projects. Together, we will buy land and rewild it through the restoration of natural forests and wildlife for our adventurous ancestors to enjoy in the same vain as Awaroa beach (NZ) and The Great Smoky Mountains (USA).
- Our first step is to establish a Feral Fund - a pot of money TRC members and other adventure-seeking organisations pay into, which will be used to produce a series of short-films and written articles to support a series of crowdfunding initiatives.
- In the interim while we establish the fund, our members are encouraged to become members of Trees for Life and attend our tree-planting days (announced on an ad hoc basis throughout the planting season).
"Respecting the environment is respecting yourself"
Caterine Ibargüen, Olympic gold-medalist in athletics
A history of firsts
- In 2023 we experiment with waste rules to level the playing-field for low-impact riders
- In 2022 our MediaRiders captured GBDURO from the saddle and we established new guidelines for dotwatchers
- 2021 saw us break new ground at GBDURO:
- our photographers used two EVs to shoot from (not straight forward given the embryonic stage of the charging infrastructure), meanwhile Markus Stitz documented it using nothing but a bike and public transport to get around
- 43% of our riders on the start-line were women; and 50% of the top ten finishers were women
- For #GBDURO20, pioneered a new self-sufficient format whereby riders cannot rely on any outside assistance for the entirety of the ride, including the disposal of non-biodegradable waste
- Announced #GBDURO20 would be a no-fly ride in December 2019, ahead of any other organiser, hoping others would follow our lead
- GB DIVIDE route published online on 5 July 2019
- #GBDURO19 - first to re-invent the ultradistance stage-format, plus advocating for 50% women on the start line, first time a major pro (Lachlan Morton) rode an ultradistance event
- Pioneered the concept of scraping Strava segments for the XDURO format rides, and have used timestamped social media posts for time-keeping, both of which have been used since the club's inception
- Founded on 1 January 2017
Mike Hall was a self-supported ultracyclist who won the inaugural World Cycle Race, the Tour Divide twice, and the Trans Am Bike Race. He was founder and race director of The Transcontinental, a race that has brought the soul and adventure back into bike racing. Tragically he died after being struck by a car during the Indian Pacific Wheel Race in 2017. Known for his uncompromising determination and passion to foster a vibrant bikepacking community , Mike will be in our thoughts as we endeavour to stay safe and to #bemoremike.
Contact
The Racing Collective is run by volunteers with busy schedules so please only get in touch after you have read the info on this website in depth and have subscribed to our mail-list.
