ethos

Professional cycling has lost its way... in July 2019 TdF riders battled with extreme weather (temperatures exceeded 40 deg C on Stage 16, followed by freak hailstones and infamous stage-stopping landslide on Stage 19); the race was won by a team bankrolled by a petrochemical giant.  Meanwhile in January 2020 bush fires raged throughout Australia as riders were trying to kick-off the Tour Down Under; another race with an eye-watering carbon footprint, sponsored by a oil&gas major and an airline.  

Pro cycling is not just an innocent bystander, caught in the crossfire of climate change - it's an active participant driving us off a cliff. 

It is time cycling got un-lost... ​GBDURO is our vision of what sustainable sport could look like.
For reference the Entry Manual can be found here.
WTF IS GBDURO?
Picture
Map credit: Philippa Battye
GBDURO is a 2000km self-supported bikepacking enduro from Land's End to John O'Groats on road, gravel, singletrack, and everything in between.​ 

​The event follows our GBDIVIDE route designed to embrace the versatility of 'all-road' bikes to cover big distances on new roads and ancient ways, immersing riders in the rich and unique history that has shaped the British Isles. 

The ride consists of 4 timed stages (~500km each); lowest aggregate time over the 4 stages 'wins'... nothing.  

As per 2020, GBDURO will be a #noflyride i.e. riders must get to/from the start/finish without taking a flight. This was because having the burden of riders' carbon emissions from flights on our conscience didn't sit right with us (more details here).  This is part of our wider mission to extend 'leave no trace' principals to beyond just the road/trail and we have been delighted by riders' commitment and ingenuity to make this a reality.

History

WHO OR WHAT IS THE RACING COLLECTIVE!?
The Racing Collective was established at the end of 2016 and with over 5000 members, is fast becoming the largest bikepacking club in the UK. Unlike a conventional cycling club, we are not based in any particular city or town, rather we roam our little island seeking out new roads and tracks to explore, pushing our limits, and finding more about ourselves in the process (see our Trials, of which GBDURO is our flagship). 

​Our objective is to apply the ultracyclist mindset (self-supported, self-actualised, self-motivated) to go beyond 'Leave No Trace' 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. 

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.
Those interested in entering future editions of GBDURO should sign-up to The Racing Collective mailing list below. 
RESULTS FOR GBDURO20
Dotwatcher reports - here
RESULTS FOR GBDURO19
Full stage times - here
Dotwatcher reports - here

#noflyride - Why?

The writing has been on the wall for decades but we've buried our heads in the sand and hoped that climate change is made up, a fiction that those in the pay of the oil giants have unmasked. But, the body of evidence is conclusive; temperatures are rising and we are starting to feel the impacts of extreme weather. 

Flying is incompatible with reducing our individual carbon emissions to a fair and sustainable level so we are drawing a line in the sand.  As bikepackers, leave-no-trace ethics are part of our DNA; so are solving seemingly unsurpassable problems, and doing things that others (initially) think are crazy.  With that in mind we want to hear stories of riders travelling far and wide in a sustainable way. 

Let's take a look at the numbers:
  • Global temperatures will only stop rising when we reach net-zero emissions (CCC net-zero report, May 2019, Page 16) i.e. where carbon emitted (e.g. from the burning of fossil fuels) matches carbon sequestered (e.g. from absorption of CO2 into the oceans or forests)
  • So to stabilise temperatures, the average emissions per person must fall to about 1 tCO2/year (CCC net-zero report, May 2019, Table 1), down from 11.3 tCO2/year for a typical European/North American (you can calculate your own carbon footprint here)
  • A return flight from London to Madrid emits ~0.5 tCO2 i.e. you've just used half your annual carbon budget on a single trip (leaving the rest to cover food, home heating and electricity, travel, bikes, sporks, chamois cream, toothpaste).  A return flight from London to New York emits ~1.8 tCO2 so you've just blown the budget.
The big read on our no-fly rule and why we have chosen to draw this line in the sand...​

Why single out flying?
  1. Because it is incompatible with a personal carbon budget of 1 tCO2e/year and it is done through choice rather than necessity
  2. Because it's not fair on the 5bn people living in the world who already live below 1-2 tCO2/year.  Note 80% of people have never taken a flight - something that the CEO of Boeing views as a great opportunity for growth.  But if the whole world flew like us bikepackers, which of course they are perfectly entitled to do, then we're cooked​

What about offsetting?
  • Offsetting is better than nothing, but it's hard to ensure the emission reductions are 100% real (link)
  • Technologies such as Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) that are able to provide permanent carbon removal do hold some promise (even if they are currently on the expensive side at over $500/t!)
  • The bigger problem is that this approach kicks the can down the road - we pay someone else to treat the symptoms of the problem rather than find a solution to the problem itself
  • This is where the ultracyclist mindset (self-supported, self-actualised, self-motivated) kicks in...  we have an opportunity to fix our own problem with the required level of commitment and imagination

What about technological innovation to reduce emissions from flying?
  • There is talk that electric planes for short-haul flights might materialise
  • But the only quasi option for long-haul flights in the medium term is biofuels which have their own issues (food vs fuel land use issues, genuine emission reductions whilst using energy intensive fertilisers etc). Hydrogen is another possibility, but again, the energy used to synthesise it needs to come from a zero carbon energy source

Isn't it xenophobic?
  • At face value a no-fly rule could be conceived to be xenophobic but we're not discriminating on nationality, we're discriminating based on a rider's environmental impact which unfortunately tends to be a function of distance from the UK
  • We are a group of bikepackers who love to ride in other countries and experience other cultures; limiting participation of riders who can't get to the UK in a low-carbon way is really sad
  • More than anything we want you to figure out how to get here in a low-carbon way; if you can do that we will greet you with open arms e.g. for #GBDURO20, a year after retiring from the pro circuit with 13 Grand Tours under his belt, Svein Tuft casually made the 2000km round trip commute to/from the UK from Andorra.  

Why was it OK for Lachlan Morton to do it in 2019 but not me?
  • It was a dream come true to have Lachlan on the inaugural GBDURO and to be the first person in history to christen our newly forged route.  He embraced The Racing Collective philosophy and it was incredible to watch an exceptional athlete rip the route to shreds.  And of course in doing so, he bought GBDURO to the masses - would you have heard about GBDURO if it wasn't for Lachlan?
  • But his involvement came at a cost... GBDURO was one of several trips that led to Lachlan's jaw dropping emissions in 2019
  • If everyone lived like this, we'd be toast
  • Of course it's impossible to live without imposing any negative impact on one's surroundings, but we look forward to the day Lachlan returns to ride GBDURO again, this time using low-carbon transport... #noflyride