There are a few club members setting off on big adventures in 2026. We’ll be taking a look at their challenges and aspirations to maybe inspire you to set your own…

In a year of big rides in the club, I have been successful in my entry to GBDuro run by TheRacingCollective. Over the past few years I have been building up longer distances and my ability to suffer with this in mind.

The event is 2,000km from Lands End to John O’Groats on a mix of lost lanes, tracks and trails route that comes up through Cornwall, Exmoor, Severn Bridge, Cambrian Mountains, Manchester, Pennines and through the middle of Scotland including Rannoch, the Corrieyairack Pass and finally up to John O’Groats. It is a single stage pre shared route that in concept loosely follows the watershed line up the country. Speaking to a previous entrant recently, they said the route means you spend the whole time feeling you’re the only person on the planet, as it seeks the remote wherever you are.

My plan is to ride this event single speed on my mountain bike, a choice many will question I know. Single speed riding to me is a freedom and gives me space. As I have processed my mind management post diagnosis for ADHD, cycling and the simplicity of single speed is key to MatManagement. Having ridden it for years now, I have built up the ability to navigate mixed terrain and long days, recently riding it from Morecambe to Scarborough overnight as a 180 mile test. It also has the benefits of less to go wrong, but please don’t see this as a challenge to highlight to me all the failings of the concept, I am well aware and just don’t think about them!!

My mantra for the event is a daily process of 18 hours travelling, 4 hours sleeping and 2 hours faffing. My hope then is to travel 200km a day in a mix of pedalling, pushing and freewheeling.  Having been blessed with atrocious sleep most of my life, this may become my superpower, the ability to function with little or no sleep!

To support my confidence, the event has a really high attrition rate, last year 26 started but only 10 finished ranging from 8-12 days and the previous year only 7 finished. It’ll be a test to see just how far I can get.