RideByGravel
This website has been developed by Richard Lake, an ultra distance cyclist and bike packing adventurer both on and off-road.
A little bit about how Richard got into cycling
I re-discovered the humble bicycle in 2015 at the age of 38. Back then it was cycling for transport, you’ve heard the story countless times from folk all over the world – the more you cycle the further the journeys and the destinations become until eventually riding a bicycle becomes an integral part of your life.
Normally that means you either continue to use your bicycle for transport or you ride for leisure, taking part in charity rides, riding with friends of your local cycling club or enjoy the fun of taking part in a cycling sportive.
In the Summer of 2017 I completed my first century ride and went on to ride 4 more that year, I was beginning to get hooked!
2018 was the year it all took-off for me, January I rode my first 200km distance, February I rode my first 250km distance and in March I rode this thing called an “Audax” and by the end of that year I had ridden 45 centuries!
Half way through 2018 I learnt about this crazy bicycle event, you had to ride an incredible distance of 1200km in 3 and a half days. How is that even possible was my first thought?
By Autumn 2018 I tentatively started the journey towards competing in Paris-Brest-Paris, that crazy bicycle event that I couldn’t possible finish… or could i?
Then Spring of 2019 arrived, I rode each of the qualifying “brevets” one by one, each increasingly longer and harder than the one before it. By August I was ready.
I travelled to Rambouillet, France (by bicycle of course!) and successfully completed my first ever ultra-distance cycling event. And so I was hooked – this time on bikepacking races. Okay, I shouldn’t say PBP and “race” in the same sentence, but really let’s not kid ourselves, the clock is ticking.
So what’s bigger than Paris-Brest-Paris I began to think? During the Spring of 2019 I met a fellow “audaxer” who went by the name of James Jinks. We got talking and he was training for this thing called the TCR – the Transcontinental Race. What’d ya mean over 4,000km!
On a high from completing PBP that Summer, I thought hard and long about this TCR. Without a history of racing I’d be mad and stupid to even attempt this irrespective of all that distance and climbing. I began to read other people’s experience and watch previous editions of the TCR on YouTube. I watched Mike Hall talk about the spirit of the race and it’s begins and realised there is a place for me in this race and I applied. Before Christmas I found out I had been lucky (!) my application had been accepted – s**t was about to get real!
Then of course 2020 and 2021 happened and once again my style of cycling would change.
“Those years taught all of us to be self-reliant, we all collectively rode our bicycles far and wide, suddenly everyone was carrying a saddle bag out on their rides. Stuck at home we all began to appreciate our own local area more than ever before.“
During 2020 I discovered wild camping, I knew at some point I needed to learn to bivvy or camp in the great outdoors and ride day after day after day under my own steam and ingenuity if I had any chance of finishing the TCR – whenever it might finally go ahead.
As soon as the first lockdown ended, I was driven down to The Cotswolds and from there I would cycle down to Land’s End, turn around and start the long journey North to John O’Groats.
This more “laid-back” pace of travel continued all the way through the pandemic as Audax continued to be impossible, and over time I began to seriously thing about reducing my carbon footprint too and attending very few events. I had fully transitioned to become a bike packer.
In March 2021 I began my hill climbing training, preparing for the TCR that I hoped would go ahead. As part of that training I did something I had previously told myself I would never even try – to complete the Everesting challenge. Keeping it local I choose Lincolnshire of all laces! However, I achieved a finishing time of just under 18 hours and became one of a very, very small handful of athletes to have ever completed an Everest in Lincolnshire; no less than 104 reps of the same hill.
By 2022 things were starting to feel normal as normal could be and I took tentative steps to at least partially reboot my Audax “career” as I had that one much bigger goal looming on the horizon. The shit was about to get real – finally!
It became necessary to mimic TCR as much as possible, I had the idea of competing in another Ultra race – choosing the the Race Around the Netherlands in the Spring. Close enough to travel to, short enough to ride in days and in distance – but clearly not very hilly I hear you say.
After racing around Netherlands I went on a few months later to ride and successfully finish the Transcontinental Race. in a time of 22 days 4 hours and 10 minutes. I have set myself a time to beat, next time…
Some quick stats from the TCR I pedalled over 4,500kms and climbed over 40,000 metres in a time of 22 days, 4 hours and 10 minutes. I have set myself a time to beat…
So what’s next? Let’s just say… I bought a gravel bike. =)
