Perhaps somewhat mis-sold

[citation needed]

I'm not a experienced fella in these things but 60 miles and 6000ft of climbing doable on a gravel bike dosent seem that tough a route even for slow old me that's not a full day out unless there's plenty of hike a bike ,bogs and tussocks to cross ,I can get that mileage and almost that amount of climbing from my front door 90% off road just riding to and over the chase or Wyre forest, or maybe I get a little disappointed after being with some of you lot over the last 18 months if there isn't bogs and lots of pushing

Standard answer from me on this subject...

EWE

That's simply a fraudulent statement.

Is that really a race number wrapped round the head tube and held on with a zip tie?

Standard answer from me on this subject...

EWE

Yes but it doesn't run as an event people can enter does it, it's simply a gpx file and there's loads of those out there. Think of all the events you know of and I'd guess that you'd rank many above this in terms of toughness / difficulty?

I'm wondering whether 'Adventure ride' is some sub-genre with a cloudy definition that I'm unaware of?


*I'm aware that starting this post may come across as having a dig but it's not really. I'm simply bemused that either (a) whoever wrote it is naive enough to believe it or (b) naive enough to believe other people will believe it.

The tough bit is trying to understand wtf everyone is saying at the start/finish and stops in between

Sorted.

I think that, in this case, 'Adventure Ride' means...'Going all day without a cappuccino, or a conference call'

Ha! That sounds like my idea of pleasure rather than adventure!

its not even the toughest in yorkshire, its not even close to it.

One of the rides is 20 miles - is this the family ride category ?

its not even the toughest in yorkshire, its not even close to it.

Name a tougher one which is an actual event, rather than a 'group of riders all doing the same thing at the same time but unofficially because an organiser can't be arsed to do their due diligence and get appropriate permissions'.

LEL.

Pyro wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 12:59 pm

its not even the toughest in yorkshire, its not even close to it.

Name a tougher one which is an actual event, rather than a 'group of riders all doing the same thing at the same time but unofficially because an organiser can't be arsed to do their due diligence and get appropriate permissions'.

Pyro wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 12:59 pm

its not even the toughest in yorkshire, its not even close to it.

Name a tougher one which is an actual event, rather than a 'group of riders all doing the same thing at the same time but unofficially because an organiser can't be arsed to do their due diligence and get appropriate permissions'.

???? What do you class as an "actual event" then.

*I'm aware that starting this post may come across as having a dig but it's not really. I'm simply bemused that either (a) whoever wrote it is naive enough to believe it or (b) naive enough to believe other people will believe it.

Your original post is fine Stu; the sneering arsery below it not so much. For context, I'm fairly sure (having been there at the time) that the basis of that statement came from a certain Mr Errington riding it last year and commenting on the difficulty of it relative to the Dirty Reiver, since that frequently gets used as a benchmark in the Gravel community.

I'm with you insofar that 'Adventure Ride' is a pretty undefined concept, so maybe not the best phrasing. Maybe more productive for people to contact the organisers to query it rather than just snarking about it online, though. Or maybe even enter and judge for themselves.

???? What do you class as an "actual event" then.

An actual event, Ray. By their very definition, because the organisers choose to dodge due process, the various mass start ITTs aren't an 'event', and of course they certainly aren't a 'race'. They're just a bunch of people who just happen to turn up in the same place at the same time to ride the same route.

I got the impression rightly or wrongly that "The UK's Toughest Adventure Ride" probably came from the quote below but "one of" got missed out from the attenion grabbing headline?

The team at Cycling Plus came along, rode the event, and deemed Yorkshire True Grit “One of the toughest adventure rides in the UK”. So if you think you’ve got ‘True Grit’ then our events are for you!

So "One of the UK's toughest adventure rides that is an actual event"...it's less catchy isn't it

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 2:27 pm I got the impression rightly or wrongly that "The UK's Toughest Adventure Ride" probably came from the quote below but "one of" got missed out from the attenion grabbing headline?

The team at Cycling Plus came along, rode the event, and deemed Yorkshire True Grit “One of the toughest adventure rides in the UK”. So if you think you’ve got ‘True Grit’ then our events are for you!

You may well be right, Stu. Marketing is marketing.

Again - people are welcome to ride it and judge for themselves.

Name a tougher one which is an actual event, rather than a 'group of riders all doing the same thing at the same time but unofficially because an organiser can't be arsed to do their due diligence and get appropriate permissions'.

I did not realise that due diligence was the central ingredient to an adventure ride - I have been doing it wrong for decades

Moors 100 as a serious suggestion.

; the sneering arsery below it not so much

I dont believe it to be the toughest adventure race in yorkshire and you have had to use some pretty rigid , inflexible criteria that serve, largely, to exclude the harder events that you wont accept as events.

the various mass start ITTs aren't an 'event', and of course they certainly aren't a 'race'. They're just a bunch of people who just happen to turn up in the same place at the same time to ride the same route.

I think you are being rather narrow here -its a damn site harder to be able to turn up at the non event of the highland 550 and take part in the non race than it is to turn up at this event .

It really all just hinges on what you would term an adventure race and i go considerably broader than you.

Lazarus wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 2:56 pm I did not realise that due diligence was the central ingredient to an adventure ride - I have been doing it wrong for decades

If you're out for a ride in your own, your due diligence extends you 'have I got the kit and the legs to deal with this?' - I'm assuming you've done that bit at least once in those decades.

If you're organising a mass-participation event on public byways, there should be a little more to it than that.

Lazarus wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 2:56 pm Moors 100 as a serious suggestion.

Looks good. Has a planned in tea shop on day two - my kind of ride! Camps where True Grit started from the past couple of years.

Lazarus wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 3:07 pm I dont believe it to be the toughest adventure race in yorkshire and you have had to use some pretty rigid , inflexible criteria that serve, largely, to exclude the harder events that you wont accept as events.

the various mass start ITTs aren't an 'event', and of course they certainly aren't a 'race'. They're just a bunch of people who just happen to turn up in the same place at the same time to ride the same route.

I think you are being rather narrow here -its a damn site harder to be able to turn up at the non event of the highland 550 and take part in the non race than it is to turn up at this event .

It really all just hinges on what you would term an adventure race and i go considerably broader than you.

1) None of them are 'races' (officially), in that it's illegal to race on a public byway. So, not a 'race'. Seperately, to me 'adventure race' is a different thing - multisport and navigational for a start.

2) It would be dead easy to turn up at the start of the HT550 and ride it. There is nothing the 'organiser' can legally do to stop you turning up and setting off at the same time as everyone else. The route is wholly on public trails (define that however you want) therefore anyone can ride it any time they want. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a ****ish thing to do, but there isn't a damn thing anyone could do about it if you wanted to.

And yes, for the sake of this conversation I'm using a rigid inflexible criteria, I'm just harking back to a very old argument on here. I'm not questioning the legitimacy of those routes - they're great, tough, whatever you want from them. But I do (regularly) question the legitimacy of the mass starts and the effect these 'non-events' have on the wider world of biking. While these things are still pretty niche for now, I'm of the opinion (and it is just my opinion) that highlighting them as an 'event' but without having any permissions and all the other paperwork stuff that an event organiser has to go through does more harm than good. Stuart and I have had this conversation before.

Maybe they could save themselves some grief by sticking 'Probably..' in front of it as per Carlsberg. Then again even the mighty Carlsberg have realised that their tagline was utter bollocks and have rejigged it as 'Probably not...'. If think if you stick your head above the parapet claiming to be the acme of something when plainly it isn't you've got to be ready for a little bit of ribbing.

Rather than getting bogged down with all this sort of stuff I'm just so glad/grateful that I can roll up for some strange event/'event' every May and do what the hell I like .