Did I Survive My First 480km Ultra Cycling Adventure? | Great British Escapades 2024

How did I do in my first ever race and ultra? Join me in the video to find out as I take on the 480km Great British Escapades course.
The Great British Escapades is a long distance gravel event. It starts in Canterbury in South East England before taking you across the North and South Downs. Whether it's your first event or you're an experienced ultra racer the course offers something for you.
It's got tarmac, gravel and some single track trails along the way and can be treated as a 3 day bike packing or adventure or completed without sleep (if you so desire). The event has been running in June now for 7 years and shows no sign of slowing down with 100 racers at the start line this year!
If you're thinking about doing your first ever long distance event.. DO IT. And my advice would be to make it this one. No matter how your race goes you will feel supported by the organisers and the atmosphere was truly incredible. Hopefully the video inspires some other riders out there to join the event next year!
If you enjoy the video please like and subscribe and if you have any questions chuck them down in the comments and I'll be happy to answer.
Finally, if you want to watch more of me check out my adventure series where I cycle from Alaska to Argentina! It's not yet finished though with more videos coming soon!
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CHECK OUT MY ADVENTURE SERIES:
Ice Ice Baby - Alaska to Argentina - View full playlist
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SUBSCRIBE HERE! ► / @bikingvikingrides

[@user-ni2uz4dw8y]

Hey Benson, it’s Bruce. Wow super inspiring dude, you’ve got tons of grit and super stoked you ended up doing so well! Andrew sent me the vid, love it! See you next year! 💪👏

[@bikingvikingrides]

Bruce!!! Thankyou boss! See you on the start line next year or maybe over your way sometime!

[@rahastings1066]

Congratulations. Great comeback! Tubeless all the way. This was my first GBE too. I had one puncture in my tubeless setup and that was easily fixed with a plug.

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thankyou boss! Yup tubeless and wider tyres for me next year for sure!

[@ionebike]

Bravo 😃💪🦵🚴‍♂️🚴

[@djbeeney]

Benson you legend! Liked and subscribed! Love how you've found something and what you're doing mate! Have to get you out on a MTB with me 😜🤘🏼

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thankyou bro for the very kind words! I’m just looking into an MTB at the moment boss! Gonna see if I can work with some brands to try some out! Then I’ll come ride with ya!

[@BikepackingAdventures]

Great comeback from that far back =)

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thanks boss!

[@CycleXplorer]

Like and subscribed. Nice way to do it as opposed to my random rambling madness 😂

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thankyou sir!

[@HamishBaxter93]

Great Video! :)

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thanks bru!

[@miroc9198]

Great video and huge kudos for not giving up. Your time was still great even all the delays, as you spent at least 8 hours in Rochester plus changing like a zillion inner tubes, you would ended up in top 5

[@bikingvikingrides]

Thankyou Miro! Fingers crossed for next year!

[@matthewsaul2531]

How long does it take you to change an innertube now? You must have done hundreds. What's the main cause you see for punctures?

[@bikingvikingrides]

It massively depends on the problem Matt! If the puncture is easy to locate and the culprit easy to determine then maybe 5-10 minutes. In the middle of the night with tubeless sealant everywhere it takes a bit longer.. haha! These punctures I think were all caused by me being a bit too heavy for the tyre width and course. It was no surprise that whenever I got one it was normally when the terrain got rougher!

[@CycleXplorer]

An expensive sounding conclusion 😂

[@akusins]

Stop, stop, stop. I just tried to make own record and do 160 km of gravel and i finished on 94. km because I couldn't sit anymore on saddle, big pain. Question, how people solve this question especially when You this crazy distance?

[@bikingvikingrides]

Well I definitely haven’t solved it for the full distance as the final 110km were super painful! But to build up to where 100/200km is not comfortable I would say slowly build up the distances over time allowing your body to get used to it. You should also check the saddle though and maybe head over to a bike shop to see if there are different saddles you could try. Definitely what I will be doing before my next race!

[@aadnaneoukhabbou2455]

Lower the music sound man, could barely hear you