Born during lockdown in 2020, The Great British Escapades are a series of off-road bikepacking events in Great Britain. Sitting alongside our flagship Great British Divide we wanted to create some shorter, long-weekend events that would challenge new and experienced bikepackers alike. Events that start and finish in the same location, that never take you too far from civilisation and that can be completed in around three days.

With an early evening start, live tracking, and a checkpoint to pass through, the Escapades have many of the elements you would experience on an ultra-distance ride just in a condensed form at a little under 500km in distance. For riders new to this form of cycling they provide a perfect introduction to longer distance rides – they are confidence inspiring and a great opportunity to perhaps prepare for your first ultra – refining your kit and honing your skills along the way.

For the already experienced they are perfect for challenging yourself in terms of a quick finish time or focusing on areas of your performance that could be improved. We all want to do 2000+km events but let’s face it, these are not always possible to fit in to your life and not everyone can dedicate all the training time let alone two weeks or so actually riding it.

The Escapades are a great option to get your fix within a small amount of time and at a fairly modest cost. So, don’t just go for a bike ride, why don’t you come on an Escapade….?!