Dales Divide Kit List

My Dales Divide kit list was definitely overpacked – a full bivvy, sleeping bag & pad is little overkill for the sake of two hours sleep when trying to compete on the front of a bike race. Truth be told, this was my first ever ultra-distance race & I hadn’t expected to find myself so far upfront. I had expected to be sat mid-pack, just ticking over – had I known this before the race, my strategy would’ve been somewhat different. Not knowing what I was really capable of over such a distance, I should’ve maybe tried to avoid getting caught up on the front – the excitement definitely got the better of me at 100km, forgetting the route was 600km. And since I was carrying more kit, especially multiple layers too, probably meant I was expending more effort to keep up on the front.

Kit faffing is the ultimate enemy; if you’ve packed it, you either find yourself using it or find its just in the way of something you do need. There’s that many gates to stop at, the temptation is always to faff with layering. The time of year means the temperature swing is large; its hot uphill & cold downhill, then its freezing overnight & +15 during the day. What do I need vs what can I live without is something I feel better at answering now having done the race.

The main thing I learnt was that you cant really carry enough water on these races – especially where resupply becomes a little more tricky on off road races. Again, more strategy & knowledge of my own ability would’ve helped alleviate this.  

So, onto the debate about which bike to bring – I’m going to start by saying there isn’t a right or wrong bike – as was evident on the start line! There is however a right & wrong tyre. For some reason a lot of people seem to fall into the trap of thinking this is a gravel race – its absolutely not. The terrain is a mixture of mountain bike & road; a typical gravel bike excels at neither of those things. You can get away with a rigid mountain bike – a rigid mountain bike & gravel bike are not the same thing, despite whatever the cycling industry tells you!

I don’t believe suspension is a necessity, you can absolutely do it without; Neil Black finished second on a rigid bike. However its my opinion that rigid bikes only accelerate fatigue – but this is personal opinion. The harsh Yorkshire Bridleways through fields of hardpack mud & rocky doubletrack really do bounce you all over the place. The bottom line is where bigger volume tyres will excel off the road in terms of comfort, speed & puncture protection, they’ll slow you down on it – but equally the route is around 65-70% off road in terms of time, so its really just one big compromise.

Whilst 9000m climbing over 600km doesn’t sound all that bad, some of climbs are both steep in gradient, continuous & technically difficult in parts; if you want to ride them, you’ll need appropriate gearing on a bike that will be carrying kit & fatigued legs.

I took my steel tourer that I’d turned into a monster cross bike with 32t chainring, 11x 42t cassette & 27.5×2.1 tyres (I didn’t own a mountain bike at the time!). Whilst it worked, I do think 29inch wheels on fast rolling XC tyres are the tool for the job.

When determining your Dales Divide kit list, I think choosing a bike that will perform off the road is more important; wide range gears & clearance for at least 2inch tyres. I reckon there is more to be gained from having front suspension than not having it, if only in terms of comfort & bit of extra confidence from the slacker head angle on the downhills. There are also some rumoured changes to the route for the 2022 edition; so who knows what bike will be best!