How we do things

Small fields

A name, not a number

Our fields are smaller than most. Wild West Country is capped at 60; the other two are set by what the logistics will bear, which usually means forty or so. The rule of thumb since the start has been that we need to be able to remember everyone’s name, and the practical upshot is that we can find every rider on the road and photograph them, more than once if we can manage it. By the finish you will know most of the field too.

Who gets a place

The weighted lottery

Wild West Country is oversubscribed, so since 2024 places have been allocated by lottery. Everyone who applies goes into a draw with three pools: new riders, returning riders and riders with one or more characteristics that would make the start line more diverse. Everyone is in one of the first two pools; some are in the third as well, which effectively gives them two tickets. Nobody is excluded. The odds are nudged.

Why bother? Because a more varied field is better for the riders in it, and because you cannot be what you cannot see. We’re also aware that our events were built on the enthusiasm and trust of riders who wouldn’t qualify for the third pool, which is one reason there’s a pool for returning riders too.

We chose a lottery over a selection panel because it is less work for a very small team, more transparent and harder to accuse of favouritism.

Open classification

Any gender, or no gender: you’re welcome

Everyone rides in an open classification, whatever their gender. Identify however you like, or not at all: we’ll never force anyone into a gender category. Our entry form asks for your pronouns and lets you opt out of showing your gender on the tracking map.

Here’s where we are, honestly. Women and non-binary riders made up around a fifth of starters in the early years. Since the lottery that’s been closer to a quarter at Wild West Country, and 28% at Mountains of the Merfynion in 2025. The Perfidious Albion has had editions with no women starting at all, including 2025. Progress is not linear and more work is needed.

If you have a suggestion for making our events more welcoming, email us. We can’t promise to make every change, but we promise to read it properly and think about it.

Money

What it costs and where it goes

Cycling is an expensive sport and ultra riding more so. We price our events to be fair, keep the format lightweight and use sponsor support to bring costs down where we can.

Where a Wild West Country entry goes, roughly: a small slice on fixed costs like insurance and hosting; a larger slice on trackers, caps and t-shirts; and most of the rest on coverage, which means the photographers and reporters on the road, their beds and their fuel. Then venue and checkpoint costs. Anyone we pay is paid by the day worked, so nobody benefits from the ride being more profitable. When the budget allows, we spend the surplus on more coverage or an extra checkpoint.

Events need to be slightly profitable to survive, so we aim for that rather than break-even. Whatever is left at the end of the year is reinvested or given away.

Giving back

What we’ve actually done

• Every entry pays forward a meal at The Long Table, a pay-as-you-can restaurant in Stroud. In 2024 that came to over £900.
• Riders bring spare parts to the start. They go to The Bike Drop, a community interest company that rebuilds second-hand bikes and trains people for work in the industry. In 2023 the donations included an entire bike.
• In 2023 we gave £300 to the bike project at Swindon Welcomes Ukraine, who told us they had £3.04 in the bank and had run out of women’s helmets.
• In 2022 we gave away a free place to someone nominated by the community, after Rob’s bike was stolen the year before and strangers were kind about it.
• We have offered free places to riders for whom the fee was the only barrier, in 2023 and 2024 and since. If that’s you, tell us.
• We offset the carbon footprint of every event through World Land Trust, knock £10 off entry for anyone who pledges not to fly or drive, start and finish near railway stations, use rechargeable trackers, run paper-free and don’t accept sponsors who hand out sample sachets in plastic.

Self-supported

Rules, and the spirit of them

Our events are self-supported. Your success or failure depends on your own decisions and a healthy dose of luck. All help on the road must come from commercial services available to every rider: shops, cafés, hotels, bike shops. No stashed supplies, no friends’ sofas, no support cars.

Because these aren’t races, we take a slightly more relaxed view than some. We care about actions that give a definite advantage, like drafting or stashing kit. We’re less bothered by things that might give a theoretical one, like riding alongside someone for a couple of hours or pre-booking a bed. We won’t spend hours forensically examining tracker data. We’re all adults, there are no prizes and if you break the rules the only person you’re cheating is yourself. If in doubt, ask before you do it.

And finally

Have fun

In the end, these events are literally as simple as riding a bike. Have fun. Don’t take it too seriously. Don’t be a d*ck. It’s pretty simple.