Stories
Every edition is different. The weather, the characters, the competition.
Ride reports, the Awards, photos from every edition, rider write-ups and results. The things that happen when you ride far, fuelled on carbs and short on sleep.
Ride reports and photos
Every edition, start to finish
We take hundreds, often thousands, of photos at every event. These are a fraction.
Mountains of the Merfynion 2026
Wildfire diversions, a faster and hotter start than usual, and our highest ever finish rate. Jake Cullen led home after 60 hours, while James Page and Jon Cox became the first pair to complete the Triple Crown.
Wild West Country 2026
The fifth and, for now, final loop of the south west stayed dry until the frosts arrived. Rhys Clarke won in 43 hours and 41 minutes, with Ella Brown the first woman home in fifth.
Mountains of the Merfynion 2025
The start and finish moved into Wales for the first time, with riders climbing The Tumble alongside Tour of Britain fans. Nathan Woodhouse was first home, while Paddy Cope and Joe Tresadern completed the first Triple Crowns.
The Perfidious Albion 2025
Seventeen riders set off from Lockerbie in a heatwave, before storms swept across North Wales. Mark Turnbull won in 135 hours and 40 minutes, despite a GPS failure and a broken derailleur.
Wild West Country 2025
Our first manned checkpoint, near-perfect weather and the fastest Wild West Country yet. Dicky Hibbert won in 37 hours and 22 minutes, and Alli Holland was the first woman home on two artificial knees.
Mountains of the Merfynion 2024
Illness and injury meant just nine riders started from Brimscombe, on a route with more scenery and far less hike-a-bike than before. Three of them made it back.
The Awards
A very tongue-in-cheek tradition
Every New Year we hand out awards for the weird and wonderful things that happened on the road. No trophies. Just the stories.
Past winners include a rider who attacked Hardknott seated on a plate of bangers and mash, a pair who slept seven hours in a field with 50 km to go so they’d arrive once the coffee machine was on, a former vet who freed a lamb from a fence mid-ride, and a DotWatcher commentator who called the route director a retired children’s climbing frame.
In their words
Rider write-ups
Written one? Send it over and we’ll add it.
Tackling Wild West Country, and why I hate 25% gradients
By Jess Golding
A pair’s ride from a graveyard bivvy to a fight for first pair in the final 20 km, and a quietly brilliant piece about what “strong” means.
A rookie’s guide to bikepacking
By Sandra Padilla
A first ultra, a scratch at 640 km and the kindest, most practical advice we’ve read for anyone thinking about it.
The Perfidious Albion 2022
By Donald Munro
A week in a heatwave, three punctures, one failed brake, a café owner called Katie and a bike shop that sent tubes by taxi. The first finisher’s own account.
Wild West Country 2024
By Jon Riding
“I’m never doing that again,” said at the finish, for the second year running.
On and on: conquering an off-road ultra
By Justyna Sieber
Mountains of the Merfynion on Tubolitos, which we would not recommend.
Five minutes with a TPA winner
Simon Epperlein, talking to Kitty Dennis
How someone from Dresden’s long-distance scene ended up winning the length of Britain on Rice Krispie Squares.
Results
Who finished, and when
Full results for every edition since 2021, solo and pairs, in one open classification.
The Triple Crown
All three events
It started as a joke. It takes at least two years now. Finish Wild West Country, The Perfidious Albion and Mountains of the Merfynion, and your name joins the roll of honour.