Dave has been a successful 24hr solo racer since 2004, and has branched out slightly into the creation of cycling routes that are a little bit different. Santa Cruz and The North Face have ensured that Dave has the best support available for this venture.

These things are not easy, but aim to open up long distance and adventure mountain biking to those who might not otherwise consider these types of challenges. His routes are published so that others may glean a "spark" of resolve to do something a bit different and just because he generally aims to complete his routes in one go doesn't mean you have to, too!

Have a look around and see what our present and future projects are. It's the home of information for "The Hobbits' Tale" Guinness World Record™ ride and the Welsh Coast 2 Coast.

Try following the blog.

The Hobbit's Tale Guinness World Record™ Ride

On May 13th 2011 Dave started and subsequently completed "The Hobbit's Tale" in a weather system termed "Dave's Cloud" by those following the event on the media sites. It actually turned out to be 721Km and 22300m of ascent in some of the worst weather you could imagine and is detailed below. The 48hour distance achieved was 567Km with 20000m of ascent and he was supported by his closest friends from Cardiff and Mid Wales; the mountain biking racing world at large; Loco Tuning and his team mates from LocoBM Racing.

In good weather this route will go in 48 hours. Who's up for it?

At the time of planning for 2010/ 2011's ride, no Guinness Record™ for a 48hour distance existed.  So Dave registered it and annexed it to the planned Hobbit's ride. Now people know it exists they can register and do it properly, on the most appropriate terrain. There are infinitely more suitable offroad routes for getting the highest mileage out of 48hours on a mountainbike: 700miles should be possible in the right area.

 "The Hobbits' Tale" is a massive and scary undertaking that seems to be longest ever technical non-stop offroad ride. The Guinness World Record™ will be for "The greatest distance covered on a mountain bike in 48hours." The official guidelines are based on flat distance and ignores height gain. It was also initially suggested that it be done on an athletics track, but this was updated to a "cycle track" prior to the event.

So...

...This was a solo ride (supported by his friends, sponsors and believers) through Wales' toughest singletrack and climbs.

We didn't want it to be boring, did we?

The route(s) are here.

The Welsh Coast 2 Coast (WC2C)

On March the 22nd 2009, Dave became the pioneering rider of the first Welsh Coast 2 Coast ride (WC2C). A fully unsupported winter ride that took 22hrs 24min and 49secs. This is one route to watch for the future, as interest is growing rapidly. He feels that, in the summer, it'll probably go for 18hrs when a bigger hitter does it. Rich Holmes is the 2nd rider to do the route and his time was 20hrs 10mins in May 2010. See his report here. He can go quicker, We have no doubt.

Originally there were a set of "rules" developed for Dave to follow on the WC2C but "rules" didn't go down well with some purists of unsupported cycling so they were removed. But after a chat, Rich Holmes and Dave decided that they should go back up in some form to help those planning their first ever solo challenge. The project is here to help people become inspired and to progress, so these can only help in lighting the way slightly. The Guidlines are based on these rules and can be found on the results page next to the WC2C times.

Route description (see mapping for clarity)
Overall, the route is 70% offroad.
You're advised to check the mapping prior to planning an attempt. If you are not a dyed in the wool singlespeeder then it may not be for you and reports from riders suggest this. But if you are a bit weird, then singlespeed is the way forward.

This may not be for you as it requires lots of different aspects of riding skills, from time trialling on tarmac; to technical rocky riding for the whole length of Coed-Y-Brennin, Dol-Y-Gaer, ClimachX. Rooty stuff in Nant-Yr-Arian and off-camber ruts all make their own demands of you.

It starts in Caernarfon, and follows sustrans route8 to Machynlleth, dropping off to do the offroad singletrack and black runs that are passed on the way through Coed-Y-Brenin and Machynlleth. This whole opening section is largely fast gravel offroad, rocky single track and double track interspersed with road sections where legal access problems exist.
Some of the Sustrans route has been tarmacced since the original ride, including most of the Taff Trail into Cardiff. You'll need good legs to make time up on this stuff.
The climb to the ClimachX descent is the start of the "tough" riding, and it gets more and more remote as you head south to Nant-Yr-Arian, The Arch, Ffair Rhos and Strata Florida.
Once you get beyond Brecon, you have the tramway climb, which needs to be hit fairly "fresh" to do it in style. After this, there is a great descent into Dol-Y-Gaer.
A few miles later you hit the Taff Trail, which has been fully tarmacced from the mid-point of The Brecon Railway, near Morlais Quarry, north of Merthyr Tydfil in the last year or two.
The park in Pontypridd has specific opening hours which are viewable online. If you get here, and it is shut, there is an alternative marked and mapped on OSmaps which is still termed "The Taff Trail" following the road on the east of the A470 for about 2 1/2 miles. It'll save you about 5 mins, but is road riding.
Good strong time trialist legs will be your friend from here to Castell Coch in Cardiff, where there is a bit of a climb, followed by a jaunt into town and the Celtic Ring, via the parklands of Cardiff. You are advised to hit this section either early or late, when it's quiet, since local news reports have recently mentioned cyclists negatively as they commute "too quickly" for other people on the trail. It's a consideration to be taken.
The Taff Trail and the WC2C end in the Celtic Ring in Cardiff Bay.
Good luck!