My biggest film project so far is finally live. MAIDEN RACE has been released today at the Shimano YouTube channel and tells not only the story of Mark Beaumont’s winning ride at GBDURO, it also gives you a great idea how scenic, inclusive and simply wonderful this event from the The Racing Collective is.

I wanted this documentary to show the beauty and diversity of bikepacking racing. The gritty moments when the going gets almost impossible, but also the grandeur of being outside in occasions that make up for the hard work. The early morning sunrise, the rides into the sunset, the anguish of wondering whether to stop for a few hours. The best moments happened in the most remote places, and those moments are captured here to tell the story of GBDURO 2021.

The footage for this film has been captured by only using my bike & public transport. I cycled a total of about 1,000km and took trains and buses to get ahead of time he riders in the race where I needed to. It wasn’t easy to film this way, but I managed to be much closer to the race, and stay true to the ethos of GBDURO and leave no trace. My travels are captured in this Komoot collection.

“This is truly one of the most punishing rides on bike, body and mind. There were no easy miles across such relentless terrain. Just finishing was a victory because the person you are really racing is yourself. And to finish first? First you must finish. The film itself shows the wonderful culture of gravel and ultra-endurance racing. I loved how the youngest competitor was 19 and the oldest 59, that five of the top ten finishers were women and everyone, regardless of their day job, their background or their ability level, was taking on a magnificently difficult race as a way of exploring, pushing their boundaries, and ultimately creating timeless memories. Almost anyone can take on this kind of mad adventure, and I want to encourage more people to do so.” Mark Beaumont

Mark and I worked together on a couple of projects this year and have more plans for 2022, with another film in the making about our ‘Explore Your Boundaries‘ rides along the boundaries of Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Falkirk and Glasgow.

You can find out more about the film on the Shimano Gravel site and this Q&A with Logan Watts from bikepacking.com.