← All eventsPennine 500
Gritty self-supported off-road bikepacking loop through the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and moors, ~500km. Late-May date and distances/elevation approximate.
A savage self-supported bikepacking race: roughly 500km and around 10,000m of climbing across the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and high moor. No support, no prizes, no markings, just a GPX file and a dot on a map.
Nearly half of it is rocky bridleway and ancient byway, jarring green lanes that punish body and bike. The rest is boggy moorland doubletrack, with a few quiet lanes to recover on.
Finishers take anywhere from 32 to well over 90 hours, riding through at least one short late-May night. Hike-a-bike across wet peat is normal here, not failure. Honest hard graft, with no easy miles.
Is Pennine 500 for you?
- Riders who love rough ground and don't mind pushing. Hike-a-bike over boggy moor and steep byways is part of the day, not a setback.
- Self-sufficient types happy navigating alone. No markings and no crew, just a GPX file and whatever you carry.
- Durable diesel engines rather than sprinters. Around 10,000m of climbing rewards riders who keep grinding, not those chasing power.
- Anyone who copes with bleak weather. The high moor makes its own conditions and there is no shelter.
Training plan for Pennine 500
A training plan for Pennine 500 isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Relentless rough surfaces: rocky byways and wet peat jar body and bike for days
- Around 10,000m of climbing over ~500km, much of it on a loaded bike
- Hike-a-bike across boggy moor and steep green lanes, often faster than grinding
- Self-navigation on faint moorland tracks, with exposed weather and no shelter
- Long Z2 hilly off-road rides building from 4 up to 8 hours on rough terrain
- Back-to-back weekends: a big Saturday, then riding tired legs on Sunday
- Loaded rides and an overnight bikepacking trip with full kit and a bivvy
- Hill repeats and loaded hike-a-bike to build climbing and pushing fitness
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
