I’ve done this and it was epic! Like being in a film set, everywhere you look absolutely amazing. Great roads as well.
Who’s going to tackle that one…
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The Trans-sylvania Epic 3-5 day Stage Race is pretty amazing. They don’t call it Singletrack Summer Camp for nothing! Thom at dirtwire .tv does an amazing job of capturing the week as well as the rest of the media team. There are plenty of highlights on YouTube for an insight on all the fun.
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Big volume isn’t necessary but makes it more enjoyable. Ran 40s in 2023 and 2.2 Race Kings in 2024 (5 weeks after surgery to fix a broken collarbone). I’d take the Race Kings again.
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I’d cross Ride London off that list. Firstly they’ve cancelled it for next year and unclear if or when it might be back (problem with holding a closed road bike event starting in a big city is you get quite a lot of upset residents). And secondly it’s really not that great an event for a strong racer. It was better on the original course as at least went into the Surrey Hills which broke things up a bit so you’d get some pretty select front groups coming back into London. But the new course they moved to in 2022 is just too flat to break things up so it never really thins out, you just end up with a huge mass of cyclists going very fast, but with many of them not being experienced racers and lacking the skills and awareness to ride safely in a group at those speeds. Great for setting a 100 mile PR, but not much else!
In terms of UK rides that are actually challenging (or at least the challenge comes from the terrain and not the other riders) then Fred Whitton as posted above is great, or Dragon Ride in Wales.
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Race Across the West, Silver State 508, or Longhorn 500 
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Surely the answer is a Solo RAGBRAI or RAAM right?
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Mallorca 312 would be a great event to do and great one for TR to cover your experience
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Roc d’Azur 5 Day Trophy, and then stay on in Nice for the gravel worlds.
Why is no one saying Ironman? 
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Marji Gesick
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In the UK the Dirty Reiver is a 200km gravel ride around Kielder Forest with some pretty spicy climbing in it. Its not a race but proper fast groups form every year.
For a racing challenge the Gralloch in Scotland is probably the premier gravel race in the UK.
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LoToJa, The Death Ride, Triple Bypass
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+1 for PCP2P. Did it this year and it’s hard! Hard because of the mental strain of that much single track. I went into as a B race since I was on the wait list and had done Unbound earlier in the year as an A. I’d not ridden a MTB bike in months before my number was called. My smirk had been wiped off my face by the first Aid Station.
I’d love to get @Jonathan’s take on mental prep for long races.
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@Jonathan Here’s a run down of some epic Australian events
Early November - 245km Dirty Warrny gravel race from Geelong to Warrnambool through the beautiful Otway Ranges
9th-March - 3 Peaks Challenge. 235km & 4500m of elevation
Feb - 8th - 240km Melbourne to Warrnambool. 2nd oldest one day race in the world.
May 4th Port Macquarie Ironman - it’s a cyclist’s course
“wild card entry” for the ProVelo superleague running between January and March in 2025. Multiple stage tours across Tasmania, Sydney and Adelaide
"Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic 15-16th March 228km road race
May 17th Nannup Western Australia 125km of gravel & 3200M climbing and hosting the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships.
mid October The Dirty Docker a 115km/2000m gravel festival put on by Mitch Docker, just an hour out of Melbourne - you can read my review of it by clicking on the link
and while you are in Melbourne… do the legendary Saturday morning Hell Ride 62km from Black Rock to Mt Eliza and back.
Tour of Mansfield, Victoria in March, a 2 day, 3 stage tour
Tour of Bright, Victoria in late Nov/early Dec. a 2 day, 3 stage tour (some events require an AusCycling license)
UCI Age Group Road Gran Fondo - Oct 15th at Lorne, Victoria. 125km and 1800m of climbing - need to qualify. Challenging course with two major climbs and breaktaking scenery.
Cape to Cape MTB 4 Stage Race - Margaret River, Western Australia, mid to late Oct 200km and 2500m of climbing
Tour down Under 17th-26th Jan in Adelaide has a People’s ride, week night crit race, fixed gear car park race, pro-velo stage race and RADL GRVL (Valteri Bottas & Tiffany Cromwell’s event)
The Cadel Classic Feb 1st From Geelong and around Victoria’s Surf Coast. 124km/1100m climbing. The day before the UCI listed Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
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I was thinking about it a bit after I tongue in cheek suggested Tour of Bright, for most of the races suggested he’d need a licence to compete so 3 Peaks is probably the most logical to do. Nice part of the country too.
MTB: A shame Croc Trophy is no longer around, that would have been cool. There’s Reef to Reef (QLD) in July - 4 day MTB stage race, or Cape to Cape… but Western Australia is a loooong way away from the eastern seaboard!
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How’s about qualifying as an Age Grouper for the UCI World Gravel Championships in 2025 then coming over to Europe to compete in it at Nice in October.
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Marji Gesick it will reward your bike handling and is mostly proper xc mtb trail!
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I know you mentioned that gravel (at times) can be boring for you… but Oregon Gavel Grinder gets my vote if you want to stay on the West Coast.
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Too bad the Breck 100 suffered the same fate as many other endurance MTB events… I’ll vote for the High Cascades 100 since I’ve always wanted to do it. Vapor Trail 125 if you like night riding, altitude, and soul crushing hike-a-bikes.
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@Jonathan, careful with that Alabama hate!
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