A Weekend in Hell

Velo29 Events

A Weekend in Hell

4+5+6 May 2024

HQ The Dales Bike Centre, Reeth

Whole Weekend Stats

Distance: 516km
Elevation: 9,035m
Price: £150

Entry

Strictly limited to 100 riders! Ride 3 of our toughest legacy events in this new Bank Holiday Weekend Ultra Challenge Sportive!

Velo29 love to bring you a new challenge and A Weekend in Hell is exactly that! Inspired by Paris – Roubaix which is called ‘A Sunday in Hell’ this 3 day Sportive has got to be one of the toughest multi-stage events on the calendar.

We’ve reinvented 3 of our toughest Sportives from The Velo29 back catalogue. The start/ finish for each stage is the brilliant Dales Bike Centre in Reeth. It’s an awesome setting, easy to reach from the A1 and offers all we need to support this mega challenging weekend! Camping/ Campervan places will be available, email us for details.

Each stage has all the great Velo29 features you expect. Awesome feed stops, brilliant mechanical and medical support and the amazing Velo29 atmosphere. 1 change over our regular Sportives is that there won’t be any route signage, you’ll need to ride with a GPS device. If you can ride over 500km and climb over 9,000m in a weekend, we think you can navigate too!

The toughest medal to earn in the Sportive Series? ……. It could be!

In the week before the event from 10am Tuesday until 18:00 Thursday we need you to complete a Pre-Event Questionnaire and book a time slot. ESSENTIAL please.

Please collect rider packs from the HQ on your way to the start line.

No entries on the day.

Entries close on Sunday night 1 week before the event.

For any questions relating to Pre-Event Questionnaire or Time Slot Booking email depart@velo29.com

Get Yourself an awesome Event Jersey from our clothing partner Primal Europe

Order in good time so you’ve got it ready for the event day!

Get a FREE 2024 Series Jersey

Rider Manual

Maps

GPX

Get your rider times, free certificates and event images here.

A Beginner’s Guide to Sportive Riding

What to Expect in a Velo29 Sportive

Stage 1 – The 5 Dales

(The Grinde)

The 5 Dales was one of our toughest Sportives, not far off the Tour of The Peak. Other than moving the start/ finish to Reeth, there is no change to this bonkers event!

1 mile from the start we tackle Grinton Moor! After 51km we crest The Stang, Then we’ve got Tan Hill, High Peak, Fleet Moss and finally….The Buttertubs from Hawes side.

It’s an appropriately tough opener to the weekend. Struggle on day one and you’re in deep trouble for the rest of the weekend!

We’ve called day 1 The Grinde and you’ll find out why! 190 of the toughest KM in Yorkshire. An amazing start to the weekend.

Stage 2 – The Pennines

(The Hell of The North)

Another tough 100mile + day! Some brand new roads for us as we head North West from Reeth towards the old Pennines HQ of Barnie. We’ve made a few changes to the old route to retain the best bits and throw in some tasty new ones! From Barnard Caste we ride North to Stanhope, we previously rode this section in the other direction in the TOP. This takes us up Bollihope, the 1st of 5 climbs which are over 500m high! We’ve then Crawleyside (475m), Rookhope(510m), Currick (581m), Allenheads (572m) and then the mighty Chapel Fell at 629m high, one of the highest paved roads in the UK! We’ve never ridden over Chapel Fell in a V29 Sportive before. The Captain says it’s a must, take it up with him!

We’ve named this stage ‘The Hell of The North’ as it’s the most Northerly part of the 3 day Tour. A tough day out on its own, a brutal day 2 in this mega tough weekend!

Stage 3 – The Buttertubs

The 3rd and final day, is intentionally the ‘easiest’ but by no stretch is this an easy ride!

The Buttertubs used to start from Darlington so we’ve made a few changes to centre it around Reeth. As it’s the 3rd and final day those changes take in some flatter, less challenging roads.

Of course, the highlight of this ride is The Buttertubs, which we’ve already ridden over once however this time we tackle it from the North (heading South) down into Hawes. The Tubs is a very different climb depending upon which direction you enjoy it from.

It’s a lumpy ride out of The DBC heading West towards Thwaite however once the Tubs are out of the way we enjoy a mostly downhill 80km to the flatter lands of Masham and Northallerton.

The final run back from Richmond to Reeth is one of the best pieces of cycling roads in the UK! Well known from The Richmond GP, The TDF Grand Depart, The TDY and now, notably your new mega challenge, 3 Days in Hell!