It’s 1am and pitch black. You are on an A-road somewhere in the Cairngorms. Alone. The rain is torrential; Lycra sticking to skin. You have been riding all day with nothing more than a 20-minute break. And you are exhausted. But from somewhere you must muster the strength, the fortitude, the grit to pedal through to dawn. You don’t want to let your friends and family down. You brace yourself. Head down. Push off into the night; the rufescent flash of tail light dancing in the puddles. 

This is the life of ultra distance cycling – and Angus Young is one of the finest riders on the planet. Recently Angus won the 2021 edition of the Pan Celtic Race: an unsupported solo race that spans 1,240 miles through Cornwall, Devon and Somerset before passing along the south coast of Wales and up to the north coast. There’s a total of 90,248 ft of elevation gain. Angus crossed the line in 5 days, 3 hours and 36 minutes. His closest competitor was over seven hours behind his back wheel. 

Angus is also a perennial competitor in GBDURO – a 2,000km self-supported race from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. In 2021 he smashed the course record, only to be disqualified following a mechanical failure. Oh, adversity. You should have known that you would only make Angus double down on fortitude. In 2021 Angus broke the record for traversing the 3 Peaks by human power, cycling from Snowdon to Scafell Pike to Ben Nevis and running up the peaks on foot. 

Yes, Angus is a fine distance runner too. In fact he competes at the elite level for winter triathlon. And he has a marathon PB of 2.28.25. Which he managed in the same week as moving house. While holding down a full-time teaching job. We’re proud that Rawvelo is part of what powers Angus. The rest we’re not sure is actually measurable by science. 

Onto the next challenge.