Breathtaking Events ... take in a big one.
THE RULES
PREAMBLE
This is not an organised or sanctioned event in any way. It is an event for likeminded well prepared ultra endurance cyclists out to ride your bike on the same route at the same time to challenge your personal boundaries. The ITT tracking page is first and foremost for rider safety and compliance following the route. It will also allow your family, friends and fellow riders to follow your journey, the opportunity to share your experiences and struggles and finally celebrate the joy and satisfaction of completing the challenge. This will be a journey beyond the normal bounds of everyday life, prepare to succeed. The simple tools to assist you complete this challenge will be the .gpx file of the route, a suggested start time, you and your bike. Period. There is no on-trail support, no checkpoints, nothing, you are completely on your own, just as you would be if you chose to ride through Australia or anywhere else in the world on any other day.
Finally, ‘the rules’ of self-supported riding are cast in concrete by history in the tradition of ultra endurance bikepacking. Honour them. And we acknowledge and honour the founding father, John Stamstad for establishing the guiding principles of our journey. If you're not familiar with the fine detail you can read the bikepacking rules as applied to the US Tour Divide https://tourdivide.org/the_rules
Breathtaking Events Pty Ltd will act as facilitator in determining the route and any variations that might arise as dictated by safety or on-track conditions. Some sections of the route will traverse private property and National Park areas and the normal courtesy and constraints that apply to the general public will apply to participants. Transit across national park areas will be on service access roads approved for bikes. Permission will be obtained from private landholders where necessary, otherwise the route follows public access fire trails, approved mountain bike access roads, crown roads and local shire roads.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
RACE TRACKING
Once a rider has scratched or has deviated from the route and it becomes clear they are no longer participating, their tracking ID marker or ‘dot’ will be returned to the point where they were last on the prescribed route and remain stationary as a record of their ride distance. In either instance the rider will be listed as ’scratched’. If a rider continues on [on or off the race route] to the finish their individual tracking page link will remain online/updated for informational purposes however, they will be removed from the group general classification and web tracking page.
The above situation is different from a rider who makes a minor navigation error, fails to recover the error and then re-joins the route further down and continues on along the route. Riders with minor navigation infringements may get flagged and continue riding under a different colour dot and ultimately receive a finishing time but not a race finish position. Repeated instances of this [particularly obvious shortcutting] will likely result in the rider being scratched.
SPONSORSHIP
Riders may enter into minor support sponsorship from health, bike or equipment providers or the like who have a vested interest in upholding the integrity, honesty and fairness of the TABE.
GO Fund Me or similar
A public fundraising campaign to finance your TABE adventure is at odds with the principals and spirit of solo self supported events. Do it yourself, work, get paid, save up, get a credit card. Getting the public to pay for your adventure is not acceptable.
Health•Awareness•Community
Riders may enter with financial and equipment support from a recognised public or community group who have a mission to raise awareness for an issue of regional or public importance.
Charity Fundraising
Riders are welcome to ride in the name of a registered charity and support that charity by encouraging donations from the public, through social media and race followers along the way. All donations must be made directly through the nominated charity’s online donation portal. [ie; not to or via the rider]
THE RULES
1. Obey the Rules
2. Riders may commence their ride from the starting point consistent with the .gpx race route at any time on or after 6.00am on 1 May 2025 heading north. There is no finish time cut-off.
3. Riders must start and finish with the same bike [unless there has been catastrophic failure] and equipment required to complete and survive the weather conditions along the route. Adding or subtracting critical equipment as circumstances dictate will require riders to self relegate and declare their relegation as a competitive entrant.
4. Participating riders must ride solo, self-supported, self-timed. The course will be observed as one stage, and the clock runs non-stop. There are no required checkpoints or designated rest periods on course.
5. All riders must carry and have operating a gps tracking device {SPOT or InReach] operating at 10 or 5 minute intervals throughout the duration of their ride. The event and all riders will be registered with a web based tracking program. Your Registration is for your ITT tracking fee. Once a rider is deemed to have abandoned the race their ride ID marker will remain fixed at the last active point along the race route prior to them abandoning or scratching from their ITT.
6. To complete the Route, a rider may resupply food/equipment, rent a room, launder clothing, or service their bike at commercial providers along the way. The intent is to ride unsupported between towns, and function self-supported when in towns. Any services utilised must be commercially available to all riders and not prearranged before the commencement of the ride. No private resupply, no private lodging, no outside support from the general public, family or other riders.
7. 'Trail Angel' Support - Serendipitous occasions do arise and these may be shared in the spirit in which they are offered. eg: a shout of a beer, a coffee or something of a nominal nature. 'Trail Angel' offers of food or water [because you have failed to fully prepare] and offers of accommodation, meals, showers, laundry are not acceptable and must be graciously declined. Refer to Rule 6.
8. In the event of mechanical failure or food shortage , a rider may hitch-hike forward, backward or off route in order to have their bike repaired or re-supply. Once that objective has been accomplished the rider, with their bike, may hitch-hike/ride back to the point where they left the course and recommence riding again.
9. The course route will be the .gpx file provided to each registered participant. Any deviation off the route, by accident or intent, must be recovered by returning to the point of deviation without assistance [excluding RULE 6] and recommencing the ride on the prescribed route. There are no alternatives or optional variations from this route unless dictated by circumstances in the course of the ride. In the event of intervention by nature [eg; fire, flood] riders must take due care, observe civil authority directions and detour the section via the shortest logical alternate route, or wait until the road becomes clear again. Compliance of the route will be determined by the GPS tracking trace of a riders progress and/or if necessary, supported by the riders provision of a .gpx file trace of their ride.
10. RELEGATION
Riders who fail to comply with the above rules will be relegated to a supplementary list of finishers at the end of the official finishers list or, if they fail to complete the course will be listed as DNF with a record of their completed distance.