Rob Britton takes on 3 famous FKT's in the UK in 1 week

Rob Britton: Three FKTs in One Week Across the UK

What does it look like to attempt three Fastest Known Times across an entire country in a single week?

In this episode, host Svein sits down with pro cyclist and ultra-endurance athlete Rob Britton, fresh off one of the most ambitious efforts we've heard on this podcast. Rob's plan: take on three iconic UK gravel routes — King Alfred's Way in southern England, the Pennine Bridleway in northern England, and the Badger Divide from Glasgow to Inverness in Scotland — all within seven days. Each route sits around 280–300 kilometers with 5,000 to 6,500 meters of climbing, back-to-back, with travel and bike rebuilds wedged in between.

The UK terrain surprises people. It's not big alpine passes — it's relentless short punishing climbs, overgrown grass tracks, and on the Pennine Bridleway, hundreds of gates. Some easy, some heavy farm machinery you wrestle open one at a time. Multiply that by the length of an entire route and it will crack you.

And crack it did. King Alfred's Way: going well, nine minutes up on the FKT with 80 k to go, until a rear tire hit a rock. Seven plugs later, still losing air, 14 hours of full gas effort with nothing to show. The Pennine Bridleway escalated into a survival situation — soaked to the bone on an exposed ridgeline, eight degrees, 60 km/h winds, a dead phone, no InReach, and the gates making it impossible to sustain enough pace to generate body heat. Rob describes crouching behind a stone wall eating M&Ms in the dark just to think clearly, and racing a descent in near-dark hoping his filmmaker was still waiting at the bottom.

Two DNFs. One route left. No confidence.

That's where the conversation gets genuinely interesting — the psychology of walking to the start line of something this hard when everything has gone wrong. Rob talks about his prep approach, his pacing philosophy, and what he actually saves for the end of these efforts: not physical energy, but mental fight.

The Badger Divide delivers the resolution this story needs. Tune in to hear how it goes.