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WHAT REALLY HAPPENED - ROB BRITTON’S BADLANDS SAGA | ROADMAN PODCAST

Name: What REALLY Happened - Rob Britton’s Badlands Saga | Roadman Podcast
Uploaded: 2023-10-12
Duration: 40 min 13 s
Description: Rob Britton, former pro road cyclist turned ultra-endurance racer, shares the untold story of his Badlands win—a brutal 38-hour desert race across Spain.

with Roadman Podcast

40:13·12 October 2023

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TOPICS

MOUNTAIN BIKING

Rob Britton, former pro road cyclist turned ultra-endurance racer, shares the untold story of his Badlands win—a brutal 38-hour desert race across Spain. We dig into his pacing strategy, sleep deprivation tactics, and the serious physical toll these events take on the body, plus why he's already eyeing his next ultra in Patagonia despite lingering injuries.

Key Takeaways

Front-loading effort and establishing a gap early can be decisive in ultra-endurance events—Rob's 'attack' with 550km to go at just 330W (which extrapolates to a 600W effort over 48 hours) was enough to break the race open for good
Strategic food management at refuel stops is critical; being trapped between major stops with only two bananas and a Coke forced Rob to enter 'cruise control' and moderate effort for 13+ hours overnight
Ultra-endurance racing causes serious post-event complications—nerve damage (numb hands, tingling feet), sciatica, hip dysfunction, and sleep disruption can linger for weeks and derail race calendars, even for experienced athletes
Short power naps (7 minutes) during ultra events are surprisingly effective because fatigue is so severe you'll sleep anywhere; Rob napped on gravel roadsides and concrete without gear, proving comfort matters less than nervous system recovery
Pacing by feel rather than power is more sustainable for multi-day efforts; Rob sat at around 220W early and dropped to 180W later, but rigid watt targets would have caused earlier collapse

Expert Quotes

"I spent a career racing in the most beautiful places in the world yet you don't ever really get to experience them—all you see is hotel, team bus, wheel on front, team bus, hotel. I would love to be that guy more often."

"When you go back and look at what that was it was like sitting at 220 for a really long time and then it's like after 24 hours it was like 180... if you tried to ride a power I think you would just crumble."

"I don't think [ultra-endurance events] are that good for you... doing three of them in a year just doesn't seem like a good idea. My body definitely revolts after the fact but I maybe question its health and like its actual long-term effects."

KEY QUOTES

“I had two different naps for 7 minutes uh in — nice luxurious yeah yeah I know like straight up like set the timer on the phone for seven minutes put it on my chest close my eyes was in like a coma um and then probably stopped if you look at the straa file for the last 10 hours I probably stopped 15 times just for like these little breaks to give my nervous system a break”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

“when you go back and look at what that was it was like sitting at 220 for a really long time and then it's like after 24 hours it was like 180 and then you just get these big spikes because the last bit is just like huge climb”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

“it's 6:30 we're going to ride through the night now there's going to be nothing open like probably until 700 a.m. at best like this is Spain and I have two bananas a Coke like basically meat cheese bread baguette and I certainly don't have 13 hours worth of ride food on my bike”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT3 SECTIONS

Welcome and Badlands intro

Well you spent your whole pro career racing in some of the most beautiful places in the world yet you don't ever really get to experience them all you ever see is I would love to be that guy more often so you don't get any of that you get a different experience for sure but you don't get any of like these panoramic views it seems like the participants are divided into a couple of camps the first Camp then the second Bunch which I feel are the majority but then there's the kind of third cohort that you're in which has committed to just full S Mode is there a party going if I do need to sleep out here I am quite screwed you're totally right and I think it's probably like 90% of the people are in that like bring sleep stuff category cuz they're normal um and there's like yeah that crazy 10% hey everybody and welcome back to the channel if you're new here my name is Anthony I'm a former lawyer turn cyclist turn podcast host who is based in Ireland my goal with this channel is to introduce you to the people and to the ideas to help you optimize your health your happiness and your longevity today we have Badlands winner Mr Rob Britain joining us you're going to love this interview for those of you who might not be familiar Rob's no stranger to the world of professional cycling he competed at the highest levels on the road and he's well known for his resilience his tactical skills and his strateg Acumen but today we're not going to talk about Road cycling at all we're going to dive deep into Rob's incredible recent win at Badlands Badlands isn't just a race it's not like a normal bike race it's a grueling Ultra endurance event the tests not only your physical capabilities but also your mental fortitude it's a race where the terrain is basically as difficult as it comes where every mile you pedal seems like a battle against nature and a battle internally against yourself we'll be discussing everything from Rob's training regime to his race day strategy to how participating in such ultra distance events affects long-term health and well-being now before I jump into this conversation with Rob I do have one small favor to ask if you could take a second and subscribe to the channel I still around 90% of viewers aren't subscribed and the bigger the channel gets the bigger the guests I can attract so it's a win-win all around with all that being said this is the road man cycl podcast and now my dear friends Mr Rob Brittain Rob welcome back to the Rob man cycling podcast hey thanks for having me good to chat again you're looking surprisingly fresh well yeah uh I've had about um three and a half weeks now uh pretty much entirely off the bike since uh since crossing the Finish Line at Badlands suppose first off congratulations one day 14 hours and 20 minutes seems like a long time to Pedal your bike but you were the fastest through Badlands yeah yeah it's uh it's kind of funny to say like that it sounds shorter than 30 s hours um 38 hours yeah it was uh it was something else um yeah it was definitely an event or ride or experience called experience that it's still catching up to me um sort of in like the I don't know mental processing or just like taking it all in like during it I tried to you know obviously capture it and like you know experience what I'm seeing because you know I spent a career not doing that um but then at a certain point like your brain just goes on to like okay it's okay we need to finish this and also not crash so you do have to be pretty switched on for a day and a half but um yeah that was something did you have an expectation going into it like how did that expectation or thought what the event might be like P out with the reality of what it was like uh yeah it was actually relatively similar to so I did like um a pretty big single day ride uh on Vancouver Island earlier this year um about a month and a half before actually um or about a month before and this one was pretty similar um the biggest things you have to get ready for with these is uh for sure like going through the night that sleep deprivation and just um I remember L I'm tell you about this and I I didn't you you can't fully understand it until you actually experience it and it's just this deep fatigue where you just get hit with like waves and waves of you just want to sleep and you just want to go to bed and rest and you close your eyes because you're you're physically tired you can deal with that but mentally um that's the biggest thing with these things and that was probably what I was prepared for the most is cruising through the night smoothly and efficiently like um so that was a big piece of it heat I thought was going to be a big part but it actually ended up raining for the first like half like the first day it was super wet it was super wet and like cold for like you know the desert of Spain um which was kind of hilarious um you know we had to wear a rain vest um but uh yeah and then it flipped the next day and was like 38 degrees like not a breath of wind for a while so you're just baking on these climbs so yeah being prepared for the heat I felt I was ready for it um and then the sleep deprivation the fatigue was the other part and I do I do feel like I was definitely prepared for that is um i' kind of had some very recent uh experience with that fatigue as well did you have a pacing strategy like I know there's a climb basically as soon as you get out of town which is sticky enough and every everyone's super excited but you led the race basically from start to finish was there a strategy here cuz I remember talking to Leia Wilcox and she was saying she just toodles up the first climb and then it's you know a bit of a slowly slowly creepy creepy for the rest of the day where she just starts picking people off but it seems like you actually went out a little bit hard to maintain that track position and then just sat on your wattage from there looks quite easy when you're at home drinking a cup of tea eating chocolate muffins watching the the DOT sure the reality wasn't the same oh it was pretty funny yeah the first I didn't feel like I felt good in the first four or five hours and then I actually started to feel quite bloated so it was pretty uncomfortable for a decent chunk of it but um yeah it was I had this like I knew it had started out fast the year before and I knew where um Seb um my like buddy from Schwab or teammate from Schwab had like um gone so Year good lot yeah yeah so SE had given me like a really good breakdown of his experience year before so I knew roughly from that maybe how to Pace it um but uh this is so bad um so it was pretty fast and like we're like seven hours in or something like this six and a half hours in they kind of like I think I can understand just enough Spanish and I was like think they're making fun of like me riding in my arrow bars whenever we get on the road and I was like well hell yeah like that's why I brought them these things are great and then I was like okay well if you're going to laugh my a bars like you can try to keep up so then I just like basically attacked like with I don't know 550k to go or something and was either by myself or with one or two other guys for the remainder of it like I never saw anybody again um that's one of those ones if it doesn't work you just look like such a douche or if they could roll back up to you 25k later well that's well the thing is I'm like it's so long I'm M I like whatever like I know I can do this for a very very long time like and it's like when I say attack it was pretty funny because I think I took it up to like 330 Watts on the climb but it's just such like 330 Watts like extrapolated into like whatever a two day long race is that's like like 600 watt attack you know um that's that's one of Six Bullets you have that's B Lance mats yeah exactly but um yeah so the pace for sure at the start I was like oh geez okay this is going to be excessive um and where got concerning was um we stopped I was I was with one other dude and we we we kept changing um he's actually he was awesome rod with I just saw him we were just like down to just like Cru neither of us really attacked each other we were both just like good for pushing the pace and when we stopped at Gore which is the main um kind of our last really like refuel place before you go into the night and in the past they've always gotten there basically at Sunset and like they're reasonable so they sit down and they have like a meal like they know they spend more than a minute this was like a freaking F1 stuff we were just in there and he's like Badillo fruits like okay let's go I'm like [ __ ] man like it's like one it's 630 and like straight up the door you have like an hour and a half long climb I think it's like 12 or 1300 meter climb just like you're partway up it and you just keep going up and I I have no idea how far we ahead of everybody else but I'm thinking like we've been alone for about four hours at this point so like we're I'm sure we're a ways ahead of anybody else but we were in there like I think it was for sure less than 15 minutes total and um like okay sure it took like two bites of my sandwich like had two cokes drank one pocketed the other one took two bananas and I think filled my water bottles and I remember like walking out and he's like okay well I'm just going to go up the road and but I'll ride slow you can catch up I'm like okay sure and I'm doing the math in my head as I'm leaving like okay it's 6:30 we're going to ride through the night now there's going to be nothing open like probably until 700 a.m.

Fueling through the 13-hour night

At best like this is Spain um and it's going from a Sunday to a Monday things are already closed so it's like it's not like we've been like hitting every stop on the way I've stopped twice at this point I guess 10 and a half hours in and now we're about to go through the night for about 13 hours almost until the next Food stop and I have two bananas a Coke like aadal like basically meat cheese bread baguette and I certainly don't have 13 hours worth of ride food on my bike I don't know what he has in his bag but mine aren't just stuffed with food so I was thinking like like well what the hell am I going to do for the next 13 hours like what so that was like as far as pacing goes that where I that's where I started to get like okay well we just we got to put this in like cruise control and just like moderate the effort and I don't know switch to ketosis or something like because things are about to get like just flick that swi yeah it's like it was about to get weird um and yeah you just sort of like I remember I think I got to the top of the climb and I was starving and just like smashed the boat I'm like okay now I have like five pieces of food and like some drink mix to get me through the next like 10 hours like cool sure um that does seem to be the way to stay moving is the key that chat to L it totally made sense on me the next week when I was just out on a group rid and even if you stop for a piss on the group rod and the group is just tipping along at normal group righty speed you know 35k an hour and you stop for 60 seconds you're chasing pretty damn hard to catch that group and that's after a 60c stop so if you start amplifying that out as Leo was saying and you say well somebody stops for 15 minutes and you don't stop for 15 minutes you just keep moving and take a 60c stop it starts getting really difficult to bridge these gaps for sure um the the thing and like I don't have experience in this really I've done stuff of my own so I don't have any way to extrapolate what that equals and then I've done this one Badland so my experience is like I push the Gap out pretty hard and I knew generally speaking I would just like the bike is really fast like and I can like generally speaking probably move it a bit faster than most people to a certain like pardon me a certain duration like after a certain point like these Ultra guys are for sure going to have a leg up on me as far as like the pace they can go they're probably going to be more comfortable after 30 hours but we only have 7even hours to go so they're not going to be that much more comfortable but for a 24-hour period it's like I can probably produce more watts and the bike is more aerodynamic so it's like I figured i' make that Gap as big as I could and then just buffer it with like efforts when I needed to and but then take care of myself in the like kind of in the back nine like I had two different naps for 7 minutes uh in U nice luxurious yeah yeah I know like straight up like set the timer on the phone for seven minutes put it on my chest close mying was in like a coma um and then probably stopped if you look at the uh like the straa file for the last 10 hours I probably stopped 15 times just for like these little breaks to give my nervous system a break like I'd even just stop like uncp both feet down and just like hang my head like can just count for 30 seconds just to give my my eyes and brain break from like processing everything and then like open them and you're like okay you come back to life and that like recharges you for like another few hours but it's just so much like for me it was just so much on like yeah the nervous system did you have a pacing strategy did you like you're saying you front loaded and you went out quite hard to establish that Gap but after you got the Gap obviously the Ostro is a fast bike and you're in the skis some of the lads might had those what are you sitting on a power figure no not at all um you just sort of sit like it's I've done it for so long it's just like I just know what like a sustainable resistance is the funny thing is like when you go back and look at it like I remember like yeah pacing strategy like not at all is definitely just like this feels like a low zone two almost feeling I'll just do this the funny thing is when you go back and look at what that was it was like sitting at 220 for a really long time and then it's like after 24 hours it was like 180 and then you just get these big spikes because the last bit is just like huge climb that's like just on absolute like [ __ ] roads like roads like just this blowing out blast Rock gravel thing has climbed from hell out of H areia and you got sleurs you just like kind of like limping up this thing and getting kicked in the butt like every two pedal Strokes for two and a half hours um and then Super steep grades so it's like the torque is so high and you're so blowing it's like you don't you can't even produce power really it's like you're just like winching yourself up this thing and then once you go downhill like you're so happy to going downhill it's like you do not pedal at all so it's like your average wats in the last 12 just plummet because of just fatigue and terrain like the last bit just has so much sting in the tail so Pace wise I definitely didn't have like a watted strategy um in any of these things that I've done like the long rides it it just seems to be such an undertaking it's more just sort of what feels like a good load but is hilariously low power like if you tried to ride a power I think you would just crumble at Le I would let me take a second to talk about today's show sponsor because of something really exciting to share with you it's a game changer that's been making a noticeable difference in my performance recently especially when it comes to sleep allow me to introduce you to pillar while we're all familiar with the importance of electrolytes and carbohydrates in our race preparation 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Descending tactics and sleep strategies

Shop and use the code roadman on your local website for 15% off your first order or for us listeners if you head over to Def feed.com pillar and use code roadman for the same 15% off your order the details of this offer are in the description below is there a case that you can switch off a little bit on The Descent or are they technical enough that you're still plugged in and mentally aware um fully both both um things like the road stuff is sweet like I just look at the head unit and just see like you know you can tell when it's going to switch back which is obviously knowing that takes a huge gloat off um and you can relax a bit more um and once it got dry there I knew the roads were pretty grippy so I wasn't stressed out the first day when it was wet was like terrifying because it hadn't rained there in like months so it's like you know what Spain's like when it rains for the first time the road like pav is just like ice so you actually have to be really careful the first day quite a few people crashed um but the the dirt descent I mean man come from BC like it's not going to be like once you can handle riding there like yeah riding the desense in Spain is like pretty chill but I I was more the second night going into the Finish like as you descend down um to capil and I was definitely more conservative there just because I'm like okay I've got the lead I should like win this if I cut my tire that could be a problem so it's like let's just back it off a bit um but but uh other than that yeah no it's pretty chill like there's nothing to to there's definitely technical Parts but um you just have to be like switched on you need to be but for the most part it seemed like the technical stuff came during the day when I was like mentally pretty with it it seems like the participants are divided into a couple of camps the first Camp are like okay we're going to take a week or whatever to do this and we're going to find accommodation if we can then the second Bunch which I feel are the majority are people that are prepared to sleep rough and they bring sleep supplies they have mates they have a bivvy bag maybe luxurious stuff like lack has eye masks when I've seen them on some of the ultra Adventure stuff but then there's the kind of third cohort that you're in which has committed to just full sand mode so I assume you're not bringing bivy bags and sleep mats with you because it's extra weight but is there a party going if I do need to sleep out here I am quite screwed because I don't have a down jacket I don't have the sleep stuff I need yeah so there you're you're totally right um and I think it's probably like there like 90% of the people are in that like bring sleep stuff category because they're normal um uh and there's like yeah that crazy 10% and um I remember like just being like what you don't so you don't sleep you just what I okay but so I did that kind of practice one in um the island okay all right we can do this All right but then I did have to sleep at one point I just fell asleep on a bench like sitting upright I was like okay we're going to need to we're going to need to take a nap I think for bad lens and that's when I realized you get so tired and you could be on a bed of like broken glass like in the middle of the day and you pass out if you didn't set an alarm you wouldn't wake up that's the kind of fatigue I was talking about and like that's why these like seven minute like power naps are like all you need because you were just that tired um like I the first nap I had was like literally on the side of a gravel road it just looked like a relatively flat smoothish spot and you don't take anything off you just set your bike there and like lay down on the ground and you're out and then the next one was in like a basketball court in some shade through a town just on concrete and I just laid down and I was out man like you an air mattress would just be like wasting precious time to like you could be spending sleeping and like it doesn't matter um if I was going to be out there for more time I think like this is how crazy this world's become it's like bad lens is considered like a micro or like no is it a Sprint distance Ultra so yeah I know exactly and I'm like what the okay but I think where sleep gear comes in handy or is more practical it's kind of in that thousand kilometer range where uh you know you're pushing through two full nights which you you just from my understanding of most people like that's where you probably have to have like an hour like or two at some point in there sleep like even when I did my BC epic last year I think I only slept for less than two hours total for the whole thing um one time was about an hour and a half or around an hour and a half with like my bag and and then the second time was just r on a fairy on a bench but it I don't think I would have survived just like sleeping like on a park bench or something like that but maybe that depends too like Spain's hot so you don't necessarily need to have a big puffer but I usually I usually have enough stuff that if I did need to sleep and like it was a case of exposure I'd be okay I'd rather bring like an extra down jacket that I don't use than need one and not have it but you spent your whole pro career racing in some of the most beautiful places in the world yet we talked about this in the previous podcast you don't ever really get to experience them all you ever see is Hotel team bus wheel on front team bus Hotel wheel on front and you walk away from a pro career and technically you've been to almost every country in the world but now you need to go back and start visiting them because you've missed all the stuff I've never actually seen these tourist sites was there another party in this that's just like go and experien the desert and actually take you know stock of what's around me I know Taylor finny last year wrote it in four days probably had quite a supply of magic mushrooms with them pair of flip flops mountain bike and really took stock of it was there a party that wishes you done it like that or are you always just going to be the competitor I hope that I can I would love to be that guy more often um yeah and I think as I transition and move around in like this kind of post like Pro road racing part of my career I do feel like even still like I I experience it take it in a lot more than I did before um even during Badlands I made like a conscious point to like like look like even on these descents and really try to take it in when I could um and you would do kind of or at least I get kind of bummed out like when like riding through the night he it has a certain Ure to it it's kind of cool it's really cool um but you are also missing out on like you know some of these you go over a mountain and like it's not like you're just in a tree cave the whole time right like there's going to be amazing huge like views so you don't get any of that you get a different experience for sure but you don't get any of like these panoramic views so during Badlands I really did like you try um as best you can to like absorb that and retain it and like be part of the experience because that's kind of what you're doing like stuff like this like you're doing it not just like the races you know a big part of it and trying to get a good resolve is is important but like like you say it's like a spent a career just like always focused um and then you know I think we talked about in the last podcast where I drove down the coast to California and I was like this is stunning and I have raced this no less than three times in California like and I don't remember any of it you know um like this is the stuff they make car commercials out of and then Badlands was just that it's like you know you're back there and it was crazy too because of the weather we had it was just like we were seeing stuff that they never see like just crazy skums and the storm coming in and just the contrast of like this orange like sand that looks like you're riding through Grand Canyon so yes there was stuff like that I really tried to retain but this to your point like the same time you're also in a bik rce and you are pretty like you have to be switched on especially when you're still in a group like there's no way to like get around like a racing mentality in a group and like also be like looking around and like taking in the smell of the Roses but yeah trying to find a balance I think for me is really important now in this kind of second phase of my career because that is a big reason why I go to a lot of these places and like the aure of doing certain events is like where they are not just because it's like you know a prestigious event Badland posted a picture of you on their Instagram after finishing and the finish I think it was actually a video and the Finish just looks it's not through to California let's just say that it's exceptionally lowkey finish what's the first thing you do after such an excruciating distance and going to the pits of fatigue in a mental and physical sense what are you reaching for what's your first experiences are you calling home to say you're safe um I was super fortunate actually my uh wife Ricky was there at the finish so um that was pretty special for me um first thing I did was just like get off the bike and not sit down anymore um but uh yeah it's just I think with those big massive events it's like you're just so happy to be done and you uncp and you're like okay life is better now like the pain has stopped you know you're going to go to bed and have a nice sleep now um I knew she'd already checked me in she had uh like somehow a hot fresh pizza and like a cold beer waiting so um she's a keeper man that was like the greatest thing in the world those are two things I absolutely love and after something like this this might be the best pizza I think I this this could be world's best pizza right in capila like who knew you know um so that was pretty incredible um and then yeah it's funny because time just becomes like this weird thing like you don't even realize how little like I thought I was there for like an hour and a half but the guy who finished second was only an hour behind me and like I was at home in bed by the time he crossed the line and I thought I'd been there for ages but I basically finished smashed a beer brushed the whole pizza and then like limped cuz there's no way I was getting back on the bike I limp back to the hotel room so that all happened within an hour um so yeah when you finish it's just like the Euphoria being done feels incredible because you just you don't have to suffer anymore um and then yeah food and beer like something that's not sugar or just plain water is like a pretty nice change excuse the short Interruption but I wanted to find a way to bring our little community together to problem solve to share training advice and to support each other in what can sometimes be a lonely road as we all Chase health happiness and Longevity through cycling to facilitate this I've set up a Discord Channel I'm going to leave a link in the description down below it doesn't cost anything to join it's totally free plus I'm also picking out random winners for spot prizes inside the Discord Channel if you'd like to join it click on the link down below what's the Legacy impact of rying in event like this both mentally and physically I have friends that have ridden at this year's event and last year's Edition and they've had some strange injuries one of them was a bike mechanic last year and he couldn't use his hands for like a couple of months afterwards he' no feeling in his fingers just hadn't got that dexterity to Shad cables and stuff yeah that's super common um I get numb hands near the end I wore gloves this time for the first time only done a couple but um yeah I decided to wear gloves and I think it did help prolong kind of like General paralysis um I still have like a bit of numbness and like these two just a bit like the dexterity is still there like do like move my hands um they're usually kind of numb for a few days afterwards um just CU you're like crushing the nerve for so long and then same thing like in your elbow like you're just sitting there um I think something like a a fox taper cast Fork would be good for something like that um but uh for me actually yeah I kind of thought I [ __ ] myself yeah I've been off the bike for like three weeks now which is kind of annoying because it's pretty much killed the back part of my season and that it's killed the back part of my season yeah sleep gets totally destroyed because you gave yourself like jet leg um without going anywhere you don't sleep for two days um hands are numb but that came back we get so I'm not worried like this seems to be normal enough um but then yeah I didn't ride like we were on full vacation mode afterwards which was fine as I needed to take some time off anyways but then I kind of got like sciatica in my back uh my feet are still kind of like tingling like the nerves are still jacked um they're getting better but slowly uh and then because of all that like my hips are like basically fell apart so now I can't ride without knee pain because my like can't seem to get my hips lined up so I need to get physio um so I had this whole second part of the Season planned doing like World Championships and stuff and I've had to kind of like pull out of that um because you have to be able to ride a bike well race a bike and I can barely ride it for like you know an hour um without uh you know quite a bit of pain and so um I think that was probably oh and then throw in uh a TR trans Atlantic like 13 hour set of flights um just sitting in one position um so I think you and you combine all that stuff like obviously super tight muscles um probably just a boatload of inflammation not riding for a week just like on recovery mode but also like I need I needed to do something and I didn't do anything like bike related but I was walking around a bunch which is about like a totally different mechanism and then the final piece of it was like I think the flight back home and I remember getting off the flight and I was like God my feet feel like really pins and needly like this is I don't know if this is good um and then like two days later it was just like the whole like PR or uh like posterior chain just like detonated and like couldn't ride feet were jacked like lower back like I think it's not like pain it's just sort of yeah like pins and needles like slight pinch nerve everything is like piano wire tight um so it's just I've had like stuff like this years ago um actually the year I did uh worlds um and woods was third uh I survived that race on like a leave and Tylenol like I was in so much pain but when I got off the flight the day afterwards I could barely walk off the plane I was like my knees were jacked my back was jacked and it took like what a month of like physiotherapy to get back and it's like yeah so there's there's a lot to it I think that some people are lucky enough not to get um and other people aren't so lucky and like I said I haven't had a ton of experience like when I did the one Vancouver Island I it was fine like I didn't have any of this stuff like a little bit of like the pins and needles and tingling but I think it's because I was sleeping on my own bed like you know sitting the norm attacks like you know I had like went for a ni easy spin on my road by flat ground versus you know 15,000 steps a day for a week and like sleeping in a form bed and some airport travel and that kind of stuff like it's good for the brain for sure for the bra but but it was just the body I guess now I know like it didn't love that so yeah it's uh yeah when you talk about kind of some long-term effects yeah we're looking at almost a month out now and still kind of like screw do you think these Ultra endurance events not just Badlands but in general we're seeing this uh more democratization of these Ultra events they used to be for quite a fringe part of the Cycling group now we're seeing a lot more cycling participation in these events do you think they have a long-term effect on health and well-being I don't think they're that good for you um but I don't think anything I I'm not sure like like if you do two or three of them in a year it just doesn't seem like a good idea yeah I mean know I wouldn't necessarily argue um but I also think doing three grand Tours in a year is probably not that good of idea and the would Pro probably argue um and rightfully so um I think for some people it affects them differently um I think the way you do it like you say if you you go into it with proper sleeping stuff and you know a bit more of a relaxed pacing strategy um obviously I like these are like super challenging any way you cut it it's just not sleeping for 2 days and like that kind of stuff is like a bit much I think for anybody to do lots of in a year like some of these people they're totally wired to do it um I go to a pretty dark place um when I do these things turns out uh which is fine I don't mind the pain like that's it is what it is it's just like yeah my body definitely revolts after the fact fact but uh yeah it's I like I definitely question its health and like it's actual like long-term effects um and I say each person's different but I maybe if you don't ride it as hard as you can it has less of an effect but like you say you're mate with the hands like that's I think that's a super that's really common like lots of people like are left with like these three fingers especially cuz see the runs um out and like those are jacked from a lot of people all the time uh yeah I think it's it's a lot for sure so the injuries is kind of taking you out of finish of the lifetime Grand par season the gravel worlds are you going into winter mode as soon as you rehab this and start building for next year have you started thinking about next year yet you let your yourself think about it or do you need to recover well yeah ironically on the tail end of like that last statement I also have um across Andes in h November that I'd still really like to do that's uh a th kilometer uh nice that sounds chill yeah yeah Ultra race uh in Patagonia so yeah so obviously I'm just as ignorant as I am uh yeah intelligent um so no uh hopefully I'd like to be able to get the body like the thing is you don't need to be super fit for these things like as far as like racing goes you need to be like sorry you don't need be super fast of these things for me you just need to be fit and fresh like I went into Badlands quite fit like good engine like was feeling good but I was super fresh I gained probably five pounds the week before like just like full vacation mode knowing full well that I'd use it during the race and I did I think that's what got me through that like 13 hour window um I was just like crazy fueled but uh and like totally relaxed like there's no fatigue in my body going into that event so I think Patagonia being in a similar boat kind of like frh fresh and excited to ride my bike is good I just have to get to the point where I can ride the bike and then we can work backwards from there but uh um and yeah as far as next year goes I'm already starting to think I'm always like thinking about next year this is like you know you spend a career bike racing it's like September October is when you start to think about the following year um the majority of my partners Are all uh they're all two-year deals so this is year one of that deal so um thankfully I don't have that looming stress and um I think kind of that continuing evolution of what my career is looked like since stopping Road like maybe not necessarily doing specifically speed gravel maybe more of these maybe not more of but you know some different Ultra Adventure type rides and then maybe a bike pack to her next year or something like this and then traveling a bit more like remote or a bit more offerd to some new stuff versus so much stuff in North America maybe try I'd like to get to Africa get to Asia ride Different Bikes like you know do something on the new um O2 vam uh do a little something on the hard tail that's not like just sea otter or Leadville um you know just exploring kind of like the different things you can do on different bikes like it's there's so much out there and that's not just specifically like highend speed so robt great catching up as always if you do do uh Patagonia or the Andes uh almost get you back on and we'll chat about that as we say over here we'll chat some torf about that hope you heal up congratulations on Badlands hopefully it's not an injury to stays with you for a long time and thanks for taking the time for cool thanks man that was awesome if you enjoyed this episode please press up here for another conversation which I know you're absolutely going to love and don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on some amazing upcoming guests

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long does the Badlands cycling race take to complete?+

The Badlands race covers roughly 700 kilometres across southern Spain and the fastest finishers complete it in just over 38 hours. Rob Britton won the 2024 edition in 38 hours and 20 minutes, riding much of the final 550 kilometres solo after attacking around the seven-hour mark.

What is the Badlands gravel race and how hard is it?+

Badlands is a self-supported ultra-endurance gravel race held in Andalusia, Spain, widely regarded as one of Europe's toughest gravel events. Riders carry all their own supplies with no outside assistance permitted, navigating extreme heat, remote terrain, and severe sleep deprivation across the full distance.

How did Rob Britton prepare for Badlands ultra cycling?+

Rob Britton credits a long single-day ride on Vancouver Island as his most useful preparation for Badlands, rating it above any structured training block. As a former WorldTour road cyclist, his existing aerobic base was substantial, but that specific extended effort most closely replicated the demands of the race.

What is the hardest part of the Badlands ultra race?+

According to Rob Britton, the overnight mental fatigue rather than the heat or technical terrain is the decisive factor in the race. He experienced distinct waves of cognitive difficulty during the night hours, and managing those mental lows proved more challenging than any physical element of the 700-kilometre course.

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Key Takeaways

Front-loading effort and establishing a gap early can be decisive in ultra-endurance events—Rob's 'attack' with 550km to go at just 330W (which extrapolates to a 600W effort over 48 hours) was enough to break the race open for good

Strategic food management at refuel stops is critical; being trapped between major stops with only two bananas and a Coke forced Rob to enter 'cruise control' and moderate effort for 13+ hours overnight

Ultra-endurance racing causes serious post-event complications—nerve damage (numb hands, tingling feet), sciatica, hip dysfunction, and sleep disruption can linger for weeks and derail race calendars, even for experienced athletes

Short power naps (7 minutes) during ultra events are surprisingly effective because fatigue is so severe you'll sleep anywhere; Rob napped on gravel roadsides and concrete without gear, proving comfort matters less than nervous system recovery

Pacing by feel rather than power is more sustainable for multi-day efforts; Rob sat at around 220W early and dropped to 180W later, but rigid watt targets would have caused earlier collapse

Expert Quotes

"I spent a career racing in the most beautiful places in the world yet you don't ever really get to experience them—all you see is hotel, team bus, wheel on front, team bus, hotel. I would love to be that guy more often."

"When you go back and look at what that was it was like sitting at 220 for a really long time and then it's like after 24 hours it was like 180... if you tried to ride a power I think you would just crumble."

"I don't think [ultra-endurance events] are that good for you... doing three of them in a year just doesn't seem like a good idea. My body definitely revolts after the fact but I maybe question its health and like its actual long-term effects."

KEY QUOTES

“I had two different naps for 7 minutes uh in — nice luxurious yeah yeah I know like straight up like set the timer on the phone for seven minutes put it on my chest close my eyes was in like a coma um and then probably stopped if you look at the straa file for the last 10 hours I probably stopped 15 times just for like these little breaks to give my nervous system a break”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

“when you go back and look at what that was it was like sitting at 220 for a really long time and then it's like after 24 hours it was like 180 and then you just get these big spikes because the last bit is just like huge climb”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

“it's 6:30 we're going to ride through the night now there's going to be nothing open like probably until 700 a.m. at best like this is Spain and I have two bananas a Coke like basically meat cheese bread baguette and I certainly don't have 13 hours worth of ride food on my bike”
Rob Britton — Professional cyclist and Badlands race winner

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long does the Badlands cycling race take to complete?+

What is the Badlands gravel race and how hard is it?+

How did Rob Britton prepare for Badlands ultra cycling?+

What is the hardest part of the Badlands ultra race?+

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED - ROB BRITTON’S BADLANDS SAGA | ROADMAN PODCAST

Key Takeaways

Expert Quotes

KEY QUOTES

Welcome and Badlands intro

Fueling through the 13-hour night

Descending tactics and sleep strategies

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WHAT REALLY HAPPENED - ROB BRITTON’S BADLANDS SAGA | ROADMAN PODCAST

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WHAT REALLY HAPPENED - ROB BRITTON’S BADLANDS SAGA | ROADMAN PODCAST

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3.Descending tactics and sleep strategies

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Welcome and Badlands intro

Fueling through the 13-hour night

Descending tactics and sleep strategies

Welcome and Badlands intro

Fueling through the 13-hour night

Descending tactics and sleep strategies