Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
On Saturday afternoon, Angus Young finished first at the 2025 Dales Divide in the UK, completing the 600-kilometer route in a record time of 33 hours and 47 minutes. Learn more about Angus’ impressive ride and his minimal Mason Macro setup here…
The Dales Divide is a race for some and a ride for many. It follows a 600-kilometer route from Arnside on the UK’s west coast, across the Yorkshire Dales, the Vale of York, and the Yorkshire Wolds, to the east coast at Scarborough, and then returns via the North York Moors and the Northern Yorkshire Dales. It’s a challenging route with plenty of off-road riding, where the fastest riders generally take advantage of comforts like front suspension and dropper posts to navigate the rough terrain.
Angus Young is no stranger to bikepacking races and has earned himself many podium finishes over the years. Just last year, he took first place in the pairs division at the Atlas Mountain Race, placed second at Bright Midnight in Norway, finished in sixth at the Silk Road Mountain Race, and in 2023, Angus won the Highland Trail 550. In 2022, he took on the Dales Divide and set a fastest known time (FKT) of 35 hours and 47 minutes. In his post-ride blog entry, he shared details on his ride and some thoughts on how to ride it even faster.
His experience paid off, because yesterday afternoon, Angus took first place at the 2025 Dales Divide, besting his record and Justinas Leveika’s 2023 FKT by over an hour. Angus’ official finish time was 33 hours and 47 minutes. He rode the same Mason Macro he pedaled at the Silk Road Mountain Race and his Arizona Trail attempt, but this time he set it up with drop bars to see how it felt, likely experimenting for other events he has planned in the year ahead.
His setup looked very minimal, with just a frame bag, top tube bag, and a Restrap hydration vest. He relied on Hunt Proven carbon wheels, a dynamo hub, and Exposure lights to keep moving forward, only stopping for about 20 minutes during the entire ride, according to Trackleaders. We reached out to Angus for a quick post-race reflection, and here’s what he had to say.
“What a race it was, a strong headwind for the first 300km was draining and I entered the night feeling a little low having gone out a little hard. By the time the sun came up my legs had come back around and now that wind was our friend. The splits were looking fast but I had Dicky right behind me. I spotted him at the bottom of the climb coming out of the North York Moors. I decided that I just about had enough food so skipped that resupply in Northallerton which gave me a bit of breathing room. From there I pushed hard all the way to the end. Overall, a strong ride but I’m in bits now. I fitted drop bars to my Mason Macro for the first time this week and the position could still do with some tweaking as the steep rocky steps did a number on my hands with my weight so far forward. It’s a fantastic route and I would recommend it to anyone first timers to seasoned riders, it would even work well as a bikpacking trip.”
Following Angus, Dicky Hibbert and Alex Berry took second and third, respectively, and Kerry MacPhee is positioned to be the first woman to finish this year’s event. Follow their progress live via the event page. Congrats to Angus and everyone else participating!
Further Reading
Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...
Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.
