Mike Hall is a quiet, unassuming rider, happy to chat tyre treads, or pies, or great trails. But he’s also capable of turning round and smashing out 200 off road miles, day after day, carrying fewer possessions than we’d take on a day in the Peaks.
Having only seriously got into 24 hour endurance mountain bike racing in 2009, in his late 20s, Mike quickly showed that he had the focus and absolute discipline to prepare for the longer, blue riband events like the Tour Divide.
Preparing through cold, dark winters, often riding a hugely geared fixie through the lanes of Yorkshire, Mike racked up the miles, pared down his equipment and finished 11th on his first attempt at the Tour Divide. This was followed by a first place in the World Cycle Race (around the world in 91 days…), a first at the Tour Divide in 2013 (that wasn’t officially a record due to a forest-fire diversion) and another first in the 2016 Tour Divide, smashing the record while he was at it in 13 days, 22 hours and 51 mins.