Pennine 500

The Pennine 500 is a self-supported bikepacking loop along the backbone of northern England, leaving the Calder Valley at Mytholmroyd and climbing a chain of hills all the way to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before turning for home.

The route strings together quiet lanes, dead-end fell roads and gated farm tracks with rough unpaved sections over the Howgills, past Maize Beck below Mickle Fell, along the River Swale and back through Haworth. Riders carry their own kit, use whatever village shops, cafes and petrol stations are open, and are encouraged to wild camp on the open moor, with a route guide of places to eat and shelter sent out in advance.

It is run by Adrian Wright as part of the Yorkshire Divide and Mills n Moors family of events, the same team behind the Calder Divide Trail, and riders can enter solo or as pairs and small teams. Every rider is tracked so friends can follow along, and finishers take home an embroidered cloth badge.