Conor: I can hear it. I can just hear it in the rush of the water. Wow, I see it. Oh,
my gosh. [chuckles] It's huge. Mate, I'm going. Look at the water coming. Come on, Hank. Hank,
come on. Look at the water. Oh, my God. Hank: There are many different ways to challenge
yourself in cycling. Racing is at the heart of our sport, and competition can motivate
us to push past our limits, in a way that we never believed was possible. Usually, we'd
compete against other riders, including the ghost of our own past efforts, but what about
a race against a truly strong, unrelenting beast? A race against the force of mother
nature herself. There aren't many opportunities out there like it, so when the chance to race
a tidal wave came about, well, we just couldn't say no. This is GCN's race against the Severn
bore tidal wave. [music]
We got up super early. It's still dark. We've come to the banks of the River Severn by a
town called Newnham on Severn. It's in the heart of the South West countryside. I'm not
going to lie, it's pretty nippy. Conor: At 290 kilometers, the River Severn
is Britain's longest river, starting in the mountains of Wales and finishing close to
the city of Bristol. It's also home to one rather amazing phenomenon, the Severn bore,
which, as it happens, is why we're up so early. The River Severn happens to have the third
largest tidal range in the world. Now, tidal range is the difference between low and high
tide. Most coastal ranges or beaches have a tidal range of around half a meter. However,
where we are now on the River Severn, the tidal range is 15 meters.
Hank: Absolutely, ginormous, isn't it? That huge amount of water that massively surges
gets amplified through the funnel-shaped Severn Estuary that is upstream. As it narrows, it
creates that big rush of water, which creates a visible tidal wave.
Conor: Now, there are a variety of factors which contribute to a larger tidal wave at
certain times of the year, things like rainfall in the mountains at the river source, the
strength of the tide or the wind direction, but there are a handful of times every year
when you can predict when there's going to be an extremely large tidal bore or wave,
and today is one of those days. Hank: We've hit the right day at the right
time. Now, this wave can travel around 13 or even 21 kilometers per hour, which sounds
easy on a bike, but the route we've taken might not be quite easy also to navigate it.
Conor: Our route starts here at Newnham on Severn and finishes upstream at Overbridge.
Hank: Lights are on. We're already getting muddy. I guess it's time to look at the route.
Conor: We can't follow the river directly, so instead, we have a 24.5 kilometer route
from here to our finish position in Overbridge on a mixture of roads, driveaways, and also
footpaths, which is why I'm wearing my running shoes.
Hank: Sorry, running? Conor: Yes. Well, we're going to have to carry
our bikes at some moments, Hank, to do a bit of running. I just opted for running shoes
because I think it's going to give me an advantage. Over five kilometers of running on our route.
Hank: I would never wear trainers on a bike, but each to their own. Mate, that water is
getting awfully close. Conor: It is. I think we need to get in position
because our start is rapidly approaching. Hank: I'm sinking. We've got to actually stay
moving, because, otherwise, we end up losing ourselves and that wouldn't be good. Mate,
are you ready? Conor: Yes, let's go. Come on, let's get into
position. Hank: As we waited for the wave, the surfers
started to arrive and head out into the water. We knew it was close.
Conor: We're told the wave is coming. I'm looking on the horizon for it. All the birds
on the river have just taken off, which is the sign that the water's coming. I can just
hear this rush of water. Hank: Get on your bike.
Conor: I can't see it yet. Wow, I see it. It's not far away. You see it there on the
bank? Oh, my gosh. It's huge. Hank: We've got 30 seconds before it's our
go time. Conor: Before a tidal wave literally hits
us. Hank: The surfers are on it.
Conor: The surfers are surfing it. Hank: Mate, are we going to give ourselves
a countdown? Conor: Here we go. Five, four, three. Mate,
I'm going. Look at the water coming. Look at the water. Really, I'm not staying any
longer. Hank: There it is.
Conor: I'm going. My shoe laces have come undone. I'm going.
[music] Come on, Hank. Hank, come on.
Hank: All right, let's go, go, go, go, go. [music]
Conor: Oh, my God. The mud's got too much for me.
[music] Hank: This is hard, mate.
[music] It's chilly.
Conor: First running section is about 500 meters, now.
Hank: Bloody hell, he's so cool, he didn't even try to open it.
Conor: The adrenaline is kicking and my legs-- My shoelaces have come undone. [pants]
Hank: Mate, the waves aren't waiting for us. Conor: I know. Let's go. Come on. We're going
to run this bit, mate, the footpath. Hank: Shit. Come on.
Conor: Okay. Hank: Come on.
Conor: We're behind now. You can see it way ahead of us. We're going to really have to
get a move on and get back ahead of it. [music]
Hank: Luckily, the first bit of running was complete. Time to hit harder, and, hopefully,
less muddy ground. [music]
Conor: We're back on the road now. Hank's morning alarm's going off. Even though we've
got some serious ground now, Hank, on the road, we really want to get to our next location
just to see where we are in relation to the wave. I have a feeling we're going to be quite
far behind at this stage. [music]
We've made it back to the river. I was nervous because it felt like we'd lost a lot of time,
but the river is still flowing downstream, which we're told means we're still ahead of
the waves. So muddy, so hard to keep your grip. I feel like I'm walking on quicksand.
[music] Hank: Conor, mate.
Conor: What? Hank: It's just there. [laughs] It's got a
surfer on it. [laughs] Conor: That's a bit [unintelligible 00:07:26]
Look at it. It's like a tidal wave. Hank: That's what it is.
Conor: We're back on the road. We've left the river once more, and that was a muddy,
muddy section, wasn't it? Look at Hank. Hank: Look at the state of me, mate.
Conor: He's absolutely covered. Hank: I'm absolutely covered.
[music] Hank: We're chugging along here. We got around
10K. We've seen the wave. We're ahead of it. Now, we're trying to keep ahead of it.
Conor: We've done about 45 minutes of total riding runtime, just to give you an idea of
how long it's taking us in those opening stages. Tough going with the running.
Hank: It has. Look at the state of me. [music]
We cracked on to our next spot, and could see the surfers preparing. We've hit the wave
again. We're up, the surfers are up and on it.
Conor: Hey. We're neck on neck. Neck and neck again. Look at that.
[music] Hank: We're still ahead of that wave.
Conor: We're on track. [background noise]
[music] Hank: We're coming up to an hour in, we're
still ahead of the wave, it's still looking good for Team HC known as GCN. We're just
fighting now. [music]
Come on, mate. Let's go. [music]
Conor: We are ahead, but, as you can see, a lot of running to come now. I think we're
both starting to tire. [music]
Absolutely soaking. Hank: I am muddy.
[music] Conor: Hank.
Hank: Yes? Conor: I've jam my chain.
Hank: Mate, sort it out quick. We haven't got that much-- [laughs]
Conor: I fully jammed it. I just jumped over the stag into the footpath. I was worried
there. Hank: We haven't got long. We need to get
going. Right. Back on the road, we go. Here we go, come on. Up.
[music] Hank: Just behind us, the wave was leaving
a path of destruction. We needed to keep our pace nice and high.
[background noise] [music]
Conor: We're ahead, but not by much. See, the river's on a real straight direction from
that point. It doesn't twist and turn as much, so it will travel faster than us.
Hank: 1K to go. Conor: Yes.
Hank: The race is on. [music]
Conor: The last running section, 1K to go. I feel that we've made good progress. We had
a solid stint on the road then, but now, we're on the home stretch. Final 200 meters, will
we make it? We won't know until the finish. [music]
Conor: Are we on track? Hank: I hope so.
Conor: Have we made it? Hank: [pants] Have we done it?
Conor: I think we've done it. Hank: I think we've done it.
Conor: It's flowing downstream. Hank: I think we've done it. Bike versus nature.
Conor: The bike did it. Well done, mate. Hank: What a race.
Conor: What a race. That was incredible. Hank: I'm knackered.
Conor: I'm shattered. Hank: I reckon we've got a minute or two before
it starts flying around that corner. Conor: I think so. It was neck and neck for
so long. Hank: The running was hard. The mud was hard.
The fence jumping was hard. Conor: Good effort, mate.
Hank: Yes, boy. I guess we've now got the perfect view to actually watch it.
Conor: Yes, relax, and enjoy the spectacle. [music]
Hank: We beat the waves- Conor: We made it.
Hank: -by a minute and about 30 seconds, didn't we?
Conor: Yes. Hank: Just in time to actually enjoy seeing
it come swooping around that corner. What an amazing race.
Conor: Unbelievable. It's an incredible spectacle, it really is. I think, at the beginning, I
was getting nervous because I thought we were way behind, and I was a bit stressed, but
we did it, pulled it out of the bag in the end. We got to the finish in time to enjoy
the moment. Hank: Guys, I hope you enjoyed what was--
Well, quite an extraordinary race, wasn't it?
Conor: It was. Incredible, incredible waving experience. Thank you for joining us on the
adventure. It was a brilliant one. Hank: If you enjoyed it, give it a big thumbs
up. Let us know what you thought in that comment section below. I reckon next time, you should
surf it. Conor: Yes, I'm bringing the surfer back.
Sure. Yes, definitely. Hank: Bike versus board. [laughs]
Conor: It's on. Hank: [unintelligible 00:12:45] See ya.
Conor: See ya. [00:12:49] [END OF AUDIO]