Racing through the night: Mark Beaumont's record breaking NC500 ride

Cycling Weekly goes behind the scenes for 28 hours to see how it was really done

Mark Beaumont NC500
(Image credit: Markus Stitz (markusstitz.com))

Complete darkness is slightly alien to those of us who live in any kind of conurbation. Thanks to light pollution, even on the edges of an urban area, a faint hallogon glow bounces off the sky. You have to go a long way from civilization to enter into complete darkness, assuming you don’t fancy popping underground. But the Scottish Highlands provide this kind of sensory deprivation in abundance, it’s perfect total nothingness. 

This is what Mark Beaumont had to tackle on his attempt on the North Coast 500 (NC500) record, the 516-mile route that traces the north coast of Scotland, which meant non-stop riding through the night, a night that in mid-September lasted about 12 hours.

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