UKC

Wasn't lucky enough to get selected to ride this year, I've got plenty of 1-2 day rides i can do but wondering if there are any other similar 5ish day UK epics

Why don't you do it anyway? Why did you have to get 'selected'? It's supposed to be an unsupported challenge.

An Turas Mor could be an option?

One thing you could do, as has been suggested to a friend who didn't get a spot last year, is to do the route but set off a day behind the competitors and see how many you pass. A good show on your Strava should net you a place for the next year, assuming that by then you still want to do it.

The Transalpine/Provence mtb and the European Divide trail look fantastic.

ITT the route.

Or go look at GBDuro route. 

Lakeland 200?

https://bikepacking.com/plog/steezy-lakeland-200-project-part-2/

That's a 1.5 day jobbie, i have ridden it before but on my list to do again

Why not do it solo?

I'm not sure, there's not much logic to it, just feels a bit rude somehow

I wouldn't solo it in parallel with the group start (that would definitely be considered bad form) but there's nothing at all to stop you doing it in your own time. Plenty of folk target the week before or after. If you've got enough flexibility to pick good weather at short notice, that's even better.

Yeah do it anyway, its kind of an ego driven event run by Alan. Just enjoy it on your own terms. Or..

The Cairngorm loop is fantastic. I know it's shorter, but much more fun as more rideable. 

Perhaps a bit rude/provocative if you do it at the same time, but certainly not at any other time.

One could argue that entrants of commercial events don't take precedence over anyone else but yes, it would appear churlish to join the race without actually being part of it. However, as I said above, it was the organiser who advised a friend who missed a place last year to set off independently a day after the start.

In a more gentler world, I was told by an organiser/founder  of the TGO/Ultimate challenge to not bother entering, but to do it independently from the opposite direction.  In the end met a few folk doing it when doing a W-E a couple of weeks on.

Do you have a link to the route or a gpx please?

It's all here: https://www.cairngormsloop.net/

You will love the Cairngorm loops, both inner and outer. The challenge is to do both non-stop. Have a look at the Deeside Trail as well. You could link them.

https://deesidetrail.com

Thank you kind folk, plenty to do there

After the amazing progress made in Scotland for MTB access, and the righteous diss heaped on ramblers and land owners who try to restrict access....

I'm just gobsmacked that people are seriously entertaining the thought that this organised event should dictate that  others should keep away.

This.

You can get a GPX easily from Bikepacking.com

The whole route is ?280km, a larger more rideable loop, and a smaller (but rougher) inner loop (you sort of go round twice). I've done all of it, but if you want the most rideable then I think that you can't beat doing the outer loop which is 99% rideable and a great route. 

https://bikepacking.com/routes/cairngorms-loop/

And you will keep riding them until you do love them! Now get to it.

Well obviously anyone can ride the route anytime they like *shrug* and no one's saying the trails are all shut that week. But it's Alan's creation and just basic respect to him and the group start not to gatecrash, particularly if you've applied but not got in. 

Plus from a practical point of view, there'll be fifty odd riders competing for space in all the bothies and dosses en route that week. So unless you really want to be the fifty-first...

Oh, and "organised event"? Only in the loosest possible sense

Sound like the best reason not to get 'selected' and to do it some other time!