Hamburg’s Backyard

Hamburg's Backyard is a 700-kilometre gravel event starting in Hamburg and looping through the forests, heathland, lake districts, and agricultural landscapes of northern Germany on predominantly unpaved roads. The Backyard concept is deliberately local and subversive: Hamburg is one of Germany's largest and most urban cities, and the event is built on the premise that world-class gravel riding exists in its immediate hinterland — riders just need to know where to find it. The route threads through the Luneburger Heide (one of Germany's largest heathland reserves), the Wendland river landscape, the lake country of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the rolling Holsteinische Schweiz (Holstein Switzerland) — a region of glacial hills and lakes that shares none of Switzerland's altitude but much of its scenic quality. The surfaces are predominantly gravel forest and farm roads, with quiet lanes connecting the sections. Unlike the alpine ultras that dominate the European ultra-cycling calendar, Hamburg's Backyard asks a different question: what can you find on your doorstep? The answer, it turns out, is more than most riders expect.

Date to be confirmed: 2026 (check site for exact date)