A new bikepacking event just landed on my radar, and it’s the kind of thing that makes me want to book flights before the route’s even fully confirmed. The El Sur bikepacking event launches its first edition in March 2027, running roughly 800km and 15,000m of climbing out of Málaga, deep into the mountains of […]
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On day five of The Goats I looked down at my Coros Dura and it showed 40% battery. Five days of continuous GPS navigation through some of the most remote terrain in Europe and the thing still had nearly half a tank. I never plugged it in once during the race. My friend riding alongside […]
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After riding hundreds of kilometers with very little sleep, your brain starts playing tricks on you. A bush becomes a person. A road sign looks like an animal. You swear someone is standing next to the road, only for them to disappear as you get closer. If you’ve never experienced it, it sounds impossible. If […]
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When people think about ultra-distance cycling, they usually focus on training, nutrition, or bike setup. Those are all important, but after racing events like Badlands, The Goats, and Gravel Birds, I’ve realised that one of the biggest performance factors is having a solid ultra cycling sleep strategy. Sleep isn’t just about recovery—it’s about staying safe, […]
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Ultra cycling race preparation is the difference between a hard race and one you can’t finish. Nobody feels ready for their first ultra — that’s normal. But there’s a difference between pre-race nerves and the kind of unpreparedness that turns a tough event into a suffering spiral you can’t climb out of. I’ve finished Gravel […]
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The Badlands race had been on my list for a long time. After finishing Gravel Birds and a failed attempt on The Goats, I knew this was the next one I wanted to do. I heard spots fill up fast, so I made sure to be among the first to apply. The heat was the […]
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You can drink plenty of water and still collapse. That’s the part most people don’t understand about racing in the heat. Hydration isn’t just about fluid volume — it’s about what’s in the fluid, and what you’re losing when you sweat that water isn’t replacing. Get this wrong in a hot ultra and you won’t […]
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There’s a moment, usually around midnight on day two of an ultra race, when you discover exactly what you packed wrong. It’s always something obvious. A bag that swings. A tool you can’t reach without stopping. A rain jacket buried so deep you skip putting it on and spend three hours soaking instead. I learned […]
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There’s a certain kind of knowledge that only gets shared at the right moment. You’re at the finish line of a 1,000 km race, or at the debrief dinner after a tough edition, and someone mentions something that stops you mid-sentence. A trick for managing saddle sores on day four. What to eat when your […]
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The plan was simple enough: pedal 540 kilometres before the 26th of May and arrive in Pontevedra, Galicia. Simple on paper, anyway. I started where every bikepacking trip through Portugal should start — under the Ponte 25 de Abril, the bridge that towers over the Tagus with the kind of scale that makes you feel […]
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