A journey along the WW1 front lines between Austria and Italy It’s late morning and I’m coasting down a slight incline on a paved road. Despite the smooth surface and gravity in my favor, I can’t go faster than 20kph. Because I can’t pedal. I’m exhausted. No, it’s not that. I am very familiar withContinue reading “Memory Bike Adventure”
Category Archives: Ultra-cycling
The Rhino Run
It’s around 2 am, somewhere in South Africa. I am cold and trying to muster whatever energy I have left to climb a gnarly hill. The Rhino Run, a 2,740 km long bikepacking race, started at 6am, which is now a day in the past. At this point, I’ve covered around 350 km on a wideContinue reading “The Rhino Run”
Looking back at the 2022 SRMR
A few days before the start of this year’s Silk Road mountain race, I found myself bed ridden with a bad case of tonsillitis. For two days, I couldn’t do much but sleep, cough and drink tea. As the start got closer, I got a little bit better, but on race day I was stillContinue reading “Looking back at the 2022 SRMR”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 8
One of the things I struggle with the most in ultra-cycling races is getting out of my sleeping bag after grabbing a few hours of sleep outside. Paradoxically I have absolutely no problem with the discipline required to get out of bed after 4 hours of sleep in a hotel. I never press snooze. AlarmContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 8”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 7
It’s 5:20AM when I set off from Baetov where I slept for 4 hours and I’m 460km away from the finish. When racing I’m constantly making calculations to try and figure out where I’ll be at a certain time or how long I have before reaching the finish. When I started making these calculations atContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 7 “
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 4
When I wake up in Tamga four hours after falling asleep, it’s bright and sunny outside and yesterday’s storm is nothing but a bad memory. The babouchka who took care of me last night is already up. Looks like running a guesthouse in Kyrgyzstan involves as much sleep as ultracycling. She offers me some breakfastContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 4”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 3
It’s 4am and a light drizzle is falling when I leave Kochkor. I have a bit less than 40km to ride on the main road before returning to the gravel but it’s not exactly rush hour, so I enjoy a quiet stroll on gentle uphill gradients. As the sun rises, the light rain stops andContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Day 3”
Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Days 1 and 2
It’s 9:30pm when about 100 riders extract themselves from the mini busses where they were all cramped up for about 6 hours. The Silk Road Mountain Race is supposed to start in thirty minutes, but all of us know there’s no chance this is gonna happen. The semis carrying our bikes are hundreds of kilometersContinue reading “Silk Road Mountain Race 2021 / Days 1 and 2”
Transpyrénées recap
June 27th, 8am, Llançà, Spain. After much anticipation, the 2021 edition of the Transpyrénées starts. It’s my 13th ultra-cycling race, however it is a very special one for me. 7 months ago I broke my knee in a traffic accident. After getting a titanium plate screwed to my tibia, I had to hop on crutchesContinue reading “Transpyrénées recap”
Ultra heroes
What I want this blog to be is not only a place where I tell my stories, but also a space where I can reflect on bikepacking, bike touring and ultra cycling. One of the questions I’ve often asked myself about self-supported bike racing is: who are the real heroes? In most cultures, it wouldContinue reading “Ultra heroes”
Sofiane Sehili 