After having competed in the Transcontinental Race No 9 this year, it seems I’ve caught the “ultra-bug”, like a few others before me. On top of that, while riding all those gravel sections, somehow the thought had crossed my mind that I would really like to do offroad ultras. On second thought this came as quite a surprise to me, as I’ve felt absolutely no desire to do any serious mountain biking again, although it used to be something I loved doing, as 15 years ago I competed in marathon and XC mountain bike racing. It felt like a lost love to me, and it feels like it took me quite some time to come to terms with it. Nonetheless, I hope to gather a lot of experience doing all the ultra-races below and hopefully on one of them everything will come together, and I’ll score a good result.
9. February – Atlas Mountain Race
- MTB
- 1’300km
- 21’000hm
- Fixed route
- Self-Supported
- 3 Checkpoints
- Strecke auf Komoot: Atlas Mountain Race 2024 Route
AMR 2024 is definitely the race am most looking forward to experience the upcoming year. I really want to ride through the Atlas Mountain region and embrace the challenge of doing the within the setting of a self-supported ultra race. The pictures of the landscapes just look so stunning and it’s just a privilege to be able to live through such landscapes in person. Due to the fact that quite a lot of the terrain is definitely rough and there will a few stretches along the route where I’ll have to hike-my-bike, I’m expecting this race to be really tough. On top of that it is really remote at times, which means that managing water and supplies will be of extreme importance. There are people doing this route on gravel bikes, but personally, I’ll ride a hardtail mountain bike.
25. April – Italy Divide (optional)
- Gravel / Mixed Terrain
- 1’250km
- 23’000hm
- Fixed route
- Self-Supported
- Strecke: Italy Divide Route
If you’re into cycling long distances or just cycling then riding through Italy’s varying terrain and landscapes should be reason enough to go for an extended ride. This route wouldn’t be so much about competing for me. If I decide to participate in it (squeeze it into my calendar), then I’d like to gather more experience riding really long, consecutive days, managing food and sleep plus apparently enjoy that I’m alive.
15. Juni – Hope 1000
- MTB
- 1’000km
- 29’000hm
- Fixed route
- Self-Supported
- Strecke – Hope 1000 Route
The Hope 1000 is definitely a bucket list race for me. Being Swiss I have to do this at least once and at this point in the season I’d love to have gathered some more experience, which I could apply to this race to hopefully score an as good as possible result. 1’000km with almost 30’000 meters of climbing is absolutely no joke and although one is never in really remote places, which means supplies and accomodation will always be close, this one is going to be one tough ride.
Ende Juli – VIA Race or Transcontinental Race No 10
- VIA: Road
- 4’000km
- 40’000
- Self-Supported
- Infos VIA Race – VIA Race Additional Information
Update 23rd December: upon asking I’ve received confirmation that I qualify for participation in the VIA Race. I’m very much looking forward to riding this route!
By today (16th December) I’ve already applied for the VIA Race, but not yet for the Transcontinental Race No 10. VIA Race really appeals to me because of the route. To me cycling through the Pyrenees and the Alps always sounds like a good reason to spend way too much time in the saddle. On the other hands there is TCR No 10, which will take riders through the Balkans, once more, bringing them to Istanbul. The thought of crossing the entire continent again is extremely appealing, but crossing a possible war zone (Kosovo) has me a bit worried (maybe for nothing). Other than that I would love to see the TCR start in Portugal and end somewhere in Latvia for instance, which would mean crossing the continent as well but very differently to compared to the previous editions of the TCR.
September – Via Alpina 6
- MTB
- 43 apline passes
- 695km
- 47’000hm
- Fixed Route
- Self-Supported
- Erstbefahrung als FKT (Fastest Known Time)
- Strecke: Via Alpine 6 Route
I honestly don’t know if this is a good idea or not (lauhgs). It’s certainly a crazy idea to attempt “riding” this route. The elevation profile is nothing short of absolutely ridiculous, since I’d be covering 47’000 meters of elevation gain in only 700km, which means an average gradient (up and down) of 6.7% or in other words the average grade going uphill is 13.4%. There are no less than 43 moutain passes along the route and a lot of time is going to be spent 2’000 meters above sea level. Doing this route with a moutainbike, even if it means that I’ll have to hike my bike a lot, is something I want to find out if it’s possible or not and hopefully I can push the boundries of this sport a bit.
