Bikepacking and self supported ultra’s have become all the rage since the early days of the Pandemic. They’ve always existed, but seemed to be the domain of long international affairs, with a handful of hard core riders – think Tour Divide. There were always road ultra’s such as RAAM, Tour de France or Paris-Brest-Paris. But off road ultras that are accessible to more riders appear to be a fairly recent phenomenon.
In 2020, when we were confined to riding alone, no hotels were open, and the only way of getting out was to pack up a tent & a stove, and head for the hills, suddenly everyone became interested in bikepacking. Smaller, more accessible ultra events and races started to pop up. There are now hundreds of self sufficient ultra events to chose from, with widely varying features. If you are new to this world, there is bound to be an event that ticks all of your boxes, whether you like the discipline of racing, or just want a challenging event against the clock. Just take a look at the huge range of events listed on Bikepacking.com or Dotwatcher.com
So what are my options?
The first thing you need to decide is whether you want a road based event, or an off road based event. Road based is self explanatory, however an off road ultra is unlikely…
