The Most Soul-Crushing Cycling Events on Every Continent
Get out your bucket list and prepare to suffer. These are some of the hardest cycling events from around the world.
Get out your bucket list and prepare to suffer. These are some of the hardest cycling events from around the world. – By Jeffrey Stern
When people consider the most difficult races in Africa, many name the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race, which has received the Hors Categorie rating from the UCI and attracts around 1300 entrants. The route changes with every year, but it usually covers around 750km in 8 days— and the racing is televised, well-supported and fierce, with pros competing for the top spots.
The Absa Cape Epic certainly deserves recognition, but the lesser-known tour of Ara covers more ground (around 800km) with less (no) support on course— and there’s a catch: you have to ride a pre-1999 steel frame built in the country where you were born or where you live. If no frames were built where you’re from, you must ride a South African-built frame. (A rule similar to many of the popular Italian Eroica races.) The setting adds to the challenge: in the often harsh, semi-desert Karoo region of South Africa, conditions have been known to change from sandstorm heat to rain and even snow in the blink of an eye.
The race follows a grueling route over mostly gravel roads, the Tour of Ara is limited to just two “intimate” waves of 40 riders each: One for those looking to merely conquer the arduous ride; and a race category for those watching the clock. The waves depart two days apart, taking six days to complete the route.
The Japanese Odyssey is much more than a point-to-point endurance event, taking an anything but direct route from Japan’s two main cities. Route maps indicate organisers make nearly every possible turn to accumulate more elevation per pedal stroke, which is great news if you love climbing. From Tokyo to Osaka, you will cross over ten mountain passes, including Mount Norikura which, at 2,700 meters, is the highest you can go by any paved road in Japan.
Race organisers have implemented a fourteen-day time limit on those brave souls attempting to ride across this ocean-locked country on the Asian continent. Required checkpoints over the mountain passes keep riders on course, but with no rankings, timing, or prize money on the table, the Japanese Odyssey all about the journey through the heart of the Japanese Alps.
The Croc Trophy mountain bike stage race in Australia covers 650 km and 13,000 meters of elevation over 8 days of racing through the harsh Australian outback. Having run since 1995, the Croc Trophy is also one of the longest-running mountain bike stage races in the world.
Racers encounter river crossings, wildlife, challenging trails and incredible scenery on each remote stage— and the fields are stacked with pro racers from both the road and mountain bike world.
Touted as one of the most difficult, longest and oldest endurance cycling events on any continent, Paris-Brest-Paris runs roughly 1,200km from Paris to Brest and back. From the first edition in 1891 until 1951, it was run as an annual race for those crazy enough to enter. For the last half-century, the event has become a randonnée which takes place every four years.
Featuring 5,000 people from more than 40 countries, this gathering has a true international feel. The most recent edition ran in the third week of August in 2015, so we’ll see it appear around then in 2019 for the 23rd edition, with the exact dates to be determined. No doubt this historically classic European endurance adventure will fill up quickly.
Starting in Canadian town of Banff, the Tour Divide takes mountain bikers along North America’s Continental Divide trail, traversing five states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming) before reaching the finish: a tiny patrol building on the Mexican border. Last year’s Tour Divide saw the distance total push 4,455 kilometers and brought along a new course record; Mike Hall of Yorkshire, England rode the course in 13 days, 22 hours, and 51 minutes, breaking the previous record by more than 12 hours.
While Mike finished in less than two weeks, other riders participate simply to enjoy the bountiful wildlife and remote wildernesses along the route, which touches on Glacier, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. To complete this journey, you need not only physical fitness but mental sharpness to solve a possible mountain bike mishap, hours from help in the unpredictable high-altitude of the Rocky Mountains.
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