← All eventsRace Around Rwanda
A ~1,000km self-supported gravel ultra looping Rwanda, the 'Land of a Thousand Hills' — relentless red-dirt climbing at altitude with a ~159hr cutoff. Elevation is approximate.
Rwanda is the Land of a Thousand Hills, and this self-supported gravel race climbs almost all of them: roughly 18,000m of ascent over a ~1,000km loop from Kigali, with essentially no recovery flat.
It isn't a wilderness epic. Rwanda is densely populated, so you climb through terraced hillsides, tea plantations and busy villages, resupplying constantly and rarely riding alone.
The ~159 hour cutoff sounds generous, and it is. Winners come home in under two and a half days. The challenge isn't the clock, it's climbing well hour after hour, day after day.
Who finishes, and how
Patterns like these, drawn straight from 2025 race data, are baked into how Beina coaches you for this event.
Is Race Around Rwanda for you?
- Strong climbers who don't fade. With no flat to hide on, the result goes to whoever can still climb well on day three, not whoever is fastest fresh.
- Self-sufficient riders who like company on course. You resupply in villages constantly and are rarely alone, so it suits sociable, adaptable racers.
- Riders who have handled big-climbing days and can cope with altitude. Everything sits at 1,500 to 2,500m, which quietly compounds every effort.
- Anyone chasing an adventure over a pure result. This is a cultural journey through one of Africa's most welcoming countries as much as a bike race.
Training plan for Race Around Rwanda
A training plan for Race Around Rwanda isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Relentless climbing with no recovery flat, so climbing endurance decides everything
- Moderate altitude, 1,500 to 2,500m, thinning the air on every effort
- Red-dirt roads that turn slick and sticky when the equatorial rain comes
- Fuelling 60 to 80g of carbs an hour to feed the constant vertical, day and night
- Long hilly endurance rides, building toward 8 to 10 hours with heavy climbing
- Weekend doubles: a big Saturday, then climbing again on tired legs Sunday
- A 3 to 4 day loaded bikepacking trip in the specialise block, your key race-specific session
- Climbing tempo and sweet-spot climbs to hold power on the long red-dirt drags
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
