← All eventsSilk Road Mountain Race
~1,900-2,050km self-supported high-altitude bikepacking ultra through Kyrgyzstan's Tian Shan. ~28,000-35,000m climbing, passes above 3,500m, 400km+ resupply gaps. Solo/pairs. 14-day cutoff. Route (and start/finish) redrawn yearly. 2027 date approximate.
One of the hardest bikepacking races on earth, and one of the most remote. A self-supported traverse of Kyrgyzstan's Tian Shan, with stretches of 400km and more between anything you could call resupply.
The route is redrawn every year, start and finish towns included, but the character never changes: gravel, derelict Soviet tracks, and five passes above 3,500m where thin air does the damage.
You get 14 days and the clock never stops. Generous, until appetite vanishes, sleep breaks at altitude, and you are pushing a loaded bike up a loose pass. Out here, finishing is the win.
Is Silk Road Mountain Race for you?
- Experienced multi-day bikepackers, not first-time tourers. This is durability over seven to fourteen days, and altitude humbles even genuinely fit riders.
- Riders who stay calm being self-sufficient. No feed stations, no support crew, no course markings, just you, a GPX file and what you carry.
- Slow-burners who ration effort. Average speeds of 8 to 13 km/h are normal, so the win goes to whoever keeps eating, sleeping and moving.
- People who make peace with hike-a-bike. Hours of pushing a loaded bike up loose passes at altitude is part of the race, not a detour.
Training plan for Silk Road Mountain Race
A training plan for Silk Road Mountain Race 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.
- Days on end above 3,000m, where thin air taxes even a strong aerobic engine
- Freezing nights against 30C valley days, with snow possible on the high passes even in August
- Loose, steep passes that force you off the bike to push a fully loaded rig
- Long remote stretches where a fuelling or kit mistake is days from any help
- Long Z2 endurance rides off-road, building from four hours toward ten and beyond
- Back-to-back weekends, then an overnight bikepacking ride with a cold bivvy, to learn to ride on tired legs
- Loaded bike pushes on steep, loose ground plus hill walks with a pack for hike-a-bike strength
- A four to five day bikepacking trip in the specialise block, full kit, to rehearse the real thing
- 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
