On the fifth day of the Silk Road Mountain Race, many of our riders made their way through the Chinese border zone. Vast grasslands stretch in every direction, hemmed in by jagged ranges that feel impossibly large. Rusting fences, distant watchtowers, and the hum of trucks passing through mark the frontier, but otherwise this is a place that feels almost untouched.

For riders, this stretch comes what will no doubt become the infamous Suyek Pass hike—thirty kilometers of rivers, scree, and thin air at over 4,000 meters. They arrive to the border road carrying stories of frozen shoes, broken chains, nights of snow and cold, but also of wild horses and sunlit valleys, and many moments that make the effort feel worthwhile. 

Riders featured in this episode

• Victor Eklund - Cap 205
• Oliver Geiger - Cap 149
• Maarten Vanhaverbeke - Cap 122
• Sami Sauri - Cap 174
• Leanne Bentley - Cap 116
• David Hills - Cap 50
• Nikolaay Bulgakov - Cap 145
• Carlotta Schumacher - Cap 31
• Stefan & Helene - Caps 312A & 312B
• Michael Gaffey - Cap 135
• Eric House - Cap 62

Click here to Dotwatch the race

Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates

Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Stephen Shelesky

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four days into the Silk Road Mountain Race, the field is now stretched across hundreds of kilometers. Leaders have already passed through Checkpoint Two at Kezgin Guesthouse, while much of the pack is still making their way over the Suyek Pass, the last major obstacle before reaching the valley near the Chinese border.

Tucked away in a stunning valley, surrounded by towering peaks, Checkpoint Two offers only a brief pause: hot food, a bed, and a stamp in the brevet card before the road pushes on. Riders arrive carrying stories of river crossings, long nights, frozen shoes, broken racks, and moments of beauty. Some gamble by carrying the bare minimum and pressing on, while others opt for warmth and rest, knowing the Soviet Road lies ahead.

Riders featured in this episode:

• Robin Gemperle - Cap 165
• Alex McCormack - Cap 8
• Anatole Naimi - Cap 10
• Chris Burkard - Cap 69
• Josh Ibbett - Cap 101
• Tomas Fabian - Cap 197
• Miron Golfman - Cap 137
• Meaghan Hackinen - Cap 132
• Alex Kopp - Cap 9
• "Vlad" Teisseire Wladimir - Cap 189
• Ashley Cordingley - Cap 22
• Daniel Perotti - Cap 46

Click here to Dotwatch the race

Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates

Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Stephen Shelesky

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sitting in the shadow of the towering Peak Lenin, Checkpoint One at Topol Camp feels like a real refuge. At 3,600 meters, the yellow tents stand against the wind, the alpine lakes reflect the mountains above, and riders arrive carrying stories from the road.

It’s just over 300 kilometers into the route, but already they’ve faced long hike-a-bikes, icy river crossings, and the reality of altitude. Some pressed on through the night, others chose to wait for safer water levels in the morning. For a few, sickness and fatigue turned CP1 into the natural end of their race. For most, it was a welcome pause — a place to eat, rest, and carry on.

From Robin Gemperle, first to arrive, to Camila Guaritá rolling in with just minutes before the cut-off, the voices in this episode capture the contrasts of those first days. Relief, doubt, joy, exhaustion, and the little things that keep you moving forward. A Simon & Garfunkel song hummed on the trail, a pocket full of condensed milk, the warmth of a yurt, the simple pleasure of a hot shower. The road from here stretches into the unknown: several hundred kilometers of tarmac before the next major hike-a-bike, and the decisions riders make now will shape the days ahead.

Riders featured in this episode:

• Andy Peterson - Cap 14
• Dennis Stegemann - Cap 55
• Leanne Bentley - Cap 116
• Tori Riemersma - Cap 200
• Thomas Quirk - Cap 194
• Robin Gemperle - Cap 165
• Alex McCormack - Cap 8
• Anatole Naimi - Cap 10
• Chris Burkard - Cap 69
• James & Kirsty - Caps 315 A&B
• Simon Petley - Cap 177
• Roz Osborne - Cap 171
• Anne Hutmacher - Cap 303A
• Ignacio Pellejero - Cap 86
• Johannes Santen - Cap 98
• Marius & Wililam - Caps 317 A&B
• Marlin Peterson - Cap 126
• Nat Anderson - Cap 319A
• Karen Jennings - Cap 107
• Guillaume Lallement - Cap 78
• Sami Sauri - Cap 174
• Camila Guaritá - Cap 30

Click here to Dotwatch the race

Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates

Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Stephen Shelesky

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first full day of the Silk Road Mountain Race is behind us. From Osh, riders faced over 6,000 meters of climbing in just 300 kilometers en route to Checkpoint One at Peak Lenin Base Camp. For some, that meant pushing on through the night. Others chose to rest early and save energy for the long road ahead.

In this episode, we follow riders up the tight switchbacks of the Koy-Djul Pass topping out at 3811m. They recount stories of their first night on the road. By late afternoon, the leaders had already reached CP1, with Robin Gemperle arriving first and Meaghan Hackman the first woman to arrive in 10th position overall. For everyone else, it’s still just the beginning of a long journey that will stretch to the cutoff on August 30th.

• Maarten Vanhaverbeke - Cap 122
• Andrei Tereskin - Cap 12
• Miron Golfman - Cap 137
• Max Cherkasov - Cap 131
• Carlotta Schumacher - Cap 31
• Daniel Gottschalk - Cap 45
• Victor Eklund - Cap 205
• Sergei Cherepanov - Cap 320
• Josh Ibbett - Cap 101
• Adam Palin - Cap 1
• Meaghan Hackman - Cap 132

Click here to Dotwatch the race

Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates

Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Lloyd Wright

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our podcast coverage begins in Osh as the Silk Road Mountain Race moves from registration day through to the race start. Riders gather in the theatre to collect trackers, check their bikes, and receive Albion race caps printed with their numbers, along with t-shirts, socks and goodies from our partners Pertex and Styrkr. The atmosphere is a mix of excitement and nerves—quiet conversations punctuated by laughter—as the reality of what’s ahead begins to sink in.

In this episode, you’ll hear from a handful of riders drawn from a field of 250. Some are returning after past editions, others are here for the first time. They share why Kyrgyzstan pulled them to the start line, what they’ve learned in previous races, and the mindset they’ll carry into the mountains. Following registration, they have one last briefing with Race Director Nelson Trees before setting off into the mountains

Riders featured in this episode

• Max Cherkasov - Cap 131
• Karen Wykurz - Cap 106
• Gabi & Herman - Caps 311A&B
• Chris Burkard - Cap 69
• Tobias Callister - Cap 196
• Cat McGill - Cap 33
• Eric House - Cap 62
• Annie Dunlap - Cap 16
• Carlotta Schumacher - Cap 31
• Meaghan Hackinen - Cap 132
• Robin Gemperle - Cap 165
• Anatole Naimi - Cap 10
• Alex McCormack - Cap 8 

Race Preview Blog

Race Preview Podcast episode

Click here to Dotwatch the race

Follow us on Instagram for daily visual updates

Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Intro/outro music by Batyrkan

Cover image by Stephen Shelesky

Thanks to our race partners Albion, Pertex, Tailfin, Styrkr and Julbo. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our podcast coverage of the 2025 Silk Road Mountain Race, supported by Albion, Tailfin, Pertex, STYRKR and Julbo.

The Silk Road Mountain Race returns for its seventh edition with more than 700 kilometres of new, remote, and rarely travelled terrain. In this episode, Media Manager Mel Webb sits down with Race Director Nelson Trees to break down the 2025 route and preview the strongest field the race has ever seen.

From the new Suyek Pass hike-a-bike to a 400-kilometre stretch without resupply, Nelson explains the challenges that await and why this year feels like a return to the uncertainty of the first edition. We talk through the favourites for the win, and the plethora of unpredictable factors—weather, altitude, and decision-making—that can shape the race. 

Dotwatch the 2025 Silk Road Mountain Race

Follow us on Instagram @silkroadmountainrace for daily visual updates.

Credits:

Hosted and produced by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Silk Road Mountain Race, created by Nelson Trees, is a self-supported bikepacking race through the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. The seventh edition kicks off on Friday August 15th at 6PM local time from in front of Mayor's Hall in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

Riders will have until midnight on August 30th to reach the finish line in Karakol. We'll be bringing you daily updates from the field throughout the duration of the race.

Dotwatch the 2025 Silk Road Mountain Race

Follow us on Instagram @silkroadmountainrace for daily visual updates.

Credits:

Hosted and produced by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Music by Batyrkan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After more than a week in the Pindus Mountains, the 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race draws to a close in the seaside town of Nafpaktos. Riders have been arriving over the past few days—unwinding by the water, sharing stories, and slowly beginning to process what just happened out there.

In our final episode from Greece, we do our best to capture that feeling. We catch up with riders between swims and ice creams, reflect on high points, hard moments, everything in between, and head to the finishers’ party, where our Lantern Rouge is welcomed across the line with a hero's welcome.

We tried to put a bow on this past week, but there’s no simple way to capture everything riders felt out there—knowing full well that the real weight of the experience will take time to settle. Still, we hope this series has offered a window into the ride, and maybe even sparked something for your own adventure—whatever shape that may take.

We'll be back in the field for the Silk Road Mountain Race this August. Subscribe wherever you listen so you don’t miss any of the action.

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Follow Silk Road Mountain Race on Instagram

Visit our website to learn more about the Mountain Races

Production and hosting by Mel Webb 

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our podcast coverage of the third Hellenic Mountain Race, supported by Albion, Tailfin, Pertex and STYRKR. 

In this episode, we sit down with Meaghan Hackinen, the women's winner of the 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race. Meaghan crossed the finish line in 4 days, 7 hours, and 10 minutes—over ten hours faster than last year’s winning time—landing her in ninth place overall on the general classification.

Meaghan reflects on her experience racing through Greece, overcoming a her fear of technical mountain biking, and how preparation—both mental and mechanical—set her up for success. She talks through her race strategy, the highs and lows and much more.

Follow Meaghan Hackinen on Instagram

To learn more about the Mountain Races: Hellenic Mountain Race, Silk Road Mountain Race and Atlas Mountain Race, visit our website

Production and hosting by Mel Webb 

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our podcast coverage of the third Hellenic Mountain Race, supported by Albion, Tailfin, Pertex and STYRKR. 

The finish line is finally within reach. After nearly a week on the road and collecting their third stamp, riders are faced with one big final push: 190 km with 6,300 meters of climbing. The most technical terrain is behind them, but this section holds the highest climbing ratio of the entire route. Resupply is sparse and riders will need to load up adequately to fuel themselves to the finish.

Riders featured in this episode: 

• Ariane Richter (Cap 10) 
• Lisa Pacher and Timo Stein (Caps 211A&B) 
• Patrick Majerle (Cap 119)
• Timo Rokitte (Cap 163) 
• Tanner Jackson (Cap 58)
• Sjoerd Ebberink (Cap 153)
• Thomas Quirk (Cap 161) 
• Paul Creusvaux (Cap 123)

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Production and hosting by Mel Webb

Sound design by Ben Crannell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.