I didn’t come from cycling.
For most of my life, my sport was basketball 🏀. Team game, indoor, controlled environment. COVID changed that. When everything shut down — the gyms, the courts, the games — I needed something else. Something I could do alone, outside, with no schedule and no ceiling.
I got on a bike. 🚵
What started as a way to stay healthy during lockdown turned into something I hadn’t expected. The longer the rides got, the more I wanted. Not speed. Not competition. Distance. The kind of effort that empties your head completely and puts everything else in perspective.
Since 2022, I’ve finished several ultra-cycling races — the Trans Balkan Race, the Atlas Mountain Race, Desertus Bikus, Brightmidnight, and GGAT 🏁. Different terrains, different suffering. Desert heat, mountain cold, karst plateaus, and endless gravel. Zero outside assistance on every single one.
I’m not a coach. I’m someone who went from shooting hoops in a car park during lockdown to crossing deserts, mountains, and everything in between by bike, and figured out a few things along the way. That’s who writes here.
The Ultracyclist Files is field notes from that journey — packing systems 🎒, clothing strategies, race prep, and everything I wish I’d known before the start line. Written for mid and back of pack riders who want to finish, not just start.
→ Read the latest posts here
If that sounds like you, follow along on Instagram at @gravel_bikeandride 📲
Want the full guides in your inbox? Subscribe to the newsletter below.