I have been cycling for over 17 years now. I raced road races, MTB Marathons, and even made some unsuccessful attempts at cyclocross. After stopping racing in 2013, I started planning and riding some multi-day tours with friends using our mountain bikes. Before the times of modern bikepacking setups and strap-on bags there were two groups: The touring cyclists with huge pannier bags, that were moving at a more leisurely pace and on easier terrain, and the mountain bikers carrying their essentials in backpacks, thus being lighter and more agile on rough trails. We chose the backpack – and the faster, more sporty – approach. From weekend trips, to crossing the Alps over multiple days, we enjoyed taking our bikes much further than we thought possible before. However, limited with what we could carry in our backpacks we slept in hotels most of the time and had very defined stages for each day.

In 2018 I heard about the Silk Road Mountain Race. I saw the pictures, watched the trailer, read all about it and I became addicted to 'dotwatching' – following the event competitors via their GPS live tracker – and following the crazy stories around it. I decided I wanted to do this in 2019 and started training and went bikepacking on overnighters and more. It became a passion and changed the way I ride bikes.

For my birthday I decided to go on a 4-day trip through four countries (my native Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Germany) crossing some of the highest passes in Europe and encountering all kinds of terrain on my 600 kilometer journey.

This is the story I'm showcasing in this Collection: a story about failure, mistakes, bad planning, but also about the huge joys and excitement of my very first proper bikepacking trip.