BADLANDS – Mein erstes ULTRA RACE | ♨️ 800KM durch die Wüste (Bikepacking Film)

BADLANDS – Mein erstes ULTRA RACE | ♨️ 800KM durch die Wüste (Bikepacking Film)

I feel Fine! it’s a bit warm here. Do we really have to push through the sand here…? Patrick, how did you feel before it really started? What do you mean by “started”? For me, it didn’t start on the start day itself. The race began a year earlier. Because with Badlands, you have to apply. There’s an application process and thousands of applicants from all over the world who want to take part. Just because you’ve signed up now doesn’t mean you’re there. You have to submit a letter of motivation and so on. Then you wait… In December, it must have been 2023, I went out on my bike. I did a little bikepacking tour. It was a little challenge with no GPS and no technical aids, I just rode into the Carpathians. At -18°C, it wasn’t ideal for wild camping. But ist was ok. and got the confirmation email. – From Badlands! I was accepted for Badlands, by the way. It takes place in September. I have to say, I’m really respectful of it, because it means having to leave my comfort zone. Hey, it’s not going to be easy. I’m really excited. The actual race started for me the moment I knew I’d been accepted. And then I started working on my fitness. It wasn’t bad before, but maybe not good enough for Badlands. And then it took me one year of preparation. During winter, I basically started with running, since cycling was sometimes a bit suboptimal in the snow. So I went running for my base endurance. But I also trained a lot indoors and did some strength training for my legs. Basically, I prepared for this one day all year long. For me, it didn’t start on the starting day, but long before. The event itself was actually just the highlight of the whole year. Then I arrived in Granada, and it wasn’t ideal. It started with a cold. I had a bit of a cough. But I arrived three days before the actual race. And then I used those three days to recover quickly. On the start day itself, I was reasonably fit, and then I met people from home in the morning. Good morning. I met someone from Bensheim, and we’re standing here at the starting point now. It’s 7:30 a.m. It’s off in 20 minutes. Now just to check my gear again. There’s a lot going on here, as you can see. It’s going to be awesome, I guess, right? I hope so! Right at the beginning, 1,000 meters of elevation gain – condensed into the first 15 km. It was already steep. But now it continues steeply, slowly towards the Gorafe Desert. It’s still a bit green here, but that’s about to change. Today’s forecast is still 37 degrees. “Cool.” The cough hasn’t gone away yet, and it’s starting to wear me down a bit. Drinking isn’t really helping either. Whatever, keep going! Now I’m here. I have no idea where to go from here. I’m now riding off-road through the terrain. The last two drinking water stations I planned for didn’t exist. Now I have no water left. The plan says the next well is 10 km away. I hope there’s one this time, at least. And now we have a section where we have to push. I have to say, it’s a bit warm here, and hilly. Now I’m riding through the Gorafe Desert in 38-degree heat. Well… Why am I doing this? First little stop. Just meet Nicolai. We’re just taking a quick water break. I’ll just continue in German. It’s kind of weird. It’s 40°C now. I’m starting to shiver. I’m getting really cold. My heart rate is extremely low. I think I need to take a salt tablet right now. Quick breather. I’m at the top of the mountain now. There’s such a fierce headwind and heat… Many describe the Gorafe Desert as one of the toughest sections. How did you experience the race there? The Gorafe Desert was the absolute highlight! I would even say it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The Gorafe Desert was beautiful. Imagine it like this: You have those blue sky, then this golden landscape with these slightly reddish, rugged rocks, and nothing for miles around… just desert and sand! But it was also very exhausting, because the paths were loose, sandy, and sometimes gravel. When there was gravel, it was very coarse. It wasn’t easy to ride even in the bends. And you could feel your wrists pretty quickly. It was exhausting. Very exhausting, and it was 40°C that day, maybe even a bit more. Blazing sun and endless elevation gain… Lots of elevation gain at the beginning, combined with the temperature and the sun. That’s where a lot of people dropped out. And I’d say the real race really started for me in the Gorafe Desert. That’s when I felt: This is Badlands! I’m in. That’s when it really started. But for many, that was also the end of the tour. A huge number of people dropped out. I’ve heard of heatstrokes, sunstrokes, and so on. The conditions weren’t ideal, but for me, the scenery was an absolute highlight! And then the water ran a bit low, hunger set in, and the night begun… The first night, you went up into the mountains. How was that? The first night… was colder than I expected, let’s put it this way… I didn’t have any warm clothes with me — nothing… I just had a short-sleeved jersey and shorts. That was it… I didn’t pack anything. It gets cold in the desert at night. I still have a climb here to 2200m elevation. I’m almost at the top now. It’s freezing here, almost 6°C. I think it will get even chillier further up. I only have a short jersey and shorts on me, because a jacket would just be extra weight. (haha) I’m a bit worn out. Okay, let’s move on… It wasn’t warm, but luckily, and that saved me. Luckily, it was uphill almost the entire night. Stopping was out of the question. It gets very cold pretty quickly if you don’t have any clothes with you. But the elevation gain meant that if you keep moving, you at least don’t freeze to death, but my hands were numb. And at some point my knee started to hurt… Yes, small problem. I’m getting terrible knee pain now. It’s stabbing like crazy. I’m going to ride slowly now and hope that it will somehow loosen up and go away. I don’t think it’s the knee itself. It’s probably some kind of cramp pressing on the tendon. Or something like that. Hopefully it will go away. It really hurts. And I can’t stop. I’m in the middle of the desert now – at night. The next village is 60 km away. I can’t push it. And pushing hurts as well. There’s no way back. Something stupid just happened to me. I dropped my bottle. Now I have no water left. A bit impractical in the middle of a desert. Hey, it’s pretty cold here. I’m now riding through fog at an altitude of 2,200 meters again. I’m tired, and my knees hurt now and then. If I massage them and take a 10-minute break, they feel better again. But it’s not ideal… Good morning, wonderful. It was a very cold night, and I was very thirsty during the night. It wasn’t a good night! I can’t talk anymore. Dust in my face, the sun is burning. No shadow that knows the fire. The desert beats, the body screams. Badlands: an endless battle. A thousand stones, a thousand caves, each one treads a new sigh. The heat boils, breathing is heavy. Sleep wants to come, but it disturbs me. No pause, no rest. Day becomes night, and night becomes a burden. I’m turning in the sand, but I’m holding the bike in my hand. Badlands – dust and fire burning, Badlands is only the will that drives me. I’m riding with Marta now. We’re taking a short break here for lunch. She’s just getting something to eat. Lack of sleep… Yes… We’ve now continue riding together. A cold night, 6°C, and wind on our ears keep us awake, our eyes burning, our dreams drifting, but our bikes keep flying. No rest, No mercy. Head in the storm, the same old plague. Mountains rise, tires glow. Nothing will escape me down here. Badlands, Badlands, dust and fire burning. Badlands – will that drives me. Drums beat, heart in the sand. Desert calls with a heavy hand. Voices, rocks scream, but he will continue. Badlands – sweat and dust, united suffering. Badlands, the myth lives forever. Dust blown away, the morning breaks, a victory in the shadows, a face. Badlands endures. A desert dream. Hot and beautiful. Oh my Gosh. Do we really have to push through the sand here…? Things were going really well for you up to kilometer 440. What was going through your mind when you realized, “I’m right up there with the front”? Yes, looking back, things were going really well up until then! I didn’t even check the live tracking. But I kept getting push-up notifications on my bike computer, and someone messaged me either on Instagram or WhatsApp that I was in 29th place! Briefly, maybe even in 27th place or something. At that point, I had already done 440 km, so more than halfway there. I was just in the flow. I also briefly felt a real euphoria. I wasn’t tired and thought to myself, “Now I can keep going at full speed!” My personal strength is being able to go relatively long without sleep. And at the point when I was in the top 30, I thought to myself, “If I just keep riding at this pace and don’t sleep, I’ll catch up with the others,” because the others have to go to sleep at some point. And that was my strategy. I thought to myself, “I’ll definitely finish in the top 20.” I was absolutely convinced of that! I was even secretly hoping I might make it into the top 10 if I pushed myself a bit harder. Physically, I was definitely still capable. At that point, I wasn’t even tired at all. I really thought, “Awesome, awesome! I’m going to rip this thing.” I went in with that attitude. And then a mechanical failure followed… What can I say? … My crank became loose. Then the race was basically over for me. At that moment, I said goodbye to Marta. She continued alone, since she was also racing for a position. Unfortunately, I had to take a break. I then messaged a guy I’d met earlier. He wanted to bring me some tools because he was still before some place where I could have gotten them. But I was already too far ahead. There was no chance he could have catch up to me. Accordingly, he didn’t arrive in time to help me. This is an “unsupported race.” What means, if I accepted help, I would have been disqualified. Because you’re not allowed to accept help from others. But what could I have done? I can’t push my bike to the finish; it would have been another 400 km. I can’t push that. So I thought to myself, “Just accept the help…” But the help never arrived… I then decided to take a break near a small village. I could have solved the problem there later. So I decided to wait there until the next morning. And then I thought I’d just lie down in the olive grove and wait it out. I hadn’t prepared for sleep. I didn’t have anything with me. No sleeping bag, let alone a sleeping mat. I only had short summer clothes, no sweater – nothing at all… The night was cold! And then the irrigation system turned on at night. It was great to stay in the middle of it. I’m still sitting here. I don’t know if the guy with the tools will come now. Maybe his phone is off. My battery is almost dead, too. Anyway, I might walk into town now, because there’s a car repair shop there that opens in 45 minutes, and maybe they have a 10mm Allen key, so I should be able to tighten the crank again. Anyway, there’s water there. I have a headache. From then on, it was clear that a top placing was out of the question. How difficult was it for you to keep going? After that, my spirits were gone. I just didn’t feel like it anymore. I prepared for this event for a whole year. And not just a little bit… I prepared extremely hard! I’ve done 10,000 km on the indoor trainer. – 10,000 km! In 9 or 10 months… On the indoor trainer!!! I was on the roller six times a week. I did two-hour intervals every evening, only for the equipment to fail and stopping my progress… So, my spirit was gone. What should I say? But I understand why Campagnolo is no longer represented at the Tour de France. Their parts are so unreliable. I had the Ekar groupset on it. Since then, I’ve heard from lots of other people that this groupset causes a lot of problems and is unreliable. But well, I didn’t know that at the time. You learn from it, that’s just how it is. Then the next morning – the crank was able to be tightened again in the workshop. The problem was fixed, and then I was in a bad mood, riding slowly ahead because I didn’t need to fight for a placing anymore. That was it for me. And then I met someone else: Federico. We continued riding together. I was surprised that he put up with my bad mood at the beginning and wanted to ride with me, because I was already in a really bad mood. But little by little, the mood improved, and then I decided to make the second half a leisurely bikepacking tour. To at least enjoy the scenery, take a few photos, and I made the best of it. So, I’m not riding alone anymore. We’ve solved the problem with my crank. My bike is working again for now. I just met him. I am mixing German and English sometimes. Who cares. I have to say, today’s breakdown really messed me up mentally. I was still in 29th position at kilometer 440. Yeah, and then I fell completely back… Now I don’t care. I’m just taking it easy. I was with him for a bit and took a few photos. How are you? Okay… I definitely chose the wrong tires. Look at this! This is really soft sand. You can hardly ride here. 45mm tires… It’s been like this all day today. A whole day of riding through sand. Then the route went from the sea back up into the high mountains. Tell us more about that. That was tough: By that point, we had already done over 500 km. And we hadn’t really recovered. We hadn’t had any proper sleep. Sitting around among the olive groves for a bit, without a sleeping bag, and in single-digit temperatures…? You couldn’t sleep. After 500 km without sleep, you reach this sandy section. I don’t remember how long that section was. But it was a fair stretch, and you had to push the bike through this loose, deep sand. It was exhausting! Above all, there was a nice paved road right next to it. It would have been so easy to cycle there. But no. The route was just as it was. According to the track, we have to push the bikes here. And then we continued on bad roads. First, a 1300-meter climb in one go into the high mountains – at night. The second night was just as cold as the first. It was exhausting. Beautiful here… Are you happy with your route choice? We have to cross the water. Serious! Look at the map. We’re going to Tabernas now. This pushing section on the beach was unnecessary. When you’ve already done 500 km and 10,000 meters of elevation gain, sending people across a sandy beach and making them hike is pretty cruel. I can’t enjoy it. No… It’s hard. The heat hurts. I’m tired. But the scenery is beautiful. – At least Are you ready? Yes. Or no… oh no. I don’t know. I just don’t know… My Garmin just issued a severe weather warning. How convenient that I have a rain jacket with me. Ah, no, crap. (Haha) What keeps bothering me, throughout the entire tour, is my knee. When climbing, I always notice it burning. It goes away after a short while, or at least gets less severe. It’s still annoying. We were just at the seaside, and now we’re heading into the high mountains. – What a great idea. (ironic) I just want to get down this mountain. Are you okay? Yeah… I want to sleep. A wonderful good morning from the desert. Everything hurts. And the mood… also The rest of the route didn’t go so well for you, did it? No, towards the end, the technical problems with my Campagnolo started piling up again. But I must also say at this point that M83 really can’t be blamed for these problems. Since I installed the GRX, I haven’t had any issues. And the Campagnolo was installed professionally! I saw how Ben installed this thing, observing all the values ​​correctly with a torque wrench, etc. It was installed correctly. I suspect it was a fundamental design flaw on Campagnolo’s part. The thing just caused problems. We even replaced the group set twice after that. It didn’t get any better. The third time, we installed the Shimano GRX. No problems since. That was super annoying. I wasn’t in a particularly good mood when the problems started piling up. I’m not getting any more Campagnolo. The Shimano is working fine now! But thanks again to M83 for replacing my gears several times so quickly and easily. At a bike shop, I would have had to wait forever for a conversion appointment like that. I feel like a garbage bag. My cassette is loose. It’s coming loose right now. I can’t even shift gears. Is your phone battery dead? Almost. There’s nothing here. My phone has been off since yesterday. – Broken cable. I can’t charge it. Accordingly, we can’t look for a bike repair shop. So there isn’t one here and you have roughly 7% battery left? Yes. Yes. Your phones will be dead by the time you get to the next bike shop. So we can’t look for one. We’re moving slowly. Yesterday it was already 42°C and today it’s even hotter. I have a headache. How are you? Today is tough. I can feel all of yesterday’s elevation gain in my legs. We’ve found water. The local water supply is like this: there’s a truck parked here where you can get water. Because there’s no running water here. We’re taking a break because it’s very hot. It’s almost impossible to recover because the sun is so hot. Heat… Lots of people have already dropped out because of the temperatures. Heatstrokes and sunstrokes. This drivetrain… This tour is putting me in a really bad mood. Never again Campagnolo. I don’t know how many times this has happened now. 60th time now? Fell off again. I’m rolling into the climb and have to change gears right away. Seriously. The cassette is loose, the crank is falling off, the freewheel isn’t working. Again – I’m getting aggressive here. I’m making real progress when I have to stop every five minutes. Brand new chain… The tension is already at maximum. I can’t shorten it any further, otherwise it won’t go into the lowest gear. I’ve already tried that. It’s fine. That’s just Campagnolo. It’s their design flaw. After all, you made it to the finish line, 800 kilometers. What do you remember most? Good question. I’d say it was the moments when I thought I couldn’t go any further. And then I somehow realized that somehow you were always making progress. But also all the conversations and the people you met along the way — it was a fantastic event. You get to talk to so many people. I’m still in touch with Federico. Friendships can definitely develop in a race like this. Because it connects people. The impressions and images of the landscape are also burned into my memory. In terms of scenery, it was an absolute highlight and it was crazy: the hot desert, temperatures of over 43 degrees, the blazing sun and the rough, rugged landscape. The tough off-road trails and then, in contrast, the ice-cold mountains at night with single-digit temperatures. It was brutal, but beautiful at the same time. BADLANDS is definitely worth recommending, although… it is tough. I don’t know if I can recommend it in good conscience. But I would do it again. Did you still feel like cycling afterward and how was it getting home after you had trained for it for almost a year? After that, I didn’t feel like cycling at all. You have to imagine, I trained for it for a year. I did 10,000 km indoors. And did a lot of cycling outside as well, then Badlands: one of the toughest things I’ve ridden up to that point. Not necessarily because of the route or the elevation gain, but due to the conditions, because it was so off-road. There were many trails that you couldn’t ride. There were pushing sections, things that were really tricky to ride, and then coupled with the heat, the blazing sun, the cold at night, it wasn’t comparable to a tour you do at home, even if the route profile is similar. 800 km and 16,000 meters of elevation gain in Germany are simply different than 800 km in the Gorafe Desert. It was extremely tough. Then you arrive and you’re completely exhausted. The mental aspect too… because things didn’t go the way I imagined. It was a mental blow. A mixture of bad mood, anger, and disappointment. At the same time, I knew that I had no control over the technical problems. It is what it is. You have to try to make the best of the situation. Some things you can’t influence on the ground. And that was a moment that really dampened my spirits. After that, I didn’t feel like cycling anymore. Then I got home and couldn’t really relax. As I already had my next project in mind. And this time it wasn’t about cycling, because I was fed up with that. I thought I’d go for a run. And where would I run to? Towards Africa! That was the plan. Why not? I haven’t been running that much either. The last time I went running must have been in January or February. I didn’t run the whole time. Two weeks of training should have been enough. Then I ran to Morocco. At first, I wanted to go somewhere in Africa. I had no idea where exactly. It ended up being Morocco, due to various circumstances that intervened: breakdowns, injury, and I met someone new. The route changed a lot. The planned two months turned into four. The distance in Europe alone almost doubled from what was originally planned. It was beautiful. Anyway, I ran to Morocco. And now again for the viewers. If you want to see the playlist of how I ran to Morocco, it was truly one of the greatest adventures of my life! You can find that playlist in the top left, and below you’ll find the playlist for the Tuscany Trail. I traveled 2,000 km and climbed a 4,000-meter peak along the way. And here you can find the video of my Badlands setup.

800 Kilometer und 16.000 Höhenmeter durch die Wüste. Temperaturen von über 40 Grad und eisige Nächte im Hochgebirge. Das ist Badlands! Eines der härtesten Ultra Endurance Gravel Rennen Europas. Ich habe mich dieser Herausforderung gestellt: Von der brennenden Hitze der Gorafe-Wüste bis hinauf auf über 2.200 Meter Höhe in der Sierra Nevada. Fast ohne Schlaf, mit technischen Defekten, zahlreichen schönen Begegnungen und dem Willen anzukommen.
In diesem Film nehme ich dich mit auf meine Fahrt durch die spanische Sierra Nevada in Andalusien. Du erlebst die Brutalität des Geländes, die Schönheit der Landschaft, sowie den mentalen Kampf, den ich für euch dokumentiert habe und der dieses Rennen so besonders macht.
Du wirst spüren, warum Badlands mehr ist als ein Wettkampf. Es ist ein Weg durch Stille und Einsamkeit, ein Dialog zwischen Mensch und Natur, zwischen Radfahrer und unbarmherziger Landschaft. Gravel bedeutet hier nicht nur Schotter und Staub, sondern auch Freiheit, Zweifel und Durchhaltevermögen.
Von Granada bis Almería führt die Strecke durch endlose Wüste, steile Anstiege mit 2025 Metern am Stück und tiefe Schluchten. Wer hier fährt, lernt seine Grenzen kennen und verschiebt sie mit jedem Tritt weiter hinaus. Badlands vereint Abenteuer, Bikepacking und Ultra Endurance Cycling in seiner reinsten Form.
Dieses Video richtet sich an alle, die Gravel lieben, die von Ultra Cycling fasziniert sind oder die einfach miterleben möchten, wie es ist, wenn ein Rennen zu einer persönlichen Expedition wird. Wenn du Inspiration für dein nächstes Bikepacking oder Gravel Abenteuer suchst oder wissen willst, wie es sich anfühlt, die härtesten Trails Spaniens zu bezwingen, dann bist du hier genau richtig! Am Ende bleibt nicht nur die Erinnerung an die gefahrenen Kilometer, sondern die Erfahrung, wie es ist, alles hinter sich zu lassen und in einer der eindrucksvollsten Landschaften Europas an seine Grenzen zu gehen.

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►►*Meine Ausrüstung:*
*Mein Gravelbike:* https://manufaktur83.bike/produkt/m83-gravelbike-konfigurator-vagabund-iron/ (Stahlrahmen)
Aerobars & Riser: _Syntace C3 mit Zipp Vuka Clip Risern (50 mm)._ _Eigentlich_ *nicht kompatibel* _(Lochabstand). Ich habe daher die innere Alu-Trennwand in den Risern herausgesägt. Würde ich heute neu kaufen, würde ich direkt das Komplettsystem von Zipp nehmen. Das ist deutlich unkomplizierter._
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