BIGGEST & BADDEST

You’ll need legs of steel, the lungs of an elephant and a love of suffering to even think about entering one of these

IDITAROD TRAIL INVITATIONAL

This ultra-marathon held during the Alaskan winter is a true test of determination. It began as a dogsled race but a bike category was added in 1987 and there’s now a choice of 563km or mammoth 1,609km routes. There are no roads so the race simply follows a line in the snow, crossing miles of tundra. This is what fatbikes were designed for.

THE TOUR DIVIDE

The Tour Divide is a 4,418km race down the entire length of the Rockies, from Ban! in Canada to the USA-Mexico border. With riders having to be entirely self-sufficient, this is bikepacking taken to the next level. The race is run marathon-style, with the clock ticking continuously from start to finish. Mike Hall (RIP) holds the record, having completed the 2016 event in 13 days, 22 hours and 51 minutes. That equates to riding over 316km a day for nearly two weeks straight, which is, quite frankly, mental!

CROCODILE TROPHY

It’s not frostbite that the competitors have to battle at this race, but rather the intense heat of the Australian Outback. Held in tropical North Queensland, the Crocodile Trophy is a 650km mountain bike stage race with over 13,000m of climbing. The format is eight days of intense cross-country racing. Over the course of this, riders must battle bar to bar with their competitors along technical trails – all the while trying to avoid the deadly Aussie wildlife. Watch out on those stream crossings!