The following tables contain most of the self-supported, ultra-distance (> 1,000 km) bikepacking races that follow a single-stage format in which the clock never stops. Please Contact Me if you notice any errors or you know of an event that should be added that meets those criteria. There are lots more events that are shorter than 1,000 km, but the list is already too long!

The events are classified as to whether the terrain is generally (paved) roads, gravel (unpaved roads), MTB (off-road trails), or snow, but this only gives a very rough idea.

There are also good lists at Apidura, Bikepacking.com and Bikepacking.net.

Certain ultra-distance cycling events that don’t meet the criteria for the main tables are listed separately towards the bottom of this page.

2023 Ultra-Distance Bikepacking Races

January-April start dates

May start dates

June start dates

July start dates

August start dates

September start dates

October-December start dates

Ultracycling Races & Time Trials

Upon first hearing about bikepacking races, many people compare them to supported ultracycling races like the Race Across AMerica (RAAM). The general length and the fact that the clock never stops are similar, but races labeled as ‘Ultracycling’ have a very different nature due to participants being required to have one or more support vehicles.

This website focuses on unsupported cycling / bikepacking. Cars are generally unnecessary in most people’s everyday lives and the world would be a better place if people used them less – we would be healthier, the planet healthier and cyclists safer. Cars are definitely not needed to assist someone who is riding a bike, even when they’re riding very far. In addition, the cost of participating in supported races is excessively high due to the support crew costs (for costs of unsupported races, see the Bikepacking Race Costs & Budget page). For further discussion of this distinction, see this blog post: Unsupported vs. supported ultra-distance bike races.

Most ultracycling races are listed on the World UltraCycling Association website. Some of these events now have a category for self-supported riders without support crews, and so are listed below:

12-hour and 24-hour time trials often involve loops around a circuit, so some of them can be done without external support or at least without a support vehicle.

Ultra-Distance Cyclosportives / Gran Fondos

Typical cyclosportives are designed to take average cyclists about 4-8 hours, and so are challenging and involve long distances but cannot be classified as ultra-distance. Some longer events include more than 300 km of distance and/or 5,000 meters of climbing in a single ride, many of which are listed below. In these events, riders receive support from the organizers at certain locations and group riding is allowed.

Audax / Randonneur / Brevet / Centuries

The main difference between cyclosportives and audax/randonee/brevet events is that the latter are intended to be non-competitive and non-timed. Often, some support is provided by the organizers at the checkpoints and they range in distance from 200 km normally up to 1500 km, with a reasonable number of events in the 300-600 km range. The most important events are Paris-Brest-Paris in France and London-Edinburgh-London in the UK. There are also some longer events, like the 2100 km long Length os Sweden Sverigetempot.

See the list on Wikipedia for other audax rides. Some such rides are suggested in the comments to this post on the TCR Facebook page. Ciclo Fachiro organizes many rides in Italy, including some that are over 2,000 km long.

In the USA, “century rides” (100 miles / 161 km) are common and there are some double centuries (200 miles / 322 km). These have a similar format to many audax rides. The Wikipedia page lists some of the larger and more famous such rides.