Here we have Alessandro lovely XC hardtail. The bike has been set up with a full Shimano XT 12sp groupset, Shimano XTR pedals, Hunt XC Race Wide wheelset, Vittoria Barzo TLR 2.25 on the front, Vittoria Mezcal TLR 2.1 in the back. Wolftooth Silicon Grips and a Prologo Scratch X8 saddle. 

 Sofiane Sehili has made waves in the world of Ultra racing in the past year winning Italy Divide, Inca Divide and most recently the inaugural Atlas Mountain Race. He has developed a tough style of racing which entails very little sleep. We spoke to Sofiane to find out more about him and what makes him tick.

Read on to find out more…

Hunt Beyond was created to focus on developing wheels for those riders who don’t quite fit into the ‘normal’ cycling bracket. We all know that one person who just has to go a little too far, not content with ‘just’ riding 100miles they are the ones that would ‘just’ ride 150 miles off road instead, or go on a family holiday to Spain and ‘just’ ride there. Or ‘just’ disappear for a month and return after cycling across some far flung mountain range in central Asia.

We know you are out there, and we are here to serve you and make the best products for the job.

Sofian Sehili is no stranger to the world of Bikepacking having won Italy Divide and Inca Divide in 2019 as well as previously finishing in the top 10 of the Tour Divide. Sofian is a bike messenger based in Paris so long days in the saddle come very naturally to him.

HUNT Beyond will be supporting Sofian in 2020 and he is already at the pointy end of his first race, The Atlas Mountain Race.

The Altlas mountain race is a second new race to the early season Backpacking calendar and, as the name suggests, takes part in the Atlas Mountains of Morroco. The Atlas Mountain race is a predominantly off road event which began in Marrakesh on feb 15th, crosses the Atlas mountains and winds its way through the fringes of the desert and smaller Anti Atlas mountains before finishing on the coast near Agadir.

At 1000km in length this isn’t the longest event on the calendar, however the substantial elevation, rough roads and tracks will make it a tough ride. Winning times will be expected to be under 4 days, with the majority of the participants completing the event in around a week.

The Race around Rwanda kicks off in Kigali Rwanda this weekend. It's a 1000km race with around 250km of gravel roads and lots of climbing. In fact there is barely a flat section on the route and coupled with the fact that the race begins at 1800m altitude and only goes up fro there means that this will be a tough challenge. But what is the best bike set up for the event? 

Josh Ibbett takes us through his race setup...

The winter break is almost over for the Ultra distance Dotwatching community as the first race of the season is almost upon us. There are plenty of new races popping up on the 2020 bikepacking and the first of them is the Race Around Rwanda.

The Race Around Rwanda is a 1000km self supported race around the land of a thousand hills. Rwanda’s nickname hints as to what is to come for the rider's participation in the inaugural race, as the name suggests Rwanda is not a flat country!

Their only portrait is a photography project run by Federico Cabrera. Fede has spent the past decade traveling South America on various bikepacking trips and the project was started in order to try and give something back to the small local communities he passed through on his travels. 

We spoke to Fede to find out more about Their only portrait and his travels...