{"id":886728,"date":"2026-09-10T09:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886728\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:18:30","slug":"50-women-800-kilometres-and-no-pizza-what-happens-when-strangers-ride-across-the-alps-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886728\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Women, 800 Kilometres and No Pizza: What Happens when Strangers Ride Across the Alps Together?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tThe top of the Nufenen Pass \u2013 the culmination of a week-long adventure. 50 women riding 800 leg-burning kilometres across the Alps. They started the week as strangers, yet nobody is left behind, as cheers and applause ring out across the valley. It\u2019s exactly as we hoped, yet better than we imagined.
\n\"GRL<\/p>\n

A week earlier, on Friday evening, 50 women set off together from Munich to ride the 800 kilometres and 10,000 vertical metres across the Alps to Lausanne. They come from all over Europe and beyond, with eight travelling from the US and two from Australia. Most of them have never met before. Some are fast road riders who would never normally dream of strapping bags to their bikes, never mind days worth of luggage. Others can pitch a tent in the dark and rustle up dinner from three ingredients, but wouldn\u2019t necessarily describe themselves as particularly quick on two wheels. Some race, others are here for the adventure. For a few, it\u2019s their first time camping at all.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly how it should be.<\/p>\n

The first night delivers an immediate reality check. It rains for hours. By morning, the tents are soaked on the outside, shoes are damp, and the ground around camp has turned to mush. One way or another, everything gets hastily packed up and strapped back onto the bikes. It\u2019s not exactly the most romantic introduction to bikepacking, but a very honest one.<\/p>\n

\"GRL
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For Natalie, there\u2019s more than one new experience here. We first got to know her at the Migration Gravel Race, where she proved just how strong a gravel rider she is. She now lives in Mallorca, and she\u2019s no less formidable on a road bike. Holding her wheel takes some serious effort. Until now, though, she had never slept in a tent. So, naturally, her first taste of camping comes with relentless rain, wet shoes and a thoroughly soaked tent.<\/p>\n

Why We Weren\u2019t Looking for the 50 Fastest Riders<\/p>\n

Some time earlier, while planning the GRL PCK Rally, one thing quickly became clear: places wouldn\u2019t be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We didn\u2019t want to reward whoever happened to open the registration link fastest. We certainly didn\u2019t want to build a homogenous group where everyone had the same skills and experience.<\/p>\n

So we decided to use a ballot.<\/p>\n

We deliberately looked for a mix: strong riders with no bikepacking experience, seasoned bikepackers and camping pros, gravel newcomers, and women for whom the very idea of getting back onto a fully loaded bike every morning for seven days straight was already well outside their comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

A great group isn\u2019t one where everyone rides at the same pace. It\u2019s one where nobody feels they have to keep up with everyone else. That becomes clear after just a few days. The groups are constantly changing. In the morning, you might set off with riders you\u2019d barely spoken to the night before. Faster riders wait for those further back. Before long, women with completely different relationships with cycling find themselves riding side by side: road, racing, gravel, bikepacking, performance or simply adventure. And it\u2019s these differences that lead to some of the strongest connections of the week. At first, cycling is the only thing everyone has in common. By the end, it\u2019s just one of many.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

For Vivien, too, it quickly becomes clear that riding a lot and spending seven days crossing the Alps with luggage are two very different disciplines. The route is unfamiliar, the bike is heavier than usual and, once the gravel ramps get properly steep, fitness only takes you so far. That is exactly the point. None of us should have to prove how strong we are here. But everyone should get the chance to discover what they can still find in themselves when things get really tough.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Supposed to Hurt. A Little, at Least.<\/p>\n

At the same time, we don\u2019t want the Rally to turn into nothing more than a nice group bike ride. The route should be beautiful, but it should also push us \u2013 all of us. Even the strongest riders should reach a point at least once when they start wondering who on earth came up with this bloody route. For many, that moment comes on day four, on the way to Rifugio San Lucio, between Italy and Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The climb is eleven kilometres long at an average gradient of ten per cent. The final five kilometres are on gravel, with ramps of more than twenty per cent. On a loaded bike, it begins to feel less like cycling and more like a particularly awkward form of mountaineering.<\/p>\n

There is pushing. Swearing. Laughing. Riding again. Pushing again. And that is exactly why, looking back, this climb becomes one of the most talked-about moments of the whole week.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

No one has to pretend any of this is easy. When even the strongest riders eventually end up pushing their bikes, everything suddenly feels a little more manageable. People help each other, wait for one another, share snacks, and start celebrating things that would have seemed completely ordinary just a few hours earlier. The challenge doesn\u2019t go away, but it feels different when you share it.<\/p>\n

\"GRL
\n\"GRL<\/p>\n

Sorry, We\u2019ve Run Out of Pizza<\/p>\n

On Monday evening, we arrive in Italy starving and discover something we had previously assumed to be physically impossible: the pizzeria has\u2026 run out of pizza. In Italy. So whatever is still available ends up on the table, and everyone shares.<\/p>\n

\"GRL
\n\"GRL<\/p>\n

On day five, a small group spontaneously decides not to ride back down into the valley, but to stay up on the pass and spend the night there. Dinner consists of shared packets of Yum-Yum instant noodles. For Mara, who has brought neither emergency food nor cooking equipment, that evening comes to sum up what the Rally is all about.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have any emergency food or cooking gear with me. But then I was invited to stay. These women shared their pots, their stove and their ramen with me up on the mountain, even as it was getting dark and cold. I was so grateful.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in small moments like these that the differences within the group suddenly stop mattering. Who is faster, what bike someone rides or how much bikepacking experience they have becomes irrelevant when you\u2019re sitting hungry on a mountain pass with just one packet of noodles left.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

Of course, self-supported doesn\u2019t mean no one helps. SRAM send two female mechanics along for the ride, covering the entire route by bike. They\u2019re part of the group, but they\u2019re also there when a minor mechanical turns into something that can no longer be fixed at the roadside with a multitool and collective optimism.<\/p>\n

For Jess S., a moment on the Nufenen Pass sums up the entire week. She sets off early with full bottles, hoping to beat the heat that has taken such a toll on her over the previous few days. Slowly but surely, she and a friend make their way up the climb, encouraging each other all the way.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ll never forget the moment when I was about three quarters of the way up the climb and heard a car behind me. It was Laura and Ami in the support car, music blasting, cheering at the tops of their voices. I was close to tears. Just a few days earlier, I hadn\u2019t even been sure I would make it through the Rally at all.<\/p>\n

Once at the top, the two of them stay by the support vehicle in the cheer zone. Cowbells ring out, setting the rhythm for us to keep pedalling, while we sing, dance and laugh. It\u2019s a reminder that, in the toughest moments, you can get through almost anything if you slow things down, take it step by step and allow others to help you.<\/p>\n

\"GRL
\n\"GRL<\/p>\n

Elsewhere along the route, unexpected support appears from time to time too. In 36-degree heat, Lael Wilcox and Sami Sauri suddenly appear at a secret aid station, slicing up watermelon for 50 sweaty riders. For many of us, Lael had been a role model long before we ever arrived at the Rally. Now one of the world\u2019s greatest ultra-cyclists is standing right in front of us, handing out slices of watermelon. Later comes another surprise: Lael gets on her bike and rides the final kilometres into Lausanne with us.<\/p>\n

From 50 Bikepackers to One Huge Cheer PCK<\/p>\n

As we approach Lausanne, the energy shifts once again. Friends and family are waiting for us, while riders including Emma Pooley and women from Team Amani join the celebrations. The next day, we meet up with more cycling communities from Switzerland, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe for our Cheer PCK. Suddenly, our Rally group has grown into a much bigger community of riders, friends, families and supporters. For around three quarters of the Rally participants, it\u2019s their first time standing at the roadside watching the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

Cheering feels different after that. For seven days, we\u2019ve experienced first-hand what it means to hear someone shouting our names from the roadside, especially when the last thing we want to do is ride another metre uphill. Now we\u2019re on the other side of the barriers. It\u2019s loud. Very loud.<\/p>\n

People from different communities, countries and corners of cycling stand side by side, cheering themselves hoarse. After a week of encouraging each other over mountains, we\u2019re now cheering on the best riders in the world. For us, it brings the whole experience full circle.<\/p>\n

\"GRL
\nWhat Stays With You After 800 Kilometres<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best moments come afterwards. When messages start popping up on our phones. When we see women who didn\u2019t know each other before the Rally already planning their next bikepacking trip together. Some meet up for hikes. Others visit each other in their home towns. Phone numbers exchanged somewhere on the road between Munich and Lausanne turn into friendships.<\/p>\n

One message from two participants stays with us in particular. They write that the Rally gave them more than just memories. It gave them friendships, new confidence, bigger ambitions and the belief that they\u2019re capable of more than they had ever thought.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s the part you simply can\u2019t plan for.<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

We could plan the route. We could choose 50 women, find campsites, bring sponsors on board, and decide where we wanted to nudge them a little beyond their comfort zones. We could even make sure their names were written on the road at the top of the Nufenen Pass. But we couldn\u2019t plan who would end up riding alongside whom. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being about covering 800 kilometres from Munich to Lausanne. It became about who suddenly appeared beside you on the road, who waited for you at the top of the pass and who, afterwards, asked: \u201eWhat are we doing next?\u201c<\/p>\n

\"GRL<\/p>\n

Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of GRAN FONDO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality cycling journalism. Click here to learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Words: Laura Claus Photos: Natalie Uljas, studio pp, Jess Luscher\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The top of the Nufenen Pass \u2013 the culmination of a week-long adventure. 50 women riding 800 leg-burning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-886728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}