BMC Rider’s Ultimate Test: Can He Finish a 1000km Race After a Terrible Fever?

Dirt, Sweat, Fever. Ulrich Bartholmoes, BMC Ride Crew ultra-cyclist, faced a 40°C fever just before a grueling 1,000 km self-supported bikepacking race in Eastern Africa. Will he push forward or call it quits? This is Uba’s inspiring story about resilience, determination and the unpredictability of ultra-cycling.

Learn more about Race Around Rwanda and Uba’s epic journey: https://www.bmc-switzerland.com/intl_en/race-around-rwanda

Production Partner: We Are Peny

**** There was no improvement this morning. I can’t say anything right now. You picked up a virus. Let’s just see how you get on. And if you don’t race you don’t race. First race of the Season 2023. Rwanda isn’t the typical destination to go cycling. At least not yet.

I’m going there for something like 3 weeks. To combine both racing and bike packing beforehand and afterwards, after the race. To have the chance and the opportunity to see a bit more of the country.

The race around Rwanda is one of  the most unique events in one of the most unique coutries Rwanda is actually not what the normal European might have on the agenda for cycling at all. They’ve got these like perfect T grads all  over the place. It’s a beautiful country to be able to ride in.

And it’s such a pleasure to be here.   Kari it’s amazing city. It’s a peaceful country. The people are very enthusiastic when they see  you on a bike. So kids will cheer on. Even adults they will cheer you on when you’re suffering  in the middle of a climb.

They will push you up the hill by words or literally sometimes. It’s just such a rewarding experience to ride here.   Cycling for the people in Rwanda is mostly not a sport, but it’s a way of moving. It’s part of their daily life. They move a lot of goods on  the bikes.

They carry everything from 20 kilos of bananas.   I’ve seen people carry a motorbike  on the back of a bicycle. I’ve seen people carrying goats. I’ve seen people carry a whole bed frame  plus the mattress on the bike.

And then, you’re suffering on your fancy carbon bike going  up a hill and these guys would then pass you   while you you are just trying to just reach the summit. So they’re strong they’re very strong. The Race around Rwanda is  organized by Simon since since 3 years now.

This year we’ll see something like 150  participants on the on the start line. And it’s constantly growing. The race around Rwanda  is an Ultra race. 1,000 km which puts it  at the short end of races but it’s 40%, so 400 km of gravel at 17,000 mof elevation gain.

It’s a tough race but because of the  way Rwanda is even though it’s a very let’s say exotic country it’s a very safe and  nice place to ride. So even though it’s a very  

Hard course I think it’s a very good way to experience the country and ultra cycling as a sport. Why ultra cycling? Why you got into it? I got into ultra cycling back in 2019 and   was looking for some Grand Fondo like  races like 160k 200k day. And the only thing  

I found which was nearby was a race called  Transpyrenees, and it was 950 km long. A bit longer   Than what I was looking for a long race but it  sounds interesting and um I signed up for it. In the end I finished winning it and the  organizers were quite surprised and told  

Me like yeah you never did this before you had  no experience and I was like yeah no I was just   I was just riding my bike. Well since then, in the last years I did 16 ultra   longdistance races so now I have quite some  experience and I kind of got addicted to it

So initially when we started Race around  Rwanda we just wanted to host the race And then we realized people living in Rwanda actually  don’t have gravel bikes. Rwanda is a cycling country   It has a history of cycling but road cycling. So we realized no Rwandan will be able to start their own race.

Beyond there is a team comprised by  six people. I am the only girl and there’s five guys. They help us to do different races: gravel races backpacking events here in Rwanda and out of Rwanda. We didn’t get some  chance to perform good because there is no investment to help cyclists chase their dreams.

The first time I was riding but it was my trial, riding the long  distance and I didn’t have any experience   I didn’t have any GPS. I didn’t have a light, I did have a lot of kit for bicycle. Even the bicycle I was using was for road racing.

That’s  crazy that he did it on a road bike! That’s wild! We started Rwanda Beyond first  because we wanted to give Rwanda to start  their own race. So we contacted brands, trying  to look for gravel bikes, trying to look for

Shoes, all the tools, lights, bike packing bags, and  this kind of things. But it grew from that into   more social projects. What we want to do now  is really also showing people in Rwanda that   cycling is also adventure that cycling is not just racing bike, it’s not just doing crazy stuff  

But also bike packing, going on Sunday afternoon  gravel rides. So that’s something we also want to show. How you feeling? Not that well. Fever is  up again at 38 something feeling a bit like hit by a truck.  I don’t know let’s see the  doctor. On Tuesday evening I went to bed healthy and happy.

And woke up a few hours later and felt a bit hot and it turned out I had fever. We went to a hospital on Wednesday morning  to do a full checkup to be sure I don’t have   like tropical diseases or something. It was  probably the best consultation at a doctor  

That I ever had. She was sitting down with  me like explaining every value. What it means in general and what’s  her like interpretation of it. There was nothing   nothing serious like bacterias or virus or  stuff detected in the blood so I’m just sick.

Well in the end she said you are sick, you  have fever, go to bed stay there, rest up and it   will be soon fine. Wednesday was really bad with uhwith high fever at 39°   Now it’s getting mentally tough because  there was no improvement this morning. Hopefully it’s just 48 hours, out.

Thursday was  already a bit better. Friday was the same like Thursday. No real improvements and today we  have Saturday, the day before the race. I’m packing now all my stuff that I take with me. Today the temperature is for the first time  back to normal at 36° something.

Today the decision has to be made if I can line up on  the start tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. It’s been a very stressful week here in Rwanda not knowing if Ulrich is going to start the race. 

What I will learn here is my capabilities of  riding after being sick the week before the race. Normally I have pretty good confidence that I can solve every problem that  that will come to me. But now, for the first time

I miss this confidence because I don’t know  how much I can rely on my body and that’s a bit   tricky to to deal with and that’s a bit tricky  to bring up the motivation you need to ride that far.

You pointed the camera to my notebook  and there is a big sticker on it which says   There’s no hurry. We shall get there someday. It could  be maybe the motto for the race. It’s not a normal feeling I have on a day before a race. Normally I’m totally chilled. I know how  

How far I can go or I know how to read the signs. If the health situation   stays like it is, if I wake up tomorrow morning  with the same temperature like now. I never   experienced something like this before, this  kind of uncertainty, how I can rely on on my body.

Ten minutes to go. So I guess it’s  time to feel good. In the early morning, 4:30 a.m. nobody would start at 4:30  a.m. just for fun. You need to have a   very special personality to sign up  for this kind of races. You know, you share  

The same passion with all the people there and  you are all there because of the same reason   Because you want to go on this adventure. The first stretch was 70 km tarmac, or something   so there was a big  group like a peloton rolling together

So before people hit the first gravel  the sun is warming them up and it’s really   I think a very special way of of starting a race. The first gravel section was about 100 km long I guess and it was really impressive  

Because it was a beautiful grassland, really  amazing landscape, and I even thought here   in Rwanda they have better gravel roads  than somewhere in Europe where we have tarmac roads. We arrived at the first checkpoint with an   average of more than 31 km  an hour, so it was quite good pace!

Right after checkpoint one the race was pretty much on. Everyone left with a difference of like a few seconds. Some went to  refill water and like it takes a few seconds and   then it split up a bit and I took this  as a chance as well to just escape from the group.

So there was more climbing involved  and I found quite a good rhythm and    soon I was in front of the race. Heading towards checkpoint 2 the gravel changed   a lot, so I learned Rwanda has not only the  perfect smooth fast rolling gravel, but also   some rough stuff.

On the tarmac, it was beautiful, but on the gravel sectors, you’re literally in   the back of this pickup just being like thrown  around for hours, and like trying and like holding   a gimbal this like. Something about this race as  well, we don’t have a set route. We have a similar  

Route every year, but the route changes here. It’s  not just because we want to change it. It’s just   because the country’s developing so quickly. Gravel  roads become tarmac roads, single trail become gravel roads. You can actually do it every year  and every year you have a very different experience.

The more we got into the hills,  into the mountains, it got more and more   green with more and more trees. There was a  huge lake, it felt a bit like a fyord with huge   arms and eylands in the middle. It was looking  a bit surreal, but really beautiful and  

I totally enjoyed the climb up there and  the winding gravel roads going back down   I took some notes before the race where the  gravel section starts and where it ends, and   obviously I took wrong notes, so I expected a  much shorter gravel section. If you have in mind

Going for a 20 or 30 km gravel section and  then it lasts for ages and it’s not over after 50   60 70 km, then it gets harder than it actually is. All of the sudden the gravel  

I saw it will change to tarmac in like 50 m, and it was like wow. I headed onto the   tarmac and did a little celebration. It  was feeling like winning this stage. How’s that last gravel section? It was rough and tough. A little celebration coming on to the tarmac then!  

Quite demanding, but so far so good. I was super happy reaching  checkpoint 2 at sunset, so I was there at  6:30. He was smashing it. He came in first  to checkpoint two around 10 minutes ahead of the other riders. Which was really good  for us. It was looking really good for him.

You are pleased to know you’re first here, to  checkpoint two? That’s amazing. How’s it been so far? Pretty hot pretty nice! You know, everything hurts. It’s exhausting, but in general it’s just a bike ride.

When I left the checkpoint 2 and had the   first look onto my Garmin, it told right from  leaving checkpoint 2, the next 17 km will be a climb. And I was like, no way! Whaaat??? You kidding me!!! A 17 km uphill!

After checkpoint two, we took off. We followed him for around 5-6 km. We left him basically, slept for a few hours.  And then head off, and  find him at 3:00 a.m.. Wherever he was going to be. And I woke up around 11:30 just to check my phone and he had sent me a voice note.

**** Thanks for catching me. You okay? Yeah. A bit ****** Heart-broken. I don’t know. I felt good. The first day, pretty much  until midnight or something. The problem was that my lungs were probably already a bit  hit before. And then I spend nothing  

Else than inhaling nice, red sand all day. Probably the altitude training wasn’t   helpful. I took it easy. I thought, yeah, it’s cold. Don’t overdo it. And when I arrived   at the bottom and tried to start pedaling, I  felt like there is no oxygen coming through  

The muscles anymore. And the rider who was chasing me just passed me like a rocket. He was doing a good pace, and I was just like  completely cracked. I did one more climb 4 km. And I simply had  not enough oxygen to do. Let’s get you to bed.

It’s always a hard, very, very  hard decision to end a race like this. When I arrived, I was covered in  tears. I was super disappointed. And super heartbroken, because the chance  to see more of the route was taken from me.

After having finished earlier than expected, I’m back in better spirits and thinking about  to go back out again. And simply ride the  rest of the route as a bike packing tour. The Race around Rwanda was, or  is, one of the most unique events I did.  

In one of the most unique countries. I  was super happy that I was able to   start at all, and I was super happy about every  kilometer I did on the on the first 24 hours in the race. Nature, landscape, people, culture. This was a very special experience to me.

And it created a lot of good  memories. I learned a lot about myself. About how to listen to my body. About being patient. About how to mentally and physically handle   the challenge to be sick in bed for 4 days, and start a race right afterwards.

And that’s what it’s all about. To gain experience, take away  the essentials, and improve. I can look back and   remind myself I mastered the challenge in Rwanda. So I can master the next one as well, and even better…