Hamburg’s Backyard Ultra is a self-supported gravel ultracycling event that takes riders through the forests, fields, and quiet backroads surrounding Hamburg, Germany. Organised by Backyard Gravel, the event combines long-distance endurance with a welcoming community atmosphere, offering a serious challenge for experienced gravel riders.
The main Ultra route covers approximately 700 kilometres with around 3,000 metres of elevation gain, starting and finishing in the Hamburg region. Riders follow a fixed GPX route across a varied mix of gravel roads, forest tracks, dirt paths, and quiet rural roads, creating a demanding but highly rideable adventure through northern Germany.
Hamburg’s Backyard Ultra follows a strict self-supported philosophy. Riders are responsible for their own navigation, food, accommodation, and mechanical repairs, with no outside assistance permitted. Success depends on careful pacing, efficient resupply, and the ability to manage fatigue over multiple days of continuous riding.
With its blend of fast gravel, scenic landscapes, and long-distance endurance, Hamburg’s Backyard Ultra offers a distinctive German gravel ultra experience. It is an ideal event for riders looking to test themselves over a challenging 700 km adventure while enjoying the camaraderie of the gravel community.
Based on this event's terrain, difficulty and riding style.
At 700 km with 3000 m of elevation gain, Hamburg’s Backyard is roughly the distance of 17 marathons back to back, with climbing that adds up to close to a third of the height of Mount Everest.
Hamburg’s Backyard's terrain calls for a Gravel Bike, ideally running 45-50mm Tubeless tires. On the drivetrain side, a 38-40T (1x) chainring matched to a 10-51T cassette gives enough range for the climbing involved.
Hamburg’s Backyard carries an overall difficulty rating of Intermediate. The terrain itself is rough, technical terrain for a good stretch of the route, the climbing is fairly flat, and conditions tend to run mild and generally comfortable.
Hamburg’s Backyard runs on June 25, 2026, placing it firmly in the summer riding season, with long daylight hours, though heat can become a real factor.
Hamburg’s Backyard runs primarily on gravel, and we'd recommend 45-50mm Tubeless tires to handle it comfortably.