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Quinda Verheul from the Netherlands recently became the first woman to finish the inaugural Hellenic Mountain Race in Greece, making her way across the finish line of the demanding 940-kilometer route in 7 days and 10 minutes. You can learn more about Quinda’s ride here…
Riders are now steadily rolling to the end of the inaugural Hellenic Mountain Race in Nafpaktos, Greece, and the first edition of this grueling event appears to be anything but a walk in the park. The organizers had to dig out a path in deep snow on one of the mountain passes, riders pushed on through the cold and rain, and out of over 100 riders participating, over half have withdrawn from the race. We’ve heard reports of broken derailleurs, worn-out bodies, and the usual tire issues that we’ve come to expect from races like these.
Quinda Verheul from Rotterdam, Netherlands has been dealing with her fair share of setbacks as well. Her dynamo hub was giving her trouble, which forced her to rely on her headlamp; her shoe cracked in half; and the straps on her handlebar bag failed. She has mirrored 43-year-old Katie-Jane L’Herpiniere since the start, and around the 750-kilometer mark, the two were still within 30 kilometers of each other. However, in the last 100 kilometers of the race, 33-year-old Quinda pulled ahead into the night toward the finish, while Katie-Jane shared news of her lower legs swelling “like balloons” as she pushed her bike up one of the final passes of the event.
Earlier this morning, Quinda became the first women to finish the Hellenic Mountain Race with a time of 7 days and 10 minutes. She completed the route upon her German-made Sour Bicycles Pasta Party and is relatively new to ultra-endurance bikepacking events, having only ever competed in the the Hope 1000 and Atlas Mountain Race in 2020, the latter being her fist bike race ever. Later this year Quinda, will journey out to compete in the Silk Road Mountain Race. A huge congrats goes out to Quinda and all of the other finishers of the Hellenic Mountain Race so far.
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