Across Eurasia: Inside Sofiane Sehili’s World-Record Attempt

Laos, 2010. Sofiane Sehili has been dreaming of this trip in South East Asia for too long. Now, he’s finally there, but something isn’t working. The whole idea of adventure is diluted by the sound of engines, the noise of tuk-tuks, and the crowded buses. He is missing a sense of immersion and spontaneity. 

Sofiane has been riding bikes occasionally but never for touring purposes. He finds a mountain bike for sale at a cheap price and decides to continue his trip toward Thailand on it. Only a few hours later, he breaks his rear derailleur and sets up to cross Laos with a single gear. When he gets to the border, he realises something magical has just happened.

“Even if I struggled a bit, I had the time of my life. I found something there, something that felt like it was made for me, you know? My life totally changed, and this has made me happy for the last 15 years. I can even say it changed me totally. I met friends through cycling, got into the bike messenger community, and met my girlfriend through cycling. I became a better person, more human in a way. I think I wasn’t a really nice person, but it made me better.”

Becoming Unstoppable

A few pedal strokes later, Sofiane ditches his job to become a full-time messenger. He also starts racing long-distance, and the rest is history. Sofiane’s results do the talking for him, with consecutive wins in some of the biggest races on the calendar.

“I was a journalist writing reviews about TV documentaries and things like that. Writing is something that always kind of came easy to me. I liked it a lot, but once I had gotten the basic concept of how to do these write-ups, it became a bit redundant and repetitive. I didn’t get the same kick out of it.”

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Sofiane wins races—a lot—but it’s not just about winning. The Frenchman has set himself some goals, and soon enough, he wakes up realising he might have ticked all the boxes.

“I found myself without the same hunger and motivation I had in previous races. I had won a few and started wondering whether I cared anymore about winning a race. I am, of course, still a very competitive guy, but the misery you must put yourself through doesn’t appeal to me that much anymore.”

Speaking to him at his home in France, he mentioned seeing riders like Alex McCormack win the Atlas Mountain Race and Robin Gemperle set an incredible time on the Tour Divide. He noted how they’re under 30 years old, recover quickly, and don’t seem to leave any details to chance. In Sofiane’s view, what was once an adventurer or traveler’s sport is now evolving, with real athletes entering the scene.

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“These guys are way above average in terms of physical capacities. While I’m not too bad, I’m not at that level. I am not trying to fake modesty here; I think I’m quite good at ultra-racing, but you know, my time was more about the experience and mental journey. The capacity to sleep deprive oneself and all. Now, it has already evolved into something else. Eleven days on the Tour Divide?! That’s next level. I can hardly compute that.”

As a lover of competition, Sofiane doesn’t plan to stop racing entirely, but he’s no longer chasing the same results. At the end of day one in the recent Trans Balkan Race, he could already see what it would take to be in contention to win. Not feeling like it was worth the effort, he decided to dial it back and just have a great time. After years of dominating the ultra-racing scene, he says that chapter is closed.

A New Chapter

Rather than completely closing the book on racing, he’s merely flipping the page to an exciting new chapter, continuing along the road of bikepacking adventures that have made him who he is. He views the pursuit of records, rather than race wins, as a natural progression. When I asked him if his sponsors will support him to the same level now that his calendar doesn’t include plans to win at the biggest events, he told me that it’s easier to have support when you’re winning but not impossible when you’re not.

“Here’s the thing: it takes a very few words of explanation to describe what I’m doing. Everyone knows what a world record is; that is way more mainstream, actually. Crossing two continents on a bike as fast as possible and on your own is self-explanatory. Try doing that with something like Tour Divide. You have to explain the whole concept and the rules. And then the sleep deprivation, hallucinations, exhaustion, and all that stuff. There is gonna be none of that here. I am sleeping every night. A real night, inside and all,” Sofiane told me.

He continued, “Consistency will be key to doing these 300 kilometers a day on average. It’s kinda like cyclotourism in a more extreme way, but deep down, I’m just riding my bike far and crossing countries. I didn’t want to be supported because I want to truly immerse myself in each country, and if you have a support crew, I suppose you meet fewer people beyond that circle. I have no idea how this is going to go also, and that’s exciting. It’s a new thing, and I am looking forward to these two months on the road.”

Sofiane’s world record attempt is something of a return to the roots of how he discovered bicycle travel 15 years ago, buying that inexpensive mountain bike in Laos. He says the ride itself isn’t a source of stress, given all his experience, but the preparation, route planning, getting visas, last-minute mechanical issues, and keeping up with changing border situations all took their toll.

When I asked him why he isn’t going for an around-the-world record, he said it didn’t have the same appeal given the need to take boats and planes to make it happen. Since you can’t really ride around the world on a bike, Sofiane sees more excitement in a ride from point A to point B. It’s not just for environmental reasons, but also because he can focus on the riding itself, rather than all the complex logistics of booking tickets on various means of transportation.

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“I’m going to ride until I can’t. Until there is an ocean in front of me. I am going to meet hundreds of people, and despite not understanding their languages, I know there will be great encounters; it is an adventure before anything else. So that record, this way, makes total sense for me,” he said.

Packing for a Record Ride

I assumed Sofiane would be packing quite heavily for his attempt, at least relative to the gear he typically brings for races, but he told me the opposite is actually true. Rather than needing to have all the gear required to push through any weather or scenario in an ultra-race, he said he’s packing a little lighter and will simply wait things out in the event of rain or other inclement weather.

“I am packing super light. I have only one pair of bibs, and instead of leg warmers, I went for full-on light pants. This way, I can protect my legs but also have an outfit to wear in places like hotels and restaurants. The real luxury item I took is a second jersey. Otherwise, I am still extremely light in my pack list,” Sofiane said.

Tracking Sofiane’s Dot

It’s now been three weeks since Sofiane departed the westernmost point of Portugal en route to Vladivostok in far eastern Siberia. His route will take him some 10,000 miles across Europe and Asia. Although he has roughly plotted the route, he’s open to changing it as necessary, rerouting on the fly. At the time of posting, he’s already some 4,250 miles into the journey and in Russia, making incredible progress. He has averaged nearly 200 miles a day for the past 22 days and is well on track to beat Jonas Deichmann’s 64-day record

You can follow along with Sofiane’s daily video updates on Instagram and track his progress in real time on FollowMyChallenge.

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