Montañas Vacías — Komoot Women's Rally 2022

680 kilometres, 13,000 meters of climbing, and almost all on dirt through the “Empty Mountains” of Spanish Lapland, a land known for its low population, wide open spaces and arid mountains.

This is an open invite to women to meet us in Teruel, Spain on April 29, 2022 to start the route together. This is not a race. It’s a self-supported challenge with the goal of completing the loop and making it to the finishers’ party on May 6th. Come with a friend. Come on your own.

Sleep under the stars or under the shelter of refugios. Ride forest roads and doubletrack between medieval villages. Be part of the rolling community of women.

Life is simple on the bike. The next challenge is the path ahead, finding camp before dark, making sure you have enough to eat. It’s always fun to be out there, but so much richer with others. You get to share the terrain, space and time– riding together, leapfrogging one another, sharing stories and meals, and helping each other along. We get to be the best versions of ourselves– courageous, capable and fun-loving.

Our first women’s bikepacking challenge on the Torino Nice Rally in September 2021 was a total hit. The event and organization all came together pretty last minute and it was a dream come true– 26 women started together in Turin, Italy to ride the 700km route and make it to the finishers’ party in Nice, France a week later. Many of us didn’t know one another before the ride. A week of adventure– riding over mountain passes, finding shelter in a storm, camping under the stars, fixing mechanicals– made us lifelong friends. Even before the week was up, we knew we’d have to do it again. We’ll host another Women’s Torino Nice Rally in September 2022– more information coming soon.

Let’s try something new.

What about adding a women’s bikepacking challenge in Spain to start the season? Within a week of considering a Spanish version, two route designers that I deeply respect (James Olsen from the TNR and Willi Felix from the Hope 1000 in Switzerland) recommended that I check out the Montañas Vacías route. From all appearances, route designer Ernesto Pastor has put a world of work into this special route. He was inspired while riding the Torino Nice Rally to bring the concept back home to Spain, to carefully map out the route and the amenities along the way and encourage people to come ride there.

It’s always the most exciting the first time– to ride a route, to host an event, to face the unknown and see how it all unfolds.

eventbrite.de/e/komoot-womens-rally-montanas-vacias-tickets-249106814187

The event is free. We have space for 50 women, non-binary and trans riders. Once confirmed, we’ll provide more information for registration and logistics. Come ride with us!

Check out more about the Montañas Vacías bikepacking route from Ernesto here: komoot.com/collection/1361771.

- Lael Wilcox