Ultra-endurance cycling challenges push the human body to its absolute limits, but when you throw in a romantic relationship and the scorching terrain of Spain’s Andalucian mountains, the stakes rise dramatically.

Badlands in a nutshell

Badlands is an unsupported ultracycling gravel event, covering 800km +16.000m across the only deserts in Europe, the wild coast of Cabo de Gata and the highest Col in the continent, Pico Veleta at 3.396m

Once per year there is a common start for riders coming from all over the world, but it is not a race: Badlands is a personal challenge where you must complete the official route totally unsupported.

Riders travel through deserts at temperatures close to 40C but also overnight beyond 2.000m close to 0C.

“Our schedules leading up to Badlands were pretty hectic and I’d never done any night riding before,” says Shrosbree. “We managed to fit in a practice ride on the ‘Rat Run’ course through the New Forest. It really tested us. We were going through mud and bridleways, which were lined with stinging nettles. It was torture. When we checked Strava we saw the segment was called “Stinging Nettle Alley.” I remember Brad saying ‘I think after that you’ll find Badlands is easier!’”

The pair had help with their fueling strategy from the Precision Fuel & Hydration team and had to plan for long stretches with no resupply. “We took around 40 hours’ worth of nutrition, mostly in the form of carb mix along with 60g sachets that were easy to carry and caffeine gels,” explains Shrosbree. “The other big thing was the hydration. It was really hot – the Wahoos were reading 40 degrees at critical points, and some riders pulled out during a section where you’re without water for about three hours.”

Night time was especially testing. “It was pitch black, no moonlight and I was relying on the light cast by Brad’s bike to see where I was going,” says Shrosbree. “The descents were so technical that your eyes started messing with you – and because of the state of the rear mech, my chain kept flipping off, maybe 60 times across the whole race. Brad would turn his light on so I could quickly fix it. It really tested our patience.”

The pain of Shrosbree’s injury coupled with the sleep deprivation the pair were suffering from took their toll too. “My elbow was so swollen, I’d be hitting rocks on these fast descents and my eyes would stream with pain,” she says. “We both began to hallucinate too. At one point I thought I saw an amazing statue of Pinocchio among the rocks! It was hilarious but also dangerous and I kept shouting to myself to look at Brad’s rear light as the hallucinations started to override reality.”

Training together, the pair insist, was key to keeping the communication flowing and tempers in check. “If you’re going to ride it with someone make sure you train with the person a lot, find out what annoys you both about each other – you don’t want to wait until the race to find that out” adds Shrosbree. “And understand that you’ll both be tired at different points, but you can’t let it get negative.”

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