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Albion makes cycling products for all conditions, to help you stay outside for longer. We don’t shy away from grey skies. This is Britain, after all.

In fact, nearly all of our best stories about rides start and finish with the weather. We understand that tough riding in changeable conditions places specific demands on both riders and kit, and our approach to making things always starts by asking, how will this product improve the riding experience? The result, we believe, is functional gear with practical features, designed to work on the bike and to protect riders out on the road.

02/09/2026

Full Package Holiday.

This Summer Manu and Katrien, parents to Aske (age 9) and Wietse (age 8), headed to Kyrgyzstan for three weeks of bike touring. Afterwards, Manu rode the Silk Road Mountain Race finishing in fourth place, whilst Katrien and the boys volunteered at a checkpoint.

Read about their trip on the Albion Log.

Photos from checkpoint: Nils Laengner

28/08/2026

How’s your luck? It would be fair to say that few riders finishing this year’s race have had a tougher run than PhD student, Rob MacLennan.

After spending the seven weeks leading up to the race touring through Central Asia, Afghanistan and the Pamir Mountains (known as the roof of the world), Rob was looking to put that high altitude adaptation to work on the Silk Road Mountain Race course. A strong couple of days near the front of the field were abruptly curtailed when his crank severed, leaving him scrambling to acquire a hired bike from Bishkek to continue his race.

The calamitous days that followed brought setback after setback, any one of which might have made scratching an easy decision. Rob has seen his fair share of scrapyards this race, and has built and rebuilt his set up without ever doubting he’d make it to the finish.

It’s well acknowledged that so much of ultra racing can be made or unmade by lady luck’s hand, which makes Rob’s dogged resilience all the more impressive. Whilst it might have been hard, he remained grateful to be out there and seemed to savour every challenge he faced instead of letting it get him down.

They say nothing good ever comes easy and we hope that some part of that rings true for you, Rob.

27/08/2026

Racing as a pair is hard work. Solo riders have only one person to blame. As a pair you’re forced to spend days alongside someone else while constantly being tested, and that can reveal traits the solo rider gets to keep to themselves. Those who take that risk, though - of the added mechanicals, the mind games, the physical strain - get to leave having shared a life changing experience alongside a friend.

Emma Missale and Sean Geivett took their commitment one step further following their recent wedding this summer, successfully completing their third Mountain Race of the year after an epic 28 hour push to the finish secured them second place in the pairs category. Laughing, arguing and riding crazily hard, they rounded out their and moved one race closer to their goal of completing all four Mountain Races together.

Matteo Paez and Theo Verdecchia brought their own style to the race, riding well from the start. Sadly, after days of illness, Theo had to make the difficult decision to scratch. Unable to reset, the pair decided Matteo would continue alone to the finish. The result may not have been what they came for, but having a pizza party in a tent above 3,000m and getting to ride most of the course together is a worthy prize for such a gutsy ride.

The overall win this year went to two Kyrgyz riders, who completed this year’s route to be met by local crowds. Both riders know the race and the terrain well. Vlad has finished all five editions he’s started and Sergei placed 14th last year, so this time the two joined forces and took a big win.

The race rolls on, with the field now spread across the valleys and high plateaus with Ükök Pass standing tall between them and the finish. You can follow the dots via the link in bio and keep up with stories from inside the race on the daily Mountain Races Podcast.

Photos by Stephen Shelesky Danil Usmanov

20/08/2026

Justinas Leveika and Kerry MacPhee both lead the race.

In true Kerry style, she referred to yesterday as a ‘recovery day’ due to the amount of downhill, whilst also celebrating how lucky she felt to be racing alongside another super strong woman at the front of the race in Nathalie Schneitter. As she rests, Nathalie catches up to her, so whilst they’re not racing side by side, they’ll keep meeting and one decision to rest or resupply could be impactful.

DotWatchers breathed a sigh of relief as Justinas opted to rest well at CP2, recovering with a bed and a good meal. His strategy worked better than anyone could have expected, as he seemed to click into another gear, going onto ride the full 381km from CP2 to CP3 in one hit. Concerned about his fitness pre race, this feels like an extreme way to ride oneself back into form but one that’s working… The chasing pack of Jens Van Roost, Alexander Kopp and Manu Cattryse all seem to be looking after themselves well and although they are ~100km back they are all well in the race with so far still to go.

Photos Stephen Shelesky Nils Laengner

17/08/2026

Less than three days have passed since the start of the Silk Road Mountain Race, but it has already reminded us how this race sits on its own level. Early drama, the sheer beauty of the landscapes, and the raw ability of racing in Kyrgyzstan that hooks us in each time.

All the old cliches are painfully true. Nothing that happens in the first 48 hours should be read too much into... It’s a long old race... Whilst it isn’t won in the first few days, it can be lost... With the route tipping over 2000km for the first time, we are reminding ourselves to relax a little into the coverage.

Front runners succumbed to the heat, as head units provided unsettling readings when temperatures reportedly passed 40 degrees Celsius. Understandably, there have been early scratches. Predicted front runners have struggled, whilst others seem to have acclimatised well. Who would have known the Scottish Highlands are such a good training ground for the mountains of Kyrgysztan? Kerry MacPhee’s start looks to have been frighteningly fast, and she sits in the lead of the women’s race (and comfortably in the top 20 overall). It’s close though, with Natalie Schneitter nearby.

The men’s race has been equally as close, with too many riders to mention trading places. Those who look after themselves the best will no doubt emerge in the next couple of days as the race starts to split.

If you haven’t found the time to tune into the coverage yet, the options for following this year have never been better. The media team behind the official race Instagram and Podcast delivers the news the fastest, with a team working non-stop to let us feel like we’re close to the action.

The media team:

mel webb
Евгений Чистяков
Stephen Shelesky
Nils Laengner
Danil Usmanov

14/08/2026

Riders have collected their caps and are making their final preparations for the start of this year’s Silk Road Mountain Race.

Setting off from Talas in the northwestern corner of Kyrgyzstan at 9am local time tomorrow, the race follows a 2,052-kilometre route with roughly 35,362 metres of elevation gain, finishing in Cholpon Ata on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.

Filmed primarily at last year’s edition, Mountains and Trees explores what drives people to travel to remote places and take part in ultra-distance bikepacking races, as well as the motivations behind putting on these extraordinarily hard events.

Follow the action from this year’s race and watch the film via the link in bio.

Photos and film Stephen Shelesky and finley newmark

06/08/2026

What drives people to travel to remote areas and take part in ultra distance bikepacking races?

Set against the backdrop of some of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes, the Mountain Races take riders on unforgettable adventures in unexpected landscapes.

A film by Finley Newmark, Mountains and Trees looks at the motivations behind these extraordinarily hard races in beautiful, remote environments.

Free to watch now - link in bio.

05/08/2026

Mountains and Trees launches tomorrow at 10am (British Summer Time).

After a tour featuring 15 global screenings, the film will be available to watch for free from Thursday.

Mountains and Trees looks at what drives people to travel to remote areas and take part in these bikepacking races, as well as the people behind these events and their motivations for organizing them.

The film is still being shown at venues for the rest of the Summer too, with hosting a screening this weekend in Switzerland, followed by Talas in Kyrgyzstan ahead of the Silk Road Mountain Race.

An Albion and Pertex production, directed by Finley Newmark.

03/08/2026

There’s a quiet confidence to the way Hélène Fromenty 🍉 races.

Headwinds across Greece. Seized front brake pistons that needed resetting after every use. Just three hours of sleep to make up for lost time.

The Transcontinental has a way of stripping racing back to simple problem solving.

Hélène has met every challenge with quiet determination, carrying on towards Kalamata armed with little more than patience, persistence and a can of WD-40.

One final ferry crossing behind her. One final push to the finish.

25/07/2026

The Transcontinental is full of brief encounters.

Neighbouring cabins on a ferry crossing. A shared table at a bakery. A nod to a passing control car. A rider you’ve chased for days disappearing as you stop to eat.

Small moments of connection before the road pulls everyone apart again.

Now the temperature is rising, the shade is disappearing, and the road south is only getting harder.

Photos Tomás Montes Samantha Saskia Dugon werka

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