Growing up in East Germany, Markus soon discovered the freedom a bike could give him, even as a child living right behind the Iron Curtain. He made Scotland his new home in 2009 and after mapping his first bikepacking route, the Capital Trail, he went on a lap of the world on a single speed bike, cycling 34,000km across 26 countries in less than a year, fully self-supported.

 

In 2019/20 he successfully completed the Highland Trail 550, the Silk Road Mountain Race and the Atlas Mountain Race – three of the hardest bikepacking races in the world – all in the course of a year.

 

Since then he has portrayed gravel riding and bikepacking in Britain in various short films and his book ‘Great British Gravel Rides’. His latest book, ‘Bikepacking Scotland’, is a compilation of 20 inspiring bikepacking routes across the country he has called home since 2009.

 

Markus will take you on a journey through his life, reflecting on a career defined by pushing the boundaries of what is possible on a bike.