Seven Serpents

Seven Serpents is the main event of Bruno Ferraro's bikepacking series: a fixed route from the Slovenian capital to the Adriatic port of Trieste, ridden fully unsupported, with no drafting, no private resupply and only the shops, cafés and guesthouses along the way. The organisers are clear that it is not a race but a personal adventure in which every finisher wins, and the riders who have written about it on bikepacking.com describe a route that is rough, relentless and harder than they expected. The organisers themselves call it a compromise between gravel and mountain bike, and promise a few stretches of pushing.

The line starts in Slovenian forestry country, past Predjama Castle built into the mouth of a cave and the intermittent Lake Cerknica, then crosses into Croatia and climbs to Zavižan in Northern Velebit National Park, where the limestone towers of Tulove Grede and the 19th century Majstorska road lead down towards the sea. From there it is island country: the bora-scoured stone of Pag, known for its sheep's cheese, the old Adriatic town of Krk, then Istria with the lookout tower on Učka, the tiny walled village of Hum and hilltop Motovun, before the last climbs over Slavnik and the drop into Trieste. For the next edition the organisers announce four islands and five ferries, and ferries have shaped this event before: in 2023 storm winds cancelled crossings and left some riders waiting for hours at the terminal.

Ferraro is an ultra-distance racer with the Transcontinental, Badlands and TransIberica behind him, and the idea came in 2021, after his second Badlands, when he felt the off-road ultra scene needed fresh and demanding events. Race reports describe a director who designs every metre of the route, turns up on a ferry with a film crew and an air horn, and waits at the finish with a cold beer, and the event sets aside discounted places to bring more FLINTA riders onto the start line.