meet the family

Meet Lorenz

Lorenz always had an urge to wander. Having spent his first university breaks on multi-month trips, hitchhiking to Spain and across Turkey, for him, travel, adventure, and human encounters always have gone hand in hand.

The switch to bikepacking was a natural progression. Because of coincidence, he became a bike courier during COVID and started riding the streets of Munich and Vienna. Since then he has been logging about 15,000 kilometres a year, which turned long days into a habit and made racing feel like a natural next step.

After fulfilling himself a dream and competing in the Silk Road Mountain Race 2023, he stayed in Kyrgyzstan for four months to see more than a start line and a finish photo. That time went into research for his master’s in anthropology and into finding a deeper view of a place that a fast ride can only sketch.

Lorenz completed all three Exploro.cc events by Bea and Luca, ticking off the Trans Balkan Race, Montenegro Mountain Madness, and Istraland in the wrong order, working from hardest to easiest. Trans Balkan Race 2024, 4th place: rain, thunderstorms, little sleep, and a calorie hole you could fall into, yet he loved every minute because the route was too good to stay grumpy. Montenegro Mountain Madness 2025, 2nd place: stomach trouble from the gun turned into a running joke he called Montenegro Magen Madness, but he stuck to the plan and finished at 11:00 on the dot after 50 hours, helped by a kind family and an ill-advised cheese dinner. And Istraland in 2025 which he took as firmly experience-first, with real sleep, a camera on hand, and plenty of roadside chats and snacks.

He also recently placed second again at Sneak Peaks Classic 2025. Having only had a very brief period of preparation, encountering temperatures way colder than expected and pushing the bike for hours through fresh snow on the Stelvio at 2,700 metres. Having to improvise a sliced tyre and carrying on chasing the leader over 7000 meters of altitude per day.

Lorenz also co-founded Kurbel Kollektiv Wien and happily spends hours in route-planning software, stitching together rides that combined stretch over thousands of kilometres and shares these experiences with members of the local community, for he knows its people the people that bring to life to lines drawn on maps. Storytelling and outdoor adventures are the constant in all that he does. 

He is currently based in Salzburg and while he enjoyed living in Copenhagen for a while,  his ideal home is never far from mountains and good trails for riding.

Where are you from, where did you grow up and when were you born?

I was born in 1998 and grew up in a small village in Germany in the municipality of Miesbach, just south of Munich. Our area is famous for its prestigious breed of cows and Lederhosen, and with that comes a closeness to the Bavarian Alps.

When did you start cycling, and how did it lead to racing?

I was never much into sports as a teenager, but I started cycling at 18 as a way to explore my surroundings. In 2020—right at the peak of the hype—I got my first gravel bike (a Beyond 1). During COVID, I lost my student job and started working as a bike messenger in Munich. Listening to stories about the Silk Road Mountain Race while doing my first and second Transalp really sparked my imagination. I discovered that racing could also be fun on my first-ever race (see below).

What do you think is so fascinating in terms of endurance / bikepacking races?

For me, it’s the sense of adventure and being exposed to nature and its elements. It’s everything you get on a normal bikepacking trip, but multiplied—intensified by the race setting and the goals you set yourself. Normally, I value my sleep, but during these races I’ve found that riding through the night and then witnessing the sunrise makes the lack of sleep completely worth it. That being said, I try to balance racing with conventional bikepacking, where I enjoy sleeping outside, being close to nature and taking my camera with me.

Which race did you enjoy the most and why (what’s your favourite race)?

I’d say the Trans Balkan Race has been my favourite so far. For me, it had the perfect length and just the right amount of hardship. After a smooth start, I developed extreme saddle pain towards the end and even considered scratching, but I pushed through and came fourth—a result I was very happy with, given the strong competition. What I loved most, though, was the variety of landscapes the route showcases. Having spent quite some time myself crafting “perfect” routes, I can honestly say it’s one of the best-designed routes I’ve ever ridden.

What result are you most proud of and why?

I’d have to go with my very first bikepacking race, the Supergrevet Wien–Berlin. I’m less proud of the result (even though I came second) than of the fact that I threw myself into the deep end without really knowing what I was getting into—and I haven’t looked back since.