МЕЛ 2026. Жара, грязь и меловые горы. Самая массовая байкпакинговая гонка в России.

MEL 2026 is a two-day self-supported race across the chalk mountains and steppes of the Volgograd region. The largest bikepacking race of 2026 in Russia (almost 160 participants). Heat, downpour, strong winds, mud and slush—it had it all. This video is a detailed report about my experience in this race and the challenges I encountered along the way. All voice comments were mostly recorded live during the race. There were some issues with the audio recording and a dirty camera lens, but they weren't critical. 00:00 - Intro 01:52 - Introduction 03:18 - Start of Day 1 05:13 - Starting out alone 09:45 - Khmelevskoy Farm. Dogs and a slow Garmin. 15:18 - Climbing up from the Don, still seeing the first two. 21:55 - A spring in the Kamyshinsky village. Refueling for the second half of the distance. 25:42 - Climbing a chalk ridge. 28:00 - The crossings across the fields have begun. 29:55 - Rolling steppe stretches to the horizon, approaching a chalk valley. 32:18 - Descent into the chalk valley. 33:13 - Along the Bolshaya Golubaya River. 36:33 - The last dirt climb. 38:30 - The final section on asphalt. 40:22 - Finish of the first day. 42:47 - Start of the second day. 48:40 - Ford, the beginning of the grassy section. 51:05 - Riding through thorny thistles 53:10 - Waist-high grass 56:45 - Back on a normal road. A few people caught up from behind. 57:10 - Beautiful chalk descent 58:48 - Climbing along goat tracks 59:49 - Stopped to clear grass from my brakes, fell behind the leaders. 01:02:23 - Another overgrown chalk valley. 01:05:40 - A spring on the second day. We meet a couple of guys riding ahead. 01:07:34 - A long asphalt climb. 01:09:09 - Back through beautiful chalk valleys. 01:11:05 - The final stretch with cross-country runs has begun. Rain is approaching, I'm trying to escape. 01:14:45 - Rain is already approaching, I'm driving through a clay field. 01:16:19 - A wall of rain behind me. I barely made it through. 01:18:24 - The final descent, the mud begins. 01:21:55 - I hit the pavement, the finish. 01:22:47 - Chatting at the finish, short interviews with the participants who got caught in the mud. 01:26:53 - Conclusion.