Atlas Mountain Racers: Meaghan Hackinen
The Atlas Mountain Race, the great bikepacking race in Morocco, will start within the hour. More than 250 racers will head out of Marrakesh and climb into the Atlas mountains on their 1,300 km journey over long-forgotten gravel tracks. Ahead of them is very little pavement and plenty of hike-a-bikes. Distances between resupply points are large.
We took this opportunity to catch up with a few riders. Meaghan Hackinen, from Canada, has been racing and winning ultra-events for almost a decade. This year, she plans to be the first woman to complete all three ‘Mountain’ races: The Atlas, the Hellenic and the Silk Road Mountain Races. Here is what she told us before the start in Marrakesh:
My journey into ultra-cycling started gradually. It came from a convergence of factors: I discovered randonneuring as a busy graduate student living in a prairie city, keen to venture deeper into my new surroundings, but unable to commit to the type of long-distance touring I used to do. I was also on the mend from my second ACL surgery and in search of a competitive outlet, but facing up to the fact that contact sports like rugby and roller derby were no longer in the cards.
Right from my first brevet, I could tell that ultra-cycling combined three of my favourite things: time outdoors, fresh experiences, and greasy spoon diners. Around the time I wrapped up my first 600 km ride, Lael Wilcox won the 2016 edition of the Trans Am Bike Race and put competitive ultra-cycling on my radar. Keen to test my own limits, I set to work learning everything I could from my fellow randonneurs in preparation for toeing the line at the Trans Am myself—and the rest is history!
If not for taking a random job as a care attendant to an adaptive mountain biker, I probably would have stuck to road ultras. But after getting a taste of the deep, wild woods that existed right outside my own backdoor—I moved back to British Columbia after finishing my Master in Creative Writing—I sought out a bike capable of mixed-surface adventures.
In 2021, I took the overall win in the BC Epic 1000, a 1000 km mixed-surface race across a good chunk of British Columbia (my home province) on rail trails and forest service roads, while setting an new women’s course record. Since then, I’ve had several more overall wins. Last year’s highlights included the Tour Divide—where I was first woman to cross finish line, placing 7th overall and setting a new record for the grand depart—and the Arkansas High Country Race, where I took the overall win and set a new women’s FKT.
My athletic goal for the Atlas Mountain Race is to realize my current potential, whatever that looks like. I hope to embrace my competitive spirit while simultaneously leaning into the aspects of racing I love the most—long hours of solitude in incredible scenery, chasing the sun (or other riders), and the internal satisfaction of pushing myself beyond everyday limits. Another important goal is to avoid making the same mistakes that I have in the past. Last year during the Tour Divide and Arkansas High Country, I had some learning moments—and while it’s fine to misstep, I don’t want to be caught in an endless cycle of doing the same stupid things again and again.
My best moments on the bike are often transitional times: sunset, sunrise, a mountain peak, or the lingering aftermath of adrenaline as your heart finally settles after a ripping descent. I love a heated chase as much as I enjoy crawling into my bivy at the end of an absurdly long day, vision blurred with fatigue after giving every last drop. Many great moments on the bike are times when I feel the childish joy of getting away with something—night riding when normal people are sleeping, winding through single track while cars scream by on the nearby highway, or calling a can of Coke and slice of yesterday’s pizza breakfast.
I’ll be racing on my brand-new Salsa Cutthroat C Force CO AXS Transmission with a 10-52T cassette and 34T chainring. This is the first factory-new bike I’ve had since purchasing my road bike in 2016, so you can bet I’m excited! I’ve been riding (and racing) a Cutthroat for the last few years, and we’re a match made in heaven. From my experience in road cycling, I prefer drop bars to flat bars, and I’m comfortable navigating rougher terrain in the drops. The 2025 Cutthroat has a wider range of gears, for everything from the steepest hills to fast flats, plus a vibration reduction system for comfort compliance. For the rough terrain of the Atlas Mountain Race, I had planned to swap the rigid fork for a front suspension, but, due to delays in getting a specific part, that hasn’t happened yet.
I’ve opted for super-wide Light Bicycle WG44 carbon rims, laced to a SON dynamo hub in the front and a Hope Pro 5 rear hub. The dynamo is paired with my dependable kLite to light up the night—and help keep my electronics charged. I’ve struggled with both lights and charging in the past, and the dynamo system really takes some stress off both these things. I wanted a tire capable of tackling the wide-ranging terrain—from old colonial pistes to fast asphalt and spirit-sapping sand—so I opted for 29” by 2.2” Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge tubeless tires (filled with Rene Herse sealant), which grip like a knobby when conditions get tough, yet have minimal rolling resistance on asphalt. To increase comfort, I’m using Redshift Sports Cruise Control Under-Tape Grips, ShockStop suspension stem, a heat-molded Reform saddle, plus aero bars.
For bags, I’m using Apidura Backcountry Series packs: a long top tube pack for my electronics, hygiene items and multi-tool; a 6-liter seatpost pack for my 7mesh Mission jacket, warmer layers, and sleep kit (RAB Mythic sleeping bag rated to 0 C/32 F for those chilly nights paired with an SOL emergency bivvy and a minimalist homemade mat); a 4-liter full-frame pack for my water reservoir, first-aid kit, and small clothing items; a 1-liter down tube pack for tools, repair kit, and spares; plus a feed snack to store overflow resupply that won’t fit in my pockets. I’m also packing Apidura’s super-tiny 13-liter packable backpack for end-of-day or bulky resupply.
Good luck, Meaghan! We can’t wait to see how you do out there in the Atlas Mountains, and hear your story afterward!
Further Reading:
- The first part of the Atlas Mountain Race mini-series: Sofiane Sehili
- Follow the riders with the Atlas Mountain Race tracker
