An unfinished race turns into a promise fulfilled.

Back in 2024, our friend, Luca Montoya entered the Bentang Java race, a 1500km, unsupported lap around one of Indonesia's stunning islands. After 560km, Luca stepped away with a promise to one day return. This year was that year.

This years race was five days, next to no sleep, hands going numb on the climbs, 35-degree heat that turns you into a fried potato, and nights spent chasing a headlight beam through jungle.

Knog's Colin Brown caught up with Luca Montoya (@unknown.route) fresh off the finish line to talk pain, purpose, sunrise summits, and why riding into the pitch black might just be his favourite way to suffer.

So tell me a little more about Bentang Jawa — you have a little history with this race, right? And for those who don’t know, what’s the general overview of the race?

For anyone who doesn't know the race, it's roughly 1500 km across the island of Java, from west to east, with more than 17,000 metres of climbing. It's completely unsupported, so you're carrying what you need and figuring everything out as you go. There's no support crew or proper sleep schedule. You basically ride, eat, sleep whenever you can and keep moving towards the finish. Also, this race has pretty strict rules. For example, you can't draft behind other people or cars, you can't ask strangers for help etc etc.

Bentang Jawa is a pretty special one for me because I actually raced it back in 2024 and had to DNF around 600 km in. I had some serious stomach issues already before the race started and just couldn't continue, so coming back this year was definitely personal. I wanted to see if I could actually finish it this time.

What makes riding around Java, Indonesia's biggest island, so unique?

Java is just an incredible place to ride. It's so alive, and you're constantly moving through completely different environments. You have some big cities, tiny villages, jungle, volcanoes, crazy steep climbs and roads that feel like they were never designed for bikes.

There are people everywhere, especially during the day, and then you can find yourself completely alone in the middle of the night. That contrast is one of the things I love most about riding in Indonesia.

Ultras are known to be challenging both physically and mentally — how did your body hold up to 1500 km and 17,000+ m of elevation?

Physically, it was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Five days of riding, 1500 km and more than 17,000 metres of climbing, with very little proper sleep.

Apart from my hands, my body actually held up surprisingly well during the race. I was obviously exhausted and there were plenty of things hurting, but I could keep pushing.

The main problem during the race was actually my hands. That started already on the second day, with a lot of pain and numbness in my fingers from being in such an aggressive riding position for so many hours. But once the fingers were numb, the pain was gone, so I just kept pushing and didn’t think too much about it.

Now I’m paying the big bill for that decision. I’ve already been off the bike for four weeks, recovering from the nerve irritation.

It’s definitely taught me that just because your body can survive something doesn’t mean it’s necessarily happy about it.

It must be such an incredible experience to push yourself to the absolute limit — when things were at their most challenging point, what was the internal dialogue like? How do you work through ‘moments of darkness’ while out there alone?

There were definitely moments where I thought, “Why am I doing this to my body?” Especially in the middle of the day, when you’re completely exhausted, it’s 35 degrees hot and you just feel completely baked like a fried potato and you’re still looking at hundreds of kilometres ahead.

But during the race I learned quickly that I can’t accept any negative thoughts. I didn’t give them any space to exist. Otherwise I would have DNF’d again quite early.

Once I passed KM 560, where I DNF’d two years ago, there was no way I was not going to finish the race.

I can’t really describe it but my mind and body went on this auto mode and we just kept going day by day.

I’m getting quite emotional just thinking about all those moments again. It’s such an incredible feeling.

Darkness doesn’t last forever, right? The sun always rises, and I’m sure there were moments of pure bliss too, right? What was one of the best moments out there on the bike?

Absolutely. Bentang Jawa is a very long roller coaster. And for me, riding through the night, when Java is sleeping, is the most special thing.

Especially on day 5, when I cycled up Mt. Bromo during the night and arrived just in time for the sunrise at the peak. It was the most stunning thing I’ve experienced during the race and I would even say it’s in my top 3 things I’ve ever witnessed.

Also big shoutout to Julee Cruise. Her song Into the Night was following me EVERY night. Just me singing those vocals and looking into the dark, wondering what’s ahead of me.

And it’s funny because it took me, I think, 5 days until I actually opened my phone and played the song. It was just there, in my head and guiding me in a very calm way throughout the nights.

There were also so many small moments with people along the way. Kids waving and screaming “HELLO MISTER” or running towards you for a high five are a very special moment as well!

Those kids are growing up with this event, so once a year, there are 200 cyclists that are passing their little village that probably no one else would ever pass.

There are many more incredibly beautiful moments that will stick with me forever.

Again - shivers while saying this out loud.

We have to talk tech too — what was your setup like? Walk us through some of the gear you were using, including your Knog setup.

Yes, let's do that!

So, I was riding my Megamo West with a SRAM Force/XX mullet setup, 40T in the front and a 10–52 cassette, which was perfect for the amount of climbing. 2 years ago I had a smaller cassette and a bigger chainring and I have no idea how I made it to KM 560, haha.

I was running Vittoria T10 Hardpack 45 mm tyres and Zipp SW wheels, with the Coros DURA navigation system.

I also had my Portal cargo vest and a pretty minimal bikepacking setup with @Fjällräven and @Atelier_LA bags.

Lighting was definitely a huge part of the setup because so much of the race happens at night and I loved that! I never thought night riding would become a thing for me but I literally woke up every morning at 1am with the biggest smile to start riding until 8pm.

The nights were my favourite time to ride! It's so peaceful, the temperature drops and you are just on your own following the lights of your bike… literally dreamy state haha.

So in the front I was running the Knog Blinder 1400 and as a spare I had the Blinder X 1800 including one powerbank. Somehow for the entire race I was only running the 1400. It just worked out perfectly.

I ran it on the lowest mode for 5/6 hours each night and recharged it while I was sleeping. For the rear I had two R150s. Again, I only used one of them and recharged it when I was asleep.

But for the books - it's mandatory to carry two front and rear lights in case something happens and you need a spare one.

Definitely a very reliable setup and I can't wait for my next night rides.

What’s it like to finish something like this? Do you have a ‘never again’ moment? Or an ‘I’ll be back soon’ feeling that lingers around?

To be fully honest, before the race started I told myself that this will be my last ultra race.

The time that goes into preparing for something like this is just intense and I didn’t even train much. My longest training ride was I think 150KM… instead of training 30h a week I probably only rode 15–20 hours a week.

Even though I didn’t spend so much time training, I was always thinking about this event for the weeks or even months before. Whatever I did, it was connected to the race, so the mental impact of it all was the hardest thing.

For example, since I didn’t train much, I got scared that I won’t be fit enough. Then I got sick for a whole week, so I lost another week of training. Then the last 10 days before the race started I took so much care of what I ate so I don’t end up again with a funny stomach etc etc.

But then the race started and the closer I got to the finish line the more addicted I got!

Yes I had lots of pain and probably lost already 3/4 kilograms of my body weight but damn! This whole experience was so good!

I crossed the finish line with the biggest smile you can imagine! Now, 4 weeks after the race it’s still the same! I’m already checking the race calendar for 2027 to see what ultra race I want to attempt next!

And I think it’s less about the race factor of the whole event. It’s more about challenging myself and following a route with hundreds of likeminded people! It’s a really incredible thing to experience!

Luca, as always, love chatting with you, looking forward to getting out for a ride together soon!

Absolutely! We definitely need to get out for a ride soon. Thanks for having me and supporting my adventures, Colin! Love to be a little part of the Knog family 🖤