Well, the short story is that I made it. I was nowhere near as fast as my original plan, but just completing the course is an achievement and to be honest I am satisfied – for now.
I certainly didn’t have the worst experiences within the race, but it wasn’t all plain sailing either. I should have spent more time planning my route, and more time training, and both those things would have got me to Brest faster. I could have been carrying smaller, lighter gear and less of it, but I took what I had and it all worked so I was pretty happy with that. My rear hub pretty much consumed itself (it must have been as hungry as I was) but other than that the bike was perfect, with not even a flat tyre. My boat (otherwise known as a custom kevlar/carbon food box and light mount) worked brilliantly, and my body basically held together. It did start to fall apart a bit in Serbia but I nursed it through Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland, and by the time I reached France it was basically ok again, and in fact for my last day I felt better on the bike than I have in over a year.
I was a long way away from the pointy end, but in plenty of time for the finishers party.
There are still plenty of people out on the road, and im hoping for clear skies and tailwinds (or at least a respite from those awful headwinds) for all of them. It isn’t an easy thing to race a bike from Burgas to Brest, and anyone doing it has my admiration.
Meanwhile the fundraising has been going great, and I’m happy to say I’m within $400 of my goal, and pretty confident of getting there in the next few days. A huge thank you to all those who have donated, all those who are going to, and also to those who have helped out by sharing the link or in any other way.
Before the race everything is complicated, but as soon as you start life simplifies to three things: ride, eat and sleep. After the race it becomes even more simple: eat and sleep. That’s where I am right now, in the world of eat and sleep. Over the next couple of weeks I expect to be posting a great deal more detail with stories from the road, but for now I’m going back to my simple life!
