I woke up pretty early, knowing I had a big hill to get over first thing. I hadn’t ridden over it last night because I was worried that I would get too cold. I wanted to get over it quickly and early now though, because I knew that if I didn’t I would end up suffering through the heat. Beyond the hill though was checkpoint 3. When I started this race in 2017 I got as far as checkpoint 3 before pulling out, so knowing that I was at least within range of equaling that effort was a comforting thought. Continue reading “Day Nine – A funny thing happened…”
Day Eight – That really isn’t very far!
Today I would be hitting the parcours for Checkpoint Three, but before I reached it I still had a reasonable climb ahead of me – the Passo Valparola. My plan was to get over it before the day got hot. Beyond that, I knew that between the end of the parcours and the actual checkpoint there was a big hill that I really wasn’t keen to go over when it was cold, dark and wet. To try and avoid the heat in the morning and the cold in the evening I thought I should get going relatively early, so I was on the bike well before light, with a fairly chilly 4 degrees. Continue reading “Day Eight – That really isn’t very far!”
Day Seven – Back to the hills
I was sore, and the hills were back. this had the potential to be disaster, but at least it would be disaster in a beautiful part of the world. And on top of that, I had a plan. Years ago I was a dirt-bike obsessed teenager, and used to read every issue of Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine from cover to cover. One line from a review of what they concluded was a reasonable but ridiculously underpowered little bike has always stuck with me – “no power equals no wear”.
Day Six – All my speed and grace…
…was gone. This was probably the lowest point of my ride, while also being a wonderful day. I woke up in a hotel in Zagreb with sore everything. My knees were stiff, my achillies ached, my butt was sore, my feet were still sore and I was feeling very sorry for myself. I took an honest look at how far I had to go and how I was feeling, and concluded that I was unlikely to make it to the finisher’s party.
Day 5 – Into Croatia, and things are starting to go wrong…
I had been pretty happy when I planned this section of my route – it was nice and flat and I thought I should manage an easy 400-450km a day. Serbia had been very hot and the road quality and traffic had both taken a toll, but I was hoping for better things in Croatia.
Continue reading “Day 5 – Into Croatia, and things are starting to go wrong…”
Day 4 – Sore in Serbia
There had been some discussion at CP2 about routes through Serbia. Several people said that they were going north around Belgrade because they didn’t want to get slowed down. I could see their point, but my route took me straight through the middle. I was basically going to ride north until I hit the Danube, and then follow it through the city before heading off towards Croatia.
Day 3 – Struggles in Serbia
Day Three started well, crossing into Serbia. I’m sure others have different strategies, but for me having landmarks and milestones helps with my motivation, and crossing a border counts as a milestone. It isn’t all good though – in this case it also came with a change of language (not that my Bulgarian was good enough to be much benefit) and a change of currency. Serbian currency is actually quite difficult to get outside of Serbia, so like many others I was relying on finding an ATM, or failing that people who would accept payment with card or Euro/Bulgarian Lev.
Day 2 – Bulgarian Heat
Riding strongly is an important part of winning TCR, but just as important if not more so is being efficient in everything you do. There are really only a few things that are important, and if you can do them all quickly and nothing else then you will be well ahead of most people.
Day 1 – the long version
Ok, my plan now is to do much more detailed write-ups and post them over the coming weeks. The fundraising has been going really well – thanks to contributions from a whole lot of wonderful people I have passed my goal, but I’ll keep it open here just in case anyone still wants a chance donate. Forgive me if these write-ups are too long, i had a lot of time to think on the bike!
Race day! It started perfectly – but that only lasted about 5 minutes. Many years ago I worked in Bulgaria, and had a great guy working with me who taught me a lot. In particular, there is an ancient Bulgarian saying that has been passed down from generation to generation, that this guy shared with me. I followed it for quite a while, but the night before had chosen to ignore it. I’m not sure if that was the cause, but it meant that in the hours before the race any spare fluids I had were rapidly exiting my body. The saying was “Don’t eat the small meat, Rowan”.
And finished!
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.