TCR DAY 1 – Ardennes to Lorraine, first encounter with my limits.

My first Transcontinental Race started weirdly with cycling 10km upstream to retrieve my lost sleeping bag. Entering Geraardsbergen again, I heard a familiar voice with a local Flemish accent « That’s verrry strange: a Jaegher riding down the Muur. » Kristof Allegaert himself accompanied me while I was searching my belongings. Finally @cycling_bear had it. After a quick chat with the organisers and Instagram friend Thijs Ligt, I finally started my race… in pursuit mode.

The first unfortunate riders (with a puncture) were met in Enghien. On the long dark roads I caught up with the little flickering red lights one by one. None of the riders were very talkative at this point. Namur was the last possibility to buy drinks. Jan Trouvé had the same idea. We had our first live chat before we both followed the Meuse valley to Dinant, a road I’ve done about 10x already, before climbing the brutal massif of Famenne to Celles and Wellin. At 4am it was time for a short nap. This had been a long and stressful day.

I woke up after 2 hours in race mode, thinking that everything was still possible, and started riding right away. Behind every bush there was a TCR rider sleeping. Quite a funny sight that reminded me of Monty Python’s marathon for incontinents (Incontinental Race?). At the end of the Ardennes @thetranscontinental crew was parked at a gas station. I met race organiser Juliana Buhring and got podcasted. After that, the heat started to ask its toll. I moved on in bits of 20km.

Dotwatchers at home were discovering the joys of tracking my every gesture. « Sebi is stopping at Deli Traiteur now. » After crossing Luxembourg in 35+ temperatures, the North of France saw me hitting a physical wall. Where I usually enjoy to climb, I was now watching every hill with fear. First I took a nap, then a break to eat, but it didn’t help. This was the moment to sleep correctly. End of my illusions. I took a room in Saint-Avold and slept almost 10h.

336km470 – 14h10 – 23,7km/h – 4367m up

NEXT DAY >

NEXT DAY >

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