TCR DAY 6 – Northbound, trying to escape the Alps.

I started pedaling, angry at myself for having stopped in such expensive place (hotel asked 110€) and lost so much precious time (left at 9h30). I swiftly climbed the last pass separating me from Austria, entered Villach where I got lost on the same bike path as Roberto Baldassi before following quiet roads along the Ossiacher See. I tried to get food and drinks in regularly to make this a long day. Following the advice of @thetranscontinental team, I avoided the 317 and took another valley where most shops were closed. Ive Weygers and Charles Billau followed the same logics. Hours later, the end of the Alps was in sight, but not quite. I lay down in a beautiful field, my body crying for rest! Did I need to sleep there, at 6PM?

Encouraged by my followers, I went on and grabbed a pizza at the next restaurant. I shared the table with Dario Demarco, from whom I was expecting pizza advice. But when he started talking with a deep Scottish accent, I couldn’t help singing that 80s song « I would walk foive hondrrred moyles ». It became our running joke and gave me energy for the evening ride across the Tauern massif. At 10PM many TCR riders were still going. In Trieben I met a very focused Hakan Höglin and in Admont I saw the eternal Cycling Bros (Guillermo NM & Daniel Nicolás Muñoz) quietly resting in front of the church. I was hoping to catch Loïc Nys Taymans overnight so I pushed on to Weyer, resisting to every «Zimmer» sign along the way. Then came the strange moment where I had to lay down in a public space and switch into sleep mode.

256km990 – 11h32 – 22,3km/h – 2901m up

NEXT DAY >

NEXT DAY >

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