This is the part in which you actually remember that you are just a human, and that your bike, too, can fail. I realised that the Czech part was way longer than I expected, so I would need to sleep in this country. I tried to manage without krona’s but people here had very few card devices. At a certain point I almost robbed a pub, buying them 1,5 litres of lemonade with a 5€ banknote they did not want. « It’s good, no? It’s good. » Czech Republic got its revenge hours later when I was desperately looking for hotels in a city at 21h30. Too late, all receptions were closed. So I slept in front of their door, on ten open egg boxes. A very cold night, it was!
The next morning, the legs were not with me. That bad night of course, and the lack of a breakfast buffet, my Achilles heel! It took a few stops to glean the needed calories. Then my gears started acting weird, and my bottom bracket made a creaking noise. The latter was not harmful, said a Czech mechanic. « You can ride 3000km. Just annoying sound. » The gears had a different problem, that a second mechanic (50km further) diagnosed as a loose rivet blocking the derailleur to reach the easier gears. Ok, so here I was before the Alps with a benign creaking bottom bracket and gears that would not shift because of a screw. I soon put tape on that screw so it kept in place for longer. Several shops did not have a spare derailleur of my type. I cycled on to the Alps.
Despite the hiccups, I ended the day with another 300km. It took 50km in the dark to get there and my ‘early’ rhythm was screwed now. I managed to buy some late night pastries and a gin tonic to reward me for the good pedaling.
The next morning I was thus in ‘late’ mode and could enjoy breakfast. My routing was efficient and I was catching up on some competitors before the Alps. The tape was holding for now. I ate some more fish before tackling the first Alp pass (Kesselberg). The lakes in this area were idyllic and made me think of spending holidays with my daughter Camille next year. We could rent a boat and swim in the blue water and… Sebi! PEDAL!!!
Few kilometers later it started raining heavily. That was a first for me in the Transcontinental. After a 30 minute break it did not calm down, so I removed my shoes and pedaled the next mountain pass (Seefeld) with my slippers. I was stunned that this ski resort is accessible by train (it has a real station!). The descent at the other side, still in slippers, was jaw dropping. Telfs and Imst lied there, 700m below in a lush valley between the clouds.
In that valley, between Imst and Landeck, I became increasingly hungry. I desperately ate the gummy bears in my food pouch until the last bear standing. It was the first hypoglycemia of the race. I was cold and hungry. A quick pizza gave the needed cartridges to reach the hotel 65km further up the valley. The hotel was fantastic. I washed all my gear and had a tremendous night. At breakfast I met the French duo (Gabriel & Arthur, 254).
The next day would bring on four passes: normally this would be a good day for me, if the bike and legs allowed. And yes, the rain had washed away the noise from my bottom bracket and the annoying rived in my derailleur had worn out into a workable shape. This day started well. I climbed Reschenpass and Passo Umbrail (2513m) and passed a few riders. Zane Jakobsone seemed to be close to scratching and I encouraged her to keep advancing – even walking is progress! More riders were on this road, I could smell them! We met at Control Point 2 right before Passo Gavia (2600m).
The hotel that hosted CP2 was a nice wooden chalet. The volunteers gave us some welcome cheering and a homey feeling. Unfortunately the culinary dimension of that cheering was unavailable. The hotel pub only served cake, coffee and coca cola. There went the dream of a cheesy pizza before Gavia. We had a friendly chat with Paul Ashman, Paul Alderson and Kim Heikkinen (yes, them again!). Tim Hull-Bailey had just climbed the Gavia missing the CP. He would have to do it again.
On the climb I chased the Pauls and ended on pure cardio with the first Paul. « Good climbing skills » he said 🙂 The kind of compliment that makes your day in such a race, given the very high level of participants. The descent of Gavia (Italian side) was one of the best mountain experiences I ever had. The narrow road crossed right through natural habitats and it looked as if we were discovering it. The surprise at the bottom in Ponte di Legna, was that there was one more pass (Passo Tonnale) to reach the right valley. I should study my routes better beforehand 😀
#tcrno8 #tcrno8cap54 #transcontinental #race #ultracycling #cycling#cyclinglife #cyclingshots #roadcycling #roadslikethese #fromwhereiride
Sebi Cicleta 