#Cap11at the Transcontinental Race #TCRNo9 in 2023.

This is the story of my Transcontinental Race No9 in 2023, the definite self-supported bicycle race across Europe.
A collection of my videos and pictures I took during the 3850 km from Geerardsbergen in Belgium to Thessaloniki in Greece.
More details about what happened you find in my blog and on https://miles4malabon.de/en/home/

0:00 Intro
0:34 Gearset
1:54 Raceday, start in Geraardsbergen to Berling (France)
4:44 Day 2, Berling (France) – Stans (Switzerland)
6:18 Day 3, Stans (Switzerland) – Splügen (Switzerland)
8:46 Day 4, Splügen (Switzerland) – Bormio (Italy)
12:12 Day 5, Bormio (Italy) – Thal-Aue (Austria)
14:11 Day 6, Thal-Aue (Austria) to Pavličevo saddle (Border crossing Austia Slovenia)
15:29 Day 7, Pavličevo saddle (Slovenia) – Ivanić Grad (Croatia)
17:12 Day 8, Ivanić-Grad (Croatia) – Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegowina)
19:11 Day 9, Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegowina) – Nikšić (Montenegro)
21:28 Day 10, Nikšić (Montenegro) – Peshkopi (Albania)
25:25 Day 11, Peshkopi (Albania) – Gërmenj (Albania)
27:18 Day 12, Gërmenj (Albania) – Neraida (Greece)
31:07 Day 13, Neraida (Greece) – Katerine (Greece)
33:35 Day 14, Katerine (Greece) – Parapotamos (Greece)
34:14 Day 15, Parapotamos (Greece) – Thessaloniki (Greece)

Special thanks to @dotweatcher and @thetranscontinental for the race coverage and offering me this great opportunity!
https://dotwatcher.cc/race/transcontinental-race-2023
https://www.lostdot.cc/race-brand/transcontinental

I am connecting this with fundraising money for a street-children project at the Philippines. It takes round about half an Euro per child and day for a warm meal, pre-school or school attendance. You can support my activity at any time, even when I am not on the road :-).
Link for donation is here https://www.betterplace.org/en/fundraising-events/34768-miles-4-malabon.
More information on my home page https://miles4malabon.de/en/home/

Credits for the music goes to:

Music:

‘Desire for Freedom’ by Aleksey Chistilin https://www.youtube.com/@AlekseyChistilin
‘Lonely Miles’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/AlCI32cdQs0
‘Your Best Summer’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/1q9lFNOAwUE
‘Summer Adventures’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/P9fQFwz-Ilw
‘You Must See It’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/vf-nhcA6rLY
‘Smooth Waters’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/KzWR3FlAzec
‘A Long Way’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/CJ9WULHEO4M
‘Long Way Home’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/yW4IhQIOyoA
‘Field Grass’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/JzA5GdSDyl4
‘Uplifting Life’ by @GrandProjectMusic Uplifting Life – Background Music For…  
‘Path To The Dream’ by SergePavkinMusic https://youtu.be/mOznlgIr1OM

The transcontinental Race TCR Number 9 3850 kilometers from Geraradsbergen  in Belgium to Thessaloniki in Greece One of the toughest unsupported  ultracycling races of the world Across the alps and the balcans Until finally reaching the furnace of Greece I am using a gravel bike for the  Transcontinental race almost as out of the box.

Changes are the road tires, robust aluminium  rims and a dynamo hub. Equipped with aero bars   and raisers to have more convenient positions to  put my hands and arms during the long journey,  plus a saddle that is proven to be the  right one for me on long distance events,   I should be perfectly equipped.

I am using an 11 liters seat pack carrying  my sleeping system and warm clothes,   a frame pack with 4 liters of volume  for all the heavy stuff like tools,   but also things I need to be able  to grab quickly like a rain jacket  

Or the reflecting vest, and a handlebar pack  with 9 liters of storage for all my clothes. Additional I mounted a top tube bag for my USB  charger for my electronics and a power bank,   a small bag on the aerobar for another  power bank and to attach my mobile phone,  

Plus two mounts for my GPS cycling computers. Raceday on July 23rd 2023 The day started with the registration,  bike check, receiving the cap and the   tracker before the official briefing  took place during the late afternoon. I planned my route to control point  1 in Livigno from Belgium to France,  

Staying north of the Vogesen area  before heading south direction Basel,   continuing to cross Switzerland via Luzern  and Andermatt. Climbing the Gotthard,   San Bernardino, Spulga, Majola, Bernina and  Livigno Pass to eventually reach CP1 in Italy. After a rainy night, the first day was full of  showers. The sun only appeared for a short time  

After lunch. So I used a few bus stops to shelter  from the rain and took more breaks than planned. Day 2 has started. It is not raining. It  was raining a little bit during the night so it was a good decision to stay  in an AirBnB after the first day

Which brought me to the Vogesen area about 400 kilometers, or a  little bit more, I managed. I am pretty happy with that with all  the breaks I took due to the rain At the moment all is hunky dory  and I am looking forward to today

Day two continued with a mix of  sun, showers and even thunderstorms.  Near Colmar in France I had to stop to replace  a broken bottle cage and to buy a repair set   for my tubeless tires, which I forgot to  put in my frame pack before the start.

The day ended with a thunderstorm  close to Luzern before I luckily   found an outdoor sleeping place near to  Stans, that gave me shelter for the rain. One way to avoid the forbidden Axenstrasse was  passing west of Vierwaldstätter See. That meant   walking for a couple of kilometers  downstairs wearing cycling shoes.  

I thought that this would be the longest  walking passage of the transcontinental.   If I had know here what I was going to  expect, not sure if I had continued… It continued to rain, and up to the Gotthard Pass  the weather forecast didn’t look too promising.  

I dumped my shoe covers in France as  they were causing problems during the   first day and had to be a bit innovative  by using some clingfilm as replacement. On the isouth side of Gotthard the weather changed   and the sun took over before  the fist parcours started.

Not sure if you cancer me, but I am climbing up  San Bernardino. A final couple of kilometers.   It is pretty dark, maybe in the video  it looks still bright, but everybody   is having lights switched on, vests are on.  I need to change to warmer gear in a couple  

Of turns. I think I will reach the top in about  15 minutes. I am going to change before the top,   usually there is a hard wind blowing  and it is smarter to do it before. At 1 30 am, with a cold breeze  blowing and only 5 degrees celsius  

I found a sleeping place in Splügen at a bus stop. Day 4 started with climbing up Splügen Pass, followed by an amazing   descent with endless hairpins before reaching the end of parcours 1. It is day 4, Thursday, another 74 kilometers  to the first checkpoint, which I was hoping  

To reach by far earlier. Problems with my  knees…today my mind is not the best  one After the Maloja pass with tailwind towards  St Moritz my mood changed completely,   and it was as if someone turned a switch. I was able to push though until Livigno,

Where I got my fist stamp  and booked  an AirBnB for the next night in Bormio. Some kilometers, and some climbs still to go… From CP1 in Livigno my route was planned via  Bormio, Stelvio pass, Bolzano and up the Eisack   towards Brixen, Bruneck into Austria, passing  south west of Villach back into Italy before  

Entering Slovenia before reaching CP2 in Zgornje  Jezersko after approximately 520 kilometers. Day 5 started b climbing up  to the top of the Stelvio,   with 2760m the highest pass  on my transcontinental route. A few kilometers after Prad I got a  front tyre puncture that sealed itself,  

But left quite some sealant at the  camera lens for the rest of the day. I was getting really hot around Bolzano and   I had to quite often refill by  bottles along the Eisack river. After midnight I entered Austria, and it began  to rain again, followed by a hefty thundershower.  

Luckily I found an outdoor sleeping place at  a closed restaurant near by the cycling path. After a good breakfast in a bakery in  Austria, I was heading back towards Italy. Not even knee  problems or 3 punctures could stop  me from entering Slovenia at the early afternoon.

The perfect conditions, the weather  and the cycling paths and roads,   brought me closer and closer to CP2. I first missed the CP and  had to return a couple of   kilometers later. But then I eventually found it. I decided to rest at the former border  station between Austria and Slovenia,  

Where I found a bit of shelter for  the upcoming rain in the night. After only a few kilometers into the day,  the first gravel section stared. I was   not sure if my tires would make it though  the gravel, but all worked out fine. After  

Some resupply at a gas station I continued  to slowly turn south direction Croatia . I entered Croatia and it was  getting more and more humid.   Clear signs of another thunderstorm to expect. The thunderstorm caught me round bout 2100,  and I decided not to continue cycling under  

That conditions but opted for a hotel and  to start a bit earlier at the next morning. Day 8 started with a bit of bad mood. I was  for many kilometers cycling through an area   where the signs of the civil war are still  visible. Paired with the humid air and mist,  

I felt tired, hungry, questioned the whole  event and was almost ready to scratch.  It changed after the sun came out and  I entered Bosnia Herzegovina. A new   country, new culture and car drivers that  unexpectedly took care about crazy cyclists…

I decided to go for new tires in Banja  Luka after the first reports about the   gravel parcours in Albania were published.  The top of the race was already far ahead. In Travnik I booked a motel for  the night, as the strolling dogs   were frightening me too much to camp outside.

I was passing Sarajewo and entered  yet another astonishing landscape   with a lot of tunnels climbs and  decent on my way towards Montenegro. All the customs officers were super friendly  and wishing me a good trip. Many participants   did pass the boarders before, so they knew  what is going on when I finally arrived.

In Montenegro the beautiful countryside continued,   I could have stayed there for ever, but pressure  was on to reach the next CP in Albania in time. So I continued until Niksic where I could  not resist to spend the night in an AirBNB,  

But I could resist the self distilled Raki that  was offered by the hosts as a welcome drink. Early day 10 I was passing the boarder to Albania,   and it was As if I was entering  a different world again. In Skodra I righted through the traffic  to change some money and to resupply.

The next hours I was cycling though  hilly area towards the old Mat bridge. My knee started to hurt  again before CP3 in Burrel,   which slowed me down a lot and did  cost a lot of motivation and energy. The long way from CP3 to CP4 would  bring me via the first gravel parcours

South towards North Macedonia, back  into Albania before reaching Greece and CP4 in Kalambaka with its world  heritage of Meteora monasteries After the CP and a longer break I was ready  to continue towards the third parcours,   the gravel parcours that was anything else but  suitable for passing through during the night,  

But I did not see any other  option rather than to continue. I called a hotel  owner our of his bed at 2:00 am when I finally reached Peshkopia. There was no a single flat kilometer between  Perskopi and the boarder to North Mazedonia,  

Where I first went for a big resupply  before heading south for many kilometers. Temperatures were getting higher and  higher and I was afraid of getting a   heatstroke. So I took a couple of short  breaks in the shadow to cool down.

It was clear that I would not  be able to pass the boarder to   Greece anymore at the same day. So I  stopped in the middle of nowhere, at least where I did not find any roads that could be called roads  for many, many kilometers. At 8 am when the boards crossing to Greece opened,  

I was one of the first persons entering the  last country of the transcontinental race Temperatures reached more than 40 degrees during   the day and I was competing  with Bees to get some water. The start of the first of the three parcours  around CP4 was a gentle uphill ride,  

But then the hardest part of the whole race began So, in case you are wondering what is going on I decided to combine the two parcours  by the gravel path which is shorter and my left leg is not feeling  so good. So a bit of walking,

What I’m actually now doing, is actually good and lets see how far I can go  towards checkpoint number 4 It is 1:30 a.m., I am totally done. It took  many, many hours to cross the mountain. I fell four times, one time  uphill, thee times downhills. lost a bottle, I look like shit

I am hungry, I have 90  kilometers to go to Meteora. If you ask me why I am doing that, I have no idea. With no breakfast, tired and  feeling completely broken I started on the last 90 kilometers towards  CP4. After I got some food at a shop,  

And after the sun had risen, energy and motivation  returned, and I reached the control point in time. I was now sure, that I have a fair chance  to reach the finish in time for the GC. From CP4 and after the last of the  three parcours I headed towards Trikala,  

Larissa and then towards the coast at  Platamonas. Then via Katerini north towards   the start of the finishing parcours, which  would bring me back south to Thessaloniki. At the end of the last of the three parcours  around CP4 I replanned my route to go back and  

Ride along the coat line. More flat, tail wind and  no gravel. Some more kilometers I did not mind. I managed to almost reach Katerini,  just I could not find a good place for   the night. The only option I found  was to hide behind an exclavator…

Another hot day in Greece, with a break  after lunch to escape from the heat.   Somehow I forgot to properly recharge  my power banks while riding, and I had   to stay in a cafe for a bit longer  to recharge my phone and GPS device.

My neck  started to hurt and it got more  and more problematic to keep my head up. I had to support my head with one  hand, while leaning on the aero bars. The finishing parcours yet  contained a lot of gravel,  

Not possible to ride with one hand on the bars  only, while the other is holding the head… The day ended with a good meal at a restaurant The final kilometers towards  Thessaloniki were horrible.  Up and down, gravel, neck problems, heat.

The neck pain was almost unbearable,  and I had to stop a couple of times not to faint. But eventually the dream came true to  reach the finish in time for the GC,   and in time for the finishing party.

After some days of recovering in Thessaloniki I  headed home, where I was welcomed at the airport.