When planning the TCRNo7 route, it was Bulgaria and the famous national road No. 6 that pulled my sleep out of my eyes. I spent a lot of time to finding an option that would bypass this country’s longest national road. Apparently I found something there, but everything was associated with additional kilometers and altitude gain. In the end I decided that I would drive Bulgaria with road no. 6, but I wasn’t sure what awaited me and whether it would be a repeat of TCRNo5 in Romania, where national roads turned out to be one of the most dangerous in Europe.

27.07.2019

I arrived to Burgas the day before the start and it was only because the seventh edition of The Transcontinental Race started at 6 am. Like two years ago, I met other riders already in the duty-free zone. One of them, who gave up the race before its start, took over my bicycle box and returned home to UK with it. It was a sad and happy meeting.

Personally, I missed the 22:00 start. I always felt that this is something extraordinary and gives more unknowns at the very beginning of the race. After all, this year’s start was very emotional and 6:00 am start gave hope for a long ride and a strong first day, which was also supported by my fear of Bulgaria and its drivers. Serbia, which I recall very well from two years ago, is only 700 km from the start.

The beginning was very fast and dynamic. The peloton in a police escort, and the speed that did not fall below 32 km/h. As soon as we got off the main road for the first parcour, the head of the race accelerated even more, and I tried not to lose it out of my sight. For several kilometers I had no problems with it. In addition, gravel sections began, some very demanding, due to the poor and difficult surfaces. I felt that I’m not letting go, passing the first unlucky ones, whose inner tubes could not stand through sharp stones or holes in the ground and asphalt. This first parcour was great, demanding, very diverse and extremely fast for a 4,000 km race. Already at this point, I was absolutely sure that I was not mistaken in choosing Hultaj. I felt freedom, power, strength and most importantly reliability.

Unfortunately, after the first thirty kilometers, a strong cramp on my left leg caught me. Pre-race stress did its job and took over my body. In order to continue moving forward reasonably, I had to slow down, especially on the climbs. In this way, the head of the race moved away from me for a good few hours on the first day, because the cramps did not stop until the evening. Despite this, the first checkpoint, Buzludzha, came quite easily. I climbed the summit slowly, but steadily and evenly, completely forgetting that it is as much as 1441 m a.s.l.

Already at the first checkpoint, I knew that I’m in love with Bulgaria. All my fears turned out to be ridiculous and unfair. Road number 6 proved to be trouble-free and drivers are very good. I quickly programmed my mind for another goal, the „The Arch of Freedom” monument, on the Beklemeto Pass, and with the advent of the night I discovered another wonderful advantage of Bulgaria, machines with hot drinks in every village that I was passing by. At night I started to find my rhythm.

28.07.2019

At the last pass before Sofia, around 3 am, I lay down by the side of the road for an hour to rest my muscles. I wasn’t very sleepy, but I was aware that the first day was extremely heavy and my body deserved a little rest. 450 km and about 6000 m up, is quite a lot for the first day of such a long race. In addition, this was very helpful in arranging my biological clock. It was dark at three o’clock, and when I woke up only an hour later it was getting bright. After all, it worked. At the first checkpoint I was a lot behind the leaders, and when leaving Sofia I was already chasing the first five.

The more to the south, the greater the heat, so I was able to eat only liquid products. That is why a good Bulgarian chicken soup followed my mind for all day. I was in Sofia too early for a warm main course, which is why I was pushing my way to the border with Serbia looking for that one place where I would get what I dreamed of. Unexpectedly, I found a small restaurant in the last Bulgarian mountains and quickly appreciated a good diet as something that gives the best results. I knew that such food will be at my fingertips only in this part of Europe. In the west I will only get gas stations, pizza, spaghetti and big fast food places, which is why I wanted to use this eastern cuisine as long as I could. The border with Serbia came quite lightly to me. I skip, of course, 38 degrees heat, but it was something that I couldn’t help much. The only thing left to me was to push forward, drink a lot and often, pour water at my head whenever possible and try to minimize my stops to zero. It is not easy in such heat, but the „grab and ride” strategy seemed to work.

Parcour before the second checkpoint was not to far from the border. With the right water supply, I started the first thirty-kilometer-long gravel climb. The road was bearable and honestly the whole section was fun. I was happy as a child for every missed stone or a swiftly controlled bend at the descent. I enjoyed and absorbed every moment knowing that not every day I have the opportunity to ride in such a wonderful place. On the first hill I was little disappointed with the level of difficulty, but I did not know then what awaits me on the second, six-kilometer climb to the very top of the Besna Kobila mountain (1.923 m a.s.l.). Initially, gravel turned into asphalt to return again after 150 meters, in the form of a beaten road buried with sharp stones. The higher it was the more stones were there, until finally riding or even pushing the bike up was not possible at all. I ended up as a participant in the famous „3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross”, carrying my bike on my back for the last two kilometers, on more than 20% steep slopes. Within a few minutes the weather changed from hot to stormy and extremely windy. I was blown off the road few times, and as this was definitely not enough to stop me, the storm and lightning striking the neighboring hills appeared also, and It wasn’t making me feel comfortable at all. But because I was already so high and the wind seemed to blow exactly in the direction where the lightning appeared, there was no question of stopping, escaping or anything that would probably be very rational behavior. I clenched my teeth and invaded this mountain where there was nothing on the top, but a tall transmitter. Perfect situation, thunderstorm, steel bike with flashing GPS device, navigation, phones etc. At least it’s not raining I said to myself and rode down, hoping that the tires I chose will not disappoint. It was not an easy or quick descent, but I was a bit shocked when I got back onto the asphalt again, mainly because the tires did make it. Satisfied, I started this 35 kilometer asphalt descent, but it soon turned out that it would not be easy at it suppose to be. I fell into the middle of a storm and a heavy downpour, which soon turned into the hail. I was too high, it got very cold and I had nowhere to hide, so all I could do was ride down, where it was equally wet but at least warm. It was one of the most difficult descent in my cycling career and I was very happy when I was at the bottom of it. This is where I realized, that I have lost one of my phones. It must have fallen out of my bag while I was descending the rocky road, and there was no way for me, that I was going back up there to look for it. I had the emergency one so I just said to myself „that’s ok” and moved on.

I came eighth to the second checkpoint. It was very crowded because of quite big Serbian wedding happening. I was cold and wet but ultimately very happy and ready to ride more. Suddenly Björn appeared, and I totally didn’t expect him here. He told me about his problems and that he scratched. It made me sad a bit and I don’t know why, but I couldn’t just go on. I was cheering for him a lot and I was just really sorry about that. Chris Thomas (No. 18) was also there and we all spent almost an hour together talking about many interesting things, about why we do it and how much it affects our lives etc. It was a fantastic, unplanned escape from the race for a short moment.

However, to have a clear conscience as I was still in the race, I ordered a large warm meal, two colas and a coffee. Bad luck wished that after less than an hour I still had nothing on the table, and the waiter twisted about the fact that there is a wedding and they are really busy and that I still have to wait half an hour for my food. I didn’t think long and moved on with empty stomach. It was 23:00 and I knew that in about 25 km there is a hotel with a room a waiting for me, Villa Grazzia in Vladičin Han. I didn’t have a reservation, but I slept in this hotel exactly two years earlier during TCRNo5, when my knee blown out and I just believed that this place must be waiting for me there, just to maintain the order and a balance in the universe.

Just before midnight I was in my room, with a bicycle, four large rolls with cheese, vegetables and ham, ready for a hot shower and three hours of good sleep.

To be continued…

Zapis mojego przejazdu na STRAVA (dane z GARMIN etrex 30x)

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767145

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767152

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767127

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767133

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767201

https://www.strava.com/activities/2614767578