Cover photo: Angus Sung
03.08.2019
My alarm clock on a phone bought in Croatia has not disappointed me yet again. When I opened my eyes after less than three hours of sleep, I felt quite good and at four in the morning, I was already on a narrow Italian street in Ponteggia. All my fatigue was covered up with great excitement. I was looking forward to this part of the route because I spent a lot of time planning it. The main road leading to Lake Como, SS36 did not look very nice on Street View. It was filled with several tunnels through which it is not allowed to ride a bicycle officially. I followed a series of Italian bicycle routes leading parallel to the main road to finally find the shore of the lake on its west side. Fantastic views and quite aggressive morning traffic on the road had a very stimulating effect on me and gave me a pretty nice pace. When the Italian coffee has been added to the stove (as we call it in Poland), without even knowing when I found myself in Como, having behind me fantastic coastal sections, bicycle-only tunnels, narrow paths and majestic surrounding Alps.
After Como, there was practically one small hill waiting for me, from which, in the late morning sun, I entered flat as a table Turin lowland. Travelling 200 km in such terrain seemed to be a simple task, but the situation changed significantly when the sun reached its zenith and brought 38 degrees heat, that took over the entire lowland. Dynamic and enthusiastic ride between small Italian towns turned into arduous and heavy rolling between them. The closer Turin, the warmer the sun and the temperature rose. Adding the general fatigue, my average pace was around 20-25 km/h, which completely did not coincide with my travel plan. The only way I could save my time was to minimize the number of unnecessary stops and in fact, there were not many, and if only to refill the desired fluids. I also tried to start my phone again, for which I lost almost 20 minutes in a small Italian shop in Galliate, where, together with a very nice Italian, we tried to run any of the available sim cards. Unfortunately, it failed.
All-day ride in the hot sun made me feel so tired that I didn’t care much. Thanks to this I could get along with everyone, in any language, he would not speak. I managed to send an SMS to my Madzia from the barmaid’s phone from a roadside bar in Bandita. Because a good mood didn’t leave me, and the Italians also do not belong to the grumpy once, the bar got a very cheerful atmosphere, especially when I ordered two coffees, two glasses of milk, several croissants, coke and two icecreams.
When I entered Turin, the sun started to let go a little bit. Besides, the city always wakes me up and mobilizes me a little. I wanted to eat something decent, but the only place I could find was a big supermarket and MacDonald. I entered the supermarket and couldn’t find myself there. When I think about it in retrospect, it seems to me that during the whole day heat I got a bit lost mentally and the only thing I could buy was two batteries for my Etrex. At Macdonald, I also didn’t want to stop because I usually try to avoid this company, so I moved very carelessly towards Mont Cenis, not eating anything decent since yesterday. Bananas at a roadside fruit seller, as well as coffee and cakes in Susa, were the fuel on which I boldly decided to get this pass done.
Mont Cenis is a great mountain. From the Italian side, it is about 25km with an average slope of 6-7% climbing from 500 to over 2000 meters. I did not expect such heights and as it turned out I underestimated this mountain at the stage of planning my route. Still, getting here in the middle of the night was a fantastic feeling. The shadows of stone buildings, the view of the illuminated Turin, the edges of the high sharp peaks around, created a beautiful and mysterious atmosphere. Unfortunately, my route was once again badly uploaded to my Garmin and, like on Rombo, the only thing left were waypoints.
4.08.2019
At the summit, I forgot about the world for a moment. Complete silence and beautiful starry sky enchanted me. After a moment, I let go my brakes and went down, taking all the cold of fresh mountain air on my body. I rode like that for a dozen or so minutes, and overcoming subsequent stone hairpins, I felt that I was already passing here. I don’t know why, but I was convinced that I went back to the Turin side. I completely lost my orientation, and looking at my Garmin I couldn’t find the answer. After several minutes of investigation, zooming in and out of the map and others, I convinced myself that everything is ok, I’m going in the right direction and probably just need some sleep. These several minutes chilled my body completely. I went down to Lanslebourg, a small town at an altitude of 1400m, where I hid at a built-in bus stop. I pulled on everything I had wrapped in bivi and emergency foil trying to warm up again. I fell asleep for about an hour, and because the cold did not let go, then about 4 – 5 am I went further towards Valloire where the next parcour and Col du Galibier climb was about to start. Cold penetrated me completely. I tried to warm up with my legs, but the long descent did not make this task easy. Good luck in misfortune, the tunnel in Sain-Andre turned out to be impassable and I had to go around it, through the pleasant two-kilometre climb. It was enough for me to warm up to a decent level and in Sain Michel De Maurienne, the town where the climb to the Col du Telegraphe and Valloire begins, I was already warmed up. I bought croissants for the road and headed up.
This part of Alps was like the world capital of cycling. The crowds who climbed Col du Galibier that day surprised me completely. Older, younger, women, men, groups, soloists, various bikes, colourful costumes. Amazing place. I felt quite strange among them, and everyone was taking over me. The pace I had while climbing Valloire was probably the slowest of all but still good that I was riding and not pushing my bike out. I was aware of the hard day ahead and considering the next devilishly designed parcour, I decided to ride this last Alpine section in a way that allows me to rest as much as possible before a relatively flat finish in France. In Valloire I found a great piece of soft, shady grass on which I settled comfortably for less than two hours of sleep. After 11 o’clock I started climbing the Col du Galibier, which I gained slowly and calmly after another two hours and so. Just before the summit, I met a couple of travellers climbing there with full panniers. They were the only people I managed to overtake that day, and thanks to them, I have a souvenir photo from this wonderful mountain.
Photo: Dries Landuyt
Next part was the gravel up to Huez from the east. Great road, completely deserted place. After that, 20 minutes downhill on the famous road, full of amazing hairpins full of inscriptions on the tarmac. My Garmin, who was still „eating” parts of my planned routes, leaving only the waypoints, displayed the next one: Angela. My friend, the organizer of All Points North and a veteran of many long-distance events. She was a volunteer of the race and I knew that she is waiting for me at Hotel de Milan, where the fourth control point sponsored by Kinesis was located. Meeting with her has driven me for these last two very difficult days, both physically and mentally.
Photo: Angus Sung
At the control point, I was around 7 pm, the atmosphere there was just awesome. Angela was there, Rory, and also Chris with whom we took the ferry during The TransatlanticWay Race a year ago, and many other fantastic volunteers. Finally, I found out how I was doing in terms of my position, I learned that Fiona was playing the piano, I ate delicious Carbonara, and I think I reset my mind a bit after the hardships of recent days. After less than an hour, with a tourist brochure in my pocket on which there was a map of the area, I left to do the last part of the parcour, hoping that finding the route will not be so hard after all.
Photo: Angus Sung
The climb to Villard Notre Dame was beautiful. Narrow traversing paths, small dark tunnels, higher and higher. At the top, I was happy about another gravel section, mainly because I decided to beat it in daylight. At the top, the sun has already set and the lower I was, the more the night has covered the whole area. When I turned off the main road to Grenoble, I stopped for a few minutes. Originally I planned to rest for two or three hours, I even thought for a moment that I might come back to Hotel de Milan, but the energy that filled me after this last section pushed me on my way. An additional motivation was the wind, which finally worked very strongly in my favour. For a long time, my pace wasn’t that good as on the next 40-50 kilometres, which I covered in less than 1.5 hours, including a stop at a closed gas station in search for water. I entered Grenoble very enthusiastic. Considering that I only navigated using waypoints, I was doing pretty well.
5.08.2019
My plan was very simple. Eat something nutritious, leave the city and sleep for 2-3 hours to start the last stage of the race before the morning. It was going to be a replay from APN, almost 1000 km non-stop. I knew I could do it and, I felt exceptionally good for someone who had just travelled 3,000 mountainous km. I found an open „kebab” where I ordered a large portion of meat with vegetables and fries. While waiting for my dish, I took a 15 minutes nap in a comfortable armchair, which further motivated me to continue my ride. I started with fries on aero bars, finishing the portion along the way. I was wondering around Grenoble for a moment until I finally found the right path towards Voie Verte. I remember very carefully the feeling of confidence that overwhelmed me at that moment. I rode fast, it was the middle of the night, empty streets, I was thinking about city riding and beeing a bicycle courier. A sharp left turn and I fall!
I realized that I hit something when I was already lying on the ground. It turned out that it was a small curb separating the bicycle part from the rest on a narrow one-way street. I don’t know from, but suddenly a lot of people appeared around me. They wanted me to get up but the pain in my hip was so strong that I couldn’t. I explained to myself (and also to all of them) that my muscles are tense and tired and that’s why I’m so week. Finally, with the help of several people I was able to get up. I leaned on a bike that looked like nothing happened. Anyway, everything looked all right, except for the huge pain in my hip. I told myself that it had to be a strong bruise and I assured my helpers that I was okay and that I have to go. After a few steps with the bicycle, it turned out that I cannot walk really, while the ride turned out to be quite bearable. I got on my Hultaj and rode to Voie Verte, a bicycle route running along the river le Drac. I managed to leave Grenoble.
After several minutes of riding, hip pain was even stronger. That’s when I decided to stop. I went down to the riverside where I found a nice piece of grass a few meters from the bike route. Somehow I managed to get into my bivi and fall asleep. I set the alarm clock for three hours, hoping that this will improve my situation and in the morning I will feel a little better. Unfortunately, when I woke up, I couldn’t even move my hand. My whole body was full of pain. I lay almost paralyzed. Every leg movement was so painful that it intruded my whole body with suffering. I panicked a bit, I was also mad at myself for not calling 112 right away in Grenoble when I was still among the other people. However, I tried to calm down and somehow moved my arms, neck, generally the upper part of my body. I managed to get out of bivi. roll them up and push them into my saddlebag hanging on my bike next to me. I crawled back onto Voie Verte, dragging Hultaj with me and settled on the asphalt bike road, resting my head on its vertical tube. „Take it easy,” I thought. I reached for my Croatian phone and enjoyed what I saw on its display: „emergency call only”. I dialled 112 and called for help, giving my coordinates from Garmin. The lady on the other side of the phone confirmed that they will find me. It looked like I could wait calmly for help. I lay there for probably no more than a few minutes, when suddenly a paramedic on a bicycle appeared above me, saying something very vigorously to me in French. It’s a beautiful language, I thought, and somehow tried to explain to him that I had already called for help and that someone was coming to me. It turned out that he was just going to work, to the unit that had been called to find me. He called someone and after a while, there was a group of firefighters around me who took great care of me. They didn’t speak much English, but we still got along well. They promised to take care of my bike and take it to the ambulance parking lot. They took me to the nearby hospital in Grenoble, Clinique Mutualiste. I still hoped that it was only a very serious bruise and that no bone is broken and I will be able to continue the race today after getting some painkillers. After the x-ray, the young doctor explained to me very clearly in English that the femoral neck was broken and that it had to be quickly operated. The nurse asked if I want the morphine now. Exactly at this moment, my race ended. With tears in my eyes, I gave up to the people who took care of my health and I was amazed how good they all were.
I stayed in the hospital in Grenoble for a week, watching the dots passing all around me. It was a devastating feeling at first, but later I accepted it completely thinking only about returning home to my beloved girls. In the meantime, many wonderful people visited me, with whom I spent several hours of conversation. I’ve received hundreds of warm messages from all around the world. It was amazing. Phillip, a bicycle courier from Grenoble, took care of my bike.
Photo: Felipen Stones
Today, when I write this memory, I am almost three months after the surgery. I don’t ride my Hultaj yet, but I will start quite soon. The screws that have been put into my body will stay with me for the next year and a half. Then I will have the opportunity to return to Grenoble to remove them and I already know that it will be a very emotional visit.
End
My ride on STRAVA (data from GARMIN etrex 30x)
https://www.strava.com/activities/2614785811
https://www.strava.com/activities/2614785814
https://www.strava.com/activities/2614785807
https://www.strava.com/activities/2614785799
Pawel Pulawski /// @pikopulawski 