​PatchRace it was quite a spontaneous action for me. Originally, I was supposed to ride a beautiful gravel race on the historic border of Bohemia on this date, but the race was postponed due to Covid, and PatchRace1, which is 640 kilometres across the Beskids, Podhale and Pogórze, quite local for me, seemed to be an alternative to the 1,300 originally planned off-road kilometres. On one condition only; that I will ride it on my fixed gear Hultaj.

Why? This question requires a slightly longer answer, which I prepared not so long ago in another text, which will soon be available in the latest issue of the Magazine SZOSA. Here I will only write that as soon as the first thought about going to PatchRace appeared, another one came to my mind, to do it on my fixie. I really knew most part of the route and I assessed their slopes, lengths and elevations quite quickly and then, without further thinking about it, I signed up for the race.

The preparations went quickly because there is not much to do in a fixed gear bike. The biggest modification was drilling holes for an additional bottle cage, which Radek Hultaj dealt with in the blink of an eye. I just changed the chain to a new one, tightened cogs, mounted a TT, dynamo lights, two feed bags, SZakwa and that was it.

Another problem was what and how many clothes to take, because the forecasts were, to put it mildly, uncertain. In the end, I opted for more than less, which I have no regrets about. Both the Mille GT Sweatshirt and the Mille GT Clima Rain Jacket by Assos they came in handy on the route and did very well during the night, rainy and quite cold hours.

After all, I still made a fairly light setup and with twenty other competitors started the race. My plan was rather simple. Ride fast, steadily and generally without stopping. I climbed the first hill (Przegibek) efficiently and from that moment the countdown of the next peaks and passes began until the first checkpoint in Podhale. A moment behind Kocoń I catch an unpleasant flat tire on the descent and lose my 15 minutes here, which I immediately decided to catch up on at checkpoints by minimizing any talks and stops on them to zero.

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Even before the race, I was aware that I would be wasting most of my time on the descents, especially the long and gentle or very short and very steep descents. A perfect example was the exit from Krowiarki Pass to Jabłonka. Here, where most of the road cyclists flew 50-60 km/h with a good back wind, I accelerated the bike to 42 km/h max, but keeping the cadence at 150 for longer is very exhausting, so these speeds often dropped to 32-35 km/h. But it’s nothing. At the first checkpoint at the Podczerwone Station, I take the first patch (we were supposed to collect them on the route, hence the name of the race) and I rush on without any interaction. My bike is hailed as an „old bike without gears” by the local coocrdinator of this CP. 🙂

In general, the first part of the race was just great for me. Each subsequent 100 km with an average of 25 km/h and so up to 300 km at the second checkpoint in Gorlice. Along the way, only pleasures, i.e. beautiful Spisz and Pieniny, VeloDunajec with a section through Jazowsko where my parents and aunt who just visited them gave me the high five on the route. Further steep hils around Nowy Sącz, i.e. Żeleźnikowa and Popardów, where I pushed my bike for a short time for the first time. After that Low Beskid and Małastowska Pass, recently my favourite areas. Gentle climbs, quite wide and safe descents. In Gorlice, I take another patch, I exchange few words with Małgosia (the photographer of the race) about how a dozen kilometres earlier she lurked for me in the dark at the descent to Małastów. I move on immediately and the Pogórze begins. After a while of riding, I hear a voice in the distance: „Push Paweł, come on, go go go!”. It was some passionate dot-watcher standing and recording with his mobile phone, probably not far from his house. 😀 Thanks for the cheering!

Pogórze is generally hard. I know it a bit, but not so much. It got cold, I put on additional layers of clothes on myself, steep climbs and, worst of all, steep descents on quite bad roads. Here are the next moments where I had to push my bike, and at 3 am it started to rain quite heavy. I stopped for a moment again, put on practically everything I had with me and that’s how I continued with an empty #SZakwa on the seat post. 😛

I admit it was a difficult night. Mainly due to the condition of the roads, the quality of the descents and the weather, which made it difficult. I knew that the only thing I could do was not to stop completely and push forward as much as possible, and I made such a plan as far as Wadowice.

In the morning, after Lake Rożnowskie, things got a little better. The weather stabilized a bit, the rain turned into a drizzle and with time even the sun came out. Not for long, because the entire second day the showers had plagued everyone on the route, but it cannot be said that it was tragic and non-stop rain. Behind Myślenice, a cyclist passes me from the opposite direction and shouts, „Well done, Paweł, respect!!!” or something like that. Thanks for those cheers. These are nice moments. It was raining once again and through Sułkowice and the climb to Lanckorona it was raining quite solidly. On the other hand, the road from Lanckorona to Lake Mucharskie was already quite dry and quite sunny.

On the uphill road, through Zagórze I meet Małgosia again, but also our Iza, who scratched due to her stomach problems. Małgosia says that she would like to take a picture of me riding up this hill. I just laughed. At this stage (470km) with my gear ratio, it was no longer possible to climb 14% hill, and even if, it would be very uneconomical. 😉

In Wadowice it started pouring from the sky again. At this checkpoint at the gas station, I decided to stop for 10-15 minutes for something warm. Two casseroles and vitamin water came in. I bought a few Snickers and moved on with a heavy soul because it was dry and pleasant inside the gas station and it was raining hard outside. Fortunately, the heavy rain did not last very long and my „courage” was rewarded with the sun, alternating drizzle and overcast, about 30 minutes from Wadowice.

The last part was quite difficult mentally. Flat several dozen kilometres of the route led through very busy provincial roads near Pszczyna. It was neither pleasant nor safe because I was passing by a lot of trucks and passenger cars with trailers, tourists and local people who, as drivers, did not appeal to me. A lot of overtaking on the third or the so-called newspaper. I don’t like it and I don’t know what has to happen for it to change in Poland (and beyond).

Things got better after Stumień. The route entered tiny roads and bicycle routes. Krzysiek Hultaj suddenly jumped out of one corner on his fixie (he lives nearby in Cieszyn). We drove several kilometres together and we took a photo at one of the intersections in Skoczów and he went to his family duties, and I went to the last mountain section. I was happy to be here already because I was fed up a bit with these flat and busy roads.

The last mountain section is four climbs. Kubalonka and Stecówka from Wisła went quite nicely. Maybe except the bus driver who hit me with a mirror on the very top of Stecówka. Fortunately, I stayed on my wheels and nothing major happened. The driver did not decide to stop, unfortunately

The second climb, a short climb to Cienków, is not a place for a fixie. I did walk it all up and it was really close to walking it all down also. In the end, I managed to ride it down, but it wasn’t anything I would want to repeat ever again 😉

The third climb, Salmopol, would probably be much easier if it wasn’t for the fatigue. In the end, quite laboriously but nevertheless steadily, I climbed the mountain. I think there was some kind of time trial training there because at the top a group of people applauded and cheered me and other riders coming up this pass. Interesting reactions fell from the passing me road riders who saw my fight with a low and hard cadence. One even closed up and started instructing me to put an easy gear because it’s more efficient. 😀 After the climb, I was disappointed here with the condition of the surface on the exit to Szczyrk, because it did not allow me to lift my legs on the frame as I usually do.

The last climb to Magurka Wilkowicka was already known on the day of registration that it would be a calm walk. At the top, I took one last look at the Beskids and slowly and conservatively rolled down to the PatchCamp which was located at the foot of Magurka, where the organizers and other familiar faces waited. It was nice to see you all!

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The whole thing, apart from the descend from Magurka, which did not qualify for the race distance, took me 30 hours and 52 minutes. It turned out to be 637 km and 9000m of ascent on a fixed gear and one gear ratio of 46×17. Below is a link to the RwGPS and STRAVA:

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/68185747

https://www.strava.com/activities/5380419469

Even though I did not manage to implement the assumed plan (riding less than 30 hours), I am honestly very pleased with the result achieved, and my greatest private success was getting it without using any kind of caffeine, energy drinks, coffee, etc. Tea at the start, a rice drink for the road, a lot of Snickers bars, a lot of nuts and a dry fruits mix, two bottles of isotonic drinks and these two casseroles mixed with vitamine water at the station in Wadowice.

You can read more about the fixed gear and what it is like to ride it long distances in the latest SZOSA magazine, to which I recently wrote an article about it. You are all welcome!