​This is the fourth part of my memories from Transiberica 2021. Please find the previous parts here: >part three< >part two< >part one< Happy reading!

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I open my eyes at midnight, and once again before my alarm clock, which was set for a few minutes later. It took me a short while until I realized where am I and why I’m on the sofa next to the reception desk. Once I reminded myself what happened last evening, it was only some minutes and I was back on the street, cycling again. 

It was cold and I had nearly everything put on me. The night was bright, and I felt pretty comfortable on the road. I checked the FMC page and noticed Justinas sleeping only a few kilometers in front of me, and also Urlich, who stayed just before the CP5 parcour. He stayed there for way too long and that felt a bit strange to me. I was pretty sure that it was a tracker issue.  Anyway, I had my work to do now, and I knew, that it will be a hard day. I was tired and I knew that day four will be a proper crisis day.

The first few hours of riding were surprisingly good and I felt the last evening pizza and two hours of sleep in my legs. At some point, I’ve passed the official halfway of my route and that made me really happy. 1460 crazy hot kilometers in a little over three days, gave me hope for a good finisher time. I switched on my phone for a while to see if I can somehow let the world know about it, and straight after that, a message from Björn Lenhard came in, saying: „I’m not racing you ever again”.

This is how I got the news about Urlich to break down. It was shocking, but it also didn’t change much in terms of my plans. Justinas was already on the move and the race was definitely ON. I knew that he will be pushing hard to chase me. He didn’t sleep much, but I also knew that he is a strong rider and I shouldn’t underestimate his potential.

Despite all that, the main goal was still one. Get to the mountains and climb as much as I can until it isn’t that hot yet. And I sure did that, but I felt super tired the whole day, and my climbing was slow, my pace was bad, and I couldn’t push my pedals any harder. Justinas finally took me over, mostly due to the mistake that I have done in my routing, but also because I was just too slow that day.

I reached Sierra de Guadarrama in the morning hours. The whole CP5 parcour was designed of three big and long climbs over 1700 meters asl. The landscape was amazing, and I was sure that if not for my fatigue, I would have some of the best cyclings in my life here. I was truly enjoying the first climb but at the same time I was super extremely tired, and even with a pretty comfortable sleep last night I felt that six hours in total for four days of strong riding wasn’t enough. The heat was the horror, and I think that it got under my skin so much in the last three days, that I started to worry about it even before its appearance. It is crazy how our mind is working, and I think that mine got caught in its own trap. I was thinking way too much about it and it wasn’t the heat really that was slowing me down, but my own mind was forcing me to stop, to rest, to sleep.

I descended the first climb down onto the huge plateau, and even if I was still around 1000 m asl. the temperature difference was super big, and I was dreaming about being back up there again, over 1500 meters asl. The heat was here and welcomed me with its destructing breath. There were about 60 kilometers until the next climb and after 30 I felt totally empty. There was no power at all to continue, but there was also nothing else to do other than continue, and it was probably my only help. I was searching for a water fountain but it wasn’t there, so I kept moving forward. Thanks to that, I finally found an open bar, where I filled up my water bottles with ice and water, and myself with icecreams, and coke and also a coffee. That was a savior. I got myself totally wet and continue my ride. It was a moment when I got myself at the bottom of the second climb, and the climb was great, and what’s most important, it was totally in the forest. The heat was no longer an issue and the climb was easy and gentle. Javi was there again, hunting riders. At the top, I did lube my chain, exchange a few words, and rode down again only to be able to climb the third and the final climb of the CP5 parcour.

The highest one, Puerto de Navacerrada, over 1800 m asl was actually the easiest one of all the three. I bet it was because the heat was gone, and the evening was slowly taking charge. From the top, there was only one thing to do. The downhill! Crazy downhill to Segovia, where after a feast in McDonald’s, I was trying to find a hotel bed for a few hours. Being unsuccessful was not enough to say. I have lost so much time, searching for the place and scrolling the maps, that I decided to leave the town and ride until I find some nice spot outside the city. About ten kilometers later after 390 kilometers, I was setting up my bivi on the football pitch in the little town of Madrona. It wasn’t perfect, but the grass was super soft, and I had some burgers with me. I decided not to check the FMC, and set my alarm for three hours. I felt that I needed that. The fourth day was super tough and the sleep came in quite easy.