This is the seventh and the last part of my memories from Transiberica 2021. Please find the previous parts on the main blog page: pikopulawski.wordpress.com

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I woke up and the first thought was: „oh no, I overslept”.

I’ve rolled my bivi back to the saddlebag, packed up, and jumped on the bike. It was bright and the day was fully up. Instead of 30 minutes, I slept for way over 2 hours. While riding up the final parcour, I opened the FMC page to check up on the others. I was still ok. There was no chance for me to catch Urlich anyway, and the chasing pack was still a fair bit behind me. So when the steep parts of the climb started, I was pretty happy with myself, rested a bit with these two strong sleeping hours in my legs.

The whole climb, Lagos de Covadonga, was something amazing. The higher I was, the views were getting more epic. The only issue was the traffic and those huge coaches packed with tourists wanted to be on the top. But for a bike messenger traffic is normal so I was just trying to ignore them and everything went fine. On the top, there was a restaurant. I decided to celebrate my ride with a coffee and some good breakfast for this last day of the race. And sure I did. I spent probably too much time there, but this was going to be my last real stop before the finish line, around 250 kilometers away and I just wanted to enjoy the moment there.

Leaving Picos de Europa wasn’t easy. I was hoping for a long descending, but instead, there were still some small climbs on the way. The worst thing was, that the need for proper sleep was with me a lot all the time. I even had one more 10 minutes power nap, which helped me to not fall asleep on the bike just before midday. Mostly because of that, this part of the day went pretty slow. I couldn’t find the flow again. I was riding inconsistent, stopping all the time for some tiny little things like changing clothes, toilet, clothes again, etc. I didn’t know what happened. It was like I’d lost all the motivation to continue. Or it was something different and I just didn’t want this race to finish. I felt that I have a lot more in me to keep going, but the finish line was there, and there was nothing other to do than finish the race.

I think there was a moment during that last day when I’ve realized and agreed to that. Agreed that this is going to be over. It was somehow after midday and I was already following the coast, direction East towards the Basque Country. From that moment, that mental moment, everything went super smooth.

During my last super short stop at the petrol station, I’ve got stopped by Pablo (CREW photographer). We spoke for a sec and said our bye-byes as he would not go to the finish. It was a short but very nice meeting.

Evening came with climbs, coastal climbs. I was expecting that really but some of them were tough. However, I was already in „getting to the finish line mode” and I wasn’t stopping even for a second. I was riding all those hills one after another, not super fast but super consistent, and this whole last ride was strange. I never had such a feeling before during any race. For the last few hours, I had the longest in my life déjà vu. I was so sure that I have ridden those roads and hills, but at the same time, I was rational that it just couldn’t be possible. I will never forget the moment when I’ve climbed the last one and the only thing that’s left was descending to Bilbao City. I felt totally complete there. I phoned my Madzia and shared this happiness with her. I remember saying to her that we have to move to Spain because this country is just amazing and there is no other one with such a huge cycling potential as Spain.

After that phone call, I was totally ready to finish the job. It was closing at 10:00 PM and I chose the city entry by this fantastic cycle road, taking me nearly straight to the Puppy. The whole journey ended. It was a little over 7 days (what was my goal really). And there, Carlos was waiting with his camera and his rusty ex-messenger bicycle, and also Urlich with his girlfriend and a few beers.

It was great to be there with them. I think we talked for at least an hour or maybe more, laughing together and exchanging our stories. It was a fantastic finish line. After midnight I found a food place, and fall asleep in the Park, for the last time in my bivy in Spain.

Another three days were just a treat. Welcoming riders, eating lots of ice cream, cycling a bit, spending time with others, getting to know some of them a bit better like Justinas, Bruno, Simone, or Fanny. All of them are extraordinary personas.

Leaving Spain wasn’t easy, but I had girls at home, that I was missing too much already. If they would be waiting for me in Bilbao, I don’t think we would be leaving Spain.

And this is it, and this story is over. Even today, after about five months after the race I feel like I was there only yesterday. It was a victory and it was also a failure. I was expected to win this race by some, but I just wasn’t the fastest. At the same time, I felt that it was one of the strongest races I’ve done, and also super extreme due to the temperatures that I have never encountered before. Believe me or not but I’m still processing that, and I have to give huge respect to Urlich for his amazing power and speed. And as it is with nearly every long-distance bikepacking race, it was an amazing adventure, one of a kind and probably never restorable in the same way. Memories that will stay with me forever, memories that I dear as one of the most important in my life.

And from the racing perspective, it was a huge lesson and inspiration. I believe that I’m a much stronger rider after this fantastic Trasiberica 2021.

Will I come back to Spain? Yes!!! I will come back!

Huge thanks to all who helped me to be and race there, especially my family and my supporters for this race: Assos Poland, Hultaj Bikes, Szosa, and Bike RS.