Day 4: Suffering together
Wakeup time: 05:55. The 3 of us were up and moving by 6:03, starting the familiar process or organizing and packing gear to begin the day. We were rudely awakened by the absurd climb of Col de Stockeu, reaching gradients of 20% with a statue of the famous cyclist, Eddy Merckx at the end. The photographers were there to catch us grinding up the monstrosity with beaten down looks on our faces.
The relentless climbs and technical sections did not let up. Every time there was a fork in the road, we joked that it would always be the nastiest, muddiest, rock filled option of the two. A particularly hilarious moment was when we were descending down a beautiful tarmac (an all too rare and fleeting occurrence), only to turn the bend to see Alex standing in front of a completely destroyed trail with knee deep mud, puddles and wild shrubs; “time for the technical section” he said in his German accent with a wry smile on his face. All we could do was crack up laughing. Only in an event like this would a sane person choose to “ride” on such a horrible trail when a wonderful tarmac exists right next to it. But that’s what makes it fun, right? Without suffering, lows and struggle – the highs will not be as high! The fact that we could share in the suffering made it all the more fun and bearable. For pure ultra races, it’s against the rules to ride together – one has to be fully self supported and do it solo – but for this one, riding together was encouraged and I was happy to go along with it.
The day was a blur of pushing the bike, grinding up steep inclines, roaring down beautiful tarmacs, passing through deserted towns, seeing some incredible views, climbing a 4 story wooden lookout tower, cruising through beautiful medieval villages and eating a lot of snickers. We rode into the night and the evening light was serene as we crested a field with a single massive tree on the horizon. Exploring the world by bike is truly the most ideal mode of transport. How else could we see these sites? It’s impossible to describe them all and the photos don’t do it justice. There were forests, open fields, narrow single tracks with bushes on each side. Fields of flowers. I tried to mentally snap the pictures as much as possible, but in the end, it’s just appreciating the moment of experiencing them. What a gift.
We were making good time and blasting away the KM’s – at around 21h, we came across a small town park along a river with a large pavilion. I wanted to push on but Alex said it was a perfect place to stop: sheltered, quiet and calm. It’s rare to find such a flat, sheltered spot. In the wild, there are bushes, rocks, uneven terrain – so this was a rare find. Eventually, he convinced me to stay and we all unpacked to bivy under the structure. It proceeded to dump rain after we all got tucked in, confirming the decision to stay. The pavilion sheltered us perfectly. Alex dropped another gold one liner: “Always trust old man!” He’s not exactly “old” but has 20-25 years on the Oliver and I. He may be 60 according to his birth date but he has the legs of a 20 year old – even worse climbing gears than me, yet he can grind up any gradient hill, holding insane power and not complaining once – while I’m huffing and puffing. What a machine and inspiration!
Day 5: I’m finishing this $%#* Race!
We woke up at 4AM, wanting to finish by mid afternoon to enjoy the post finish vibes and festivities. The sleep was terrible. After the rain stopped, some truckers pulled up to the pavilion, shined lights on us and then proceeded to park a mere 40m away, blasting music and leaving their loud engines running. I was mostly unconscious but was continuously woken up by the commotion. Oliver slept even worse, I asked him how he slept and while he stared off in the distance, looking deranged said “sleep, what is that?”. I ate 2 muffins and 2 donuts for breakfast, which wasn’t enough. My legs felt weak most of the day and I realized I was in a caloric hole – yet again! I’ve run out of food and been underfed on every single ultra. A year ago at El Piri, It resulted in desperately consuming the last of my Haribo and arriving at the finish in a dazed and deranged state, gummy bear residue all over my hands and face, with a crazed look in my eye. Anyway, back to the story at hand.
We went though some stunning villages of Durbuy and Namur. Medieval, castles, moats, rivers, citadels. It was a blur of beautiful nature and historic charm. We stopped to take pictures in an exhausted daze, despite our fatigue, recognizing that we were in a truly beautiful place.
Oliver and Alex blasted at a fierce pace, wanting to take advantage of the flat tarmac along the Meuse river. We pushed 30 km/hr and I desperately tried to draft behind them to save on some precious watts. I was low on food and begrudgingly started consuming my emergency pack of Haribo, realizing that I needed more power.
Up and over a medieval citadel, navigating crowded streets and tourists. I noticed that my ears were very sensitive to loud sounds after spending days in the quiet and serene wilderness. The cars roared by like nightmarish beasts.
We found a supermarket and I demanded that we stopped – Alex could have pushed on but Oliver also needed to resupply so we made a quick detour. Oliver and I stormed in, directly to the candy section buying massive amounts of Haribo (Oliver went for the mega XL version). I found some pre-made pesto pasta in addition to candy, pastries, several sugary sodas, and an iced oatly coffee. I made the purchases and proceeded to sit down next to my bike by the entrance and inhale the container of pasta. I’ve rarely been so hungry. The townspeople patrons must have thought we were homeless bike people. Ironically, our gear is quite expensive so we couldn’t have looked entirely homeless. Maybe we spent all our money on bike bags and gear – so we couldn’t afford rent?
Armed with Haribo and pasta, I was able to keep up with the speedy Germans, but barely. Oliver was particularly interested in finishing. He has an incredible ability to consume infinite Haribo at a rapid pace, so he was fully charged – his legs firing on all cylinders. I was 100 meters behind, only able to chew and stomach one Haribo at a time, desperately trying not to get dropped.
The nice tarmac ended and the organizers had to throw in some more nasty trails to make the final stretch that much harder. It was bushy, full of thorns, unrideable in parts, filled with mud. We continued the rabid pace until we were 5km from the finish. Suddenly, Oliver and Alex were stopped ahead and I heard some loud exclamations. In the fury of hard pedaling through gnarly terrain, Oliver completely snapped off his derailleur, severing the hanger. Luckily, he had a backup and Alex, being a mechanical expert that he is, sprung into action and installed the new hanger and derailleur. Twenty minutes later, we were back on track, excited to finish.
The finish is always emotional. It feels great to have completed it within the limit and be considered a “finisher”. Remco and Steph were waiting for us in the final gauntlet to grab some photos. We made it to the finish line, receiving high fives, hugs and a round of applause from the organizers and photographers. The cold beer is always the best. Sitting down, we reminisced about the struggles, floating in a sea of contentment and joy, knowing we could finally give our asses and legs a rest. We had made it to our version of “Santiago”, the finish line of an ultra. The accomplishment feels good, the shared suffering bonds us and makes it extra special. We speak the same language as each other, knowing what we all had to go through. I can’t wait for the next one – it’s a full on addiction.
Thanks to my wonderful wife, stylist, packing manager, support team and cheerleader for her never-ending support of my wacky adventures!
All the professional-looking photos on this blog post are from Jacob Kopecky and Karolina Hausen, the event photographers. Many thanks for capturing these unforgettable memories and for sharing some laughs, smiles and words with us at random points in the race. More photos here: www.jakubkopecky.com