With 60+ riders on narrow cycle paths and promised single track the neutralized start of the first kilometers was a good idea. As predicted the riders spread out nicely over the first hour. I started almost last and slowly made my way forward to be ahead of the riders with bulky gear before any single track and bike carrying started.
I made a few wrong turns that morning, mainly due to my indoctrination to the Freedom Challenge way of thinking that is “if you have to choose between two tracks, choose the one that is the most difficult or goes up”. It was soon obvious that the folks from the BTG were far less sadistic that the Freedom challenge creator David Waddilove. Despite this new insight I still added a couple of kilometers a day to my route by regularly riding 100m down the wrong track then back up again. My older GPS only allows 500 tracking points per track which meant it wasn’t always very accurate on subtle junctions on forrest trails. I later got the tip from Rolf to make a map transparent layer from the track instead, never too old to learn, so that something to look at before my next trip. I choose to use an old etrex Legend Garmin rather than a new fancy one because 1. it takes to 2x AA batteries which can be bought at any supermarket 2. the batteries last 2-3 days depending on how much back light you use. As a comparison most modern gps units last 6-12 hours before needing recharge the internal battery.
The morning went smoothly, the route was still fairly flat apart from the occasion piece of single track and small obstacles along the river. As we left the main river the head wind and temperature increased. I bumped into Andreas just before lunch and we decided to take a detour into town for lunch and I needed some Euro’s for the next week (stupid that I’d forgotten to do that before hand) and Andreas needed cigarettes. Everything in town was closed (Sunday), luckily there was an ATM and we found a petrol station, all told a 4km detour by the time I was back at the trail. Far from ideal and preferably not something to be repeated.
At around 70-80km the trail became more interesting and the climbing could start. The forrest trails gave a little shade from the burning sun but not enough, it was already close to 35 degrees in the shade. The Devils kitchen portage was 100x easier than I expected. From then on it was a tough couple of hours riding gravel roads and forrest trails.
I rode with Tobias (DK) for about 30 minutes and we had a pleasant chat before he bolted off. Tobias is a bike mechanic and like many had struggled to get time off work and was keen to be finished within an ambitious deadline. He is young and keen and soon left me in his dust trail. I was still in day 1-5 mode so was very keen to ride my own pace and not do anything stupid. I thought to mention to Tobias that his face was like a red tomato and that maybe he should take it easy, but figured “who would listen to advise from a stranger on day one anyway…” so kept my opinion to myself. Sadly Tobias scratch the next day due to heat stroke.
During one of the climbs we passed Morgan(US) sat at the side of the road looking like he was dying a thousand deaths. “I should have taken a break with those other guys instead of being stupid” Morgan had told me pre race that he had an 8 day plan but had his doubts due to not training as much as he’d hoped. Despite being an experienced racer I guess enthusiasm had got the better of him that morning. Anja (DE) (big apple) and Detlev (DE) also passed me several times during the day. Detlev would pass me on the climbs then I’d pass him sleeping at the next picnic table, then the next climb he’d zoom past again. Anja was a much faster rider than me but very erratic, for some reason I’d pass her from time to time then she’d zoom past again an hour later, always making time for a quick chat though.
At around the 95km mark I was feeling the heat and my legs were wondering if the climbing would ever stop. The first 1000m climbing of my planned 2500 that day and my legs were as empty as my water bottles. The poi list showed a “Bee keepers festival” at 108km’s. I pushed on for another hour (more pushing than cycling) and arrived at the festival more broken than I wanted. It was now around 2pm so it seemed like the perfect spot to stay in the shade for a couple of hours and refuel and wait for things to cool off a little. Feeling sick from the heat it was certainly mind over matter to get some fuel into my stomach though.
As I sat there other riders came and went, many looking just as broken as I felt.
Morgan looking fresh
Luc ?
Recharged from my rest and refuel the next couple of hours were fairly uneventful. The campsite at the 140km mark looked lovely, flat green grass, a nice cafe/terrass and I could hear the ice cold beers calling me from the fridge. I was hungry and thirsty and saw several BTG bikes parked near the bar. It was appealing to stop for dinner then push on, but I didn’t trust myself so pushed on rather than get stuck at the bar and spend the night at the campsite while I still had another 4-5 hours of daylight cycling left. I’d marked the campsite as the minimum I hoped to ride that day, if felt good to push on, already nibbling off a couple of kilometers from the next day meant my 12 day plan was looking good. It was 20km to the next campsite I could easily make that along the flat valley floor, anything after that was a huge bonus.
I stopped for dinner at a kebab place 5km short of the next campsite (“skate park that allows camping”), again I took my time to recharge my legs and cool off (and used the bathroom for a pre-wild camping wash). Tobbe(DE) joined me half way through dinner. Tobbe was a nice guy, quiet, reserved and I’m not sure if he was just finding his feet on day one or still trying to convince himself that BTG was a good idea. He had decided to watch the football at our dinner spot then later ride the 5km to the campsite. I’d already decided to push on until just before dark. Just before I left Anja magically appeared again, had a quick chat then blasted off planning to ride the remaining 65km to CP1. I was jealous of her energy and enthusiasm, my most ambitious goal for day one had been CP1, and it was already clear that that was far out of the question for me. I had another 20-30km in me and not a lot more. Tim(NL) also briefly stopped for a chat while I finished Tobbe’s pizza for him, he was planning on checking the campsite out at 160km and maybe pushing on. I would later ride with Tim for 20 mins before he stopped at a hut 10km after the campsite. It was tempting to stop with Tim, but to me two feels like a crowd at a hut and, it was still daylight.
As dusk approached my legs were coming alive in the cool evening air. “Don’t be stupid, still 11 days to go…”. I’d decided I was ready to stop as I approached a hut. But, then I saw four bikes parked up outside the hut. Ha, too easy. The fact that they were all tucked up in bed snoring while I was still riding was a good clue that they were a lot faster than me, but If I could push on for an hour and leave on time on the morning, at least I’d have an hour head start on day two.
A little over an hour later I set my tent up near the track so that I’d hear them pass in the morning if they got moving before me.
Day one was done, I felt fairly fresh and set my alarm for 6 hours laters. The first 185km and 3000vm of the BTG were in the pocket. Maybe 11 days was possible?
