Missed my last post, click here:  CP4 to Macedonia Start from the beginning here: TCR No 5 – The Start Good Sensations I set off, enjoying the cool air and fast road and made good time. Just before Bitola, the dubious sandwich I’d had a couple hours earlier was confirmed dodgy. I made a dash into the loos, and while there checked the tracker on my phone and spotted #80 Nelson was stopped just ahead in Bitola, and hadn’t moved in a while. 6th place wasn’t too far away, and with a bit of renewed nervous and excited energy, I moved onto the border. It seemed to … Continue reading TCR No. 5: The Race to Meteora

Missed my last post, click here:  Poprad to CP4: The Transfăgărășan Highway Start from the beginning here: TCR No 5 – The Start Nearly There Breakfast was inside the hotel restaurant from 8, so I set my alarm. I was up at 7 on my clock and breakfast was already being served. Stephane and I had two fairly amazing breakfast plates with cheese, eggs and some meat, bread, olives and maybe some fruit too. At this time I was a little confused as to why breakfast was so early, but didn’t ask too many questions… (it’ll take me to the finish to realise the time zone had changed … Continue reading TCR No. 5: CP4 to Macedonia

Last post:  Bratislava to CP3: High Tatras Start here: TCR No 5 – The Start Target: CP4 I slept fairly well at the back of the petrol station, woken at around 3.30am by a delivery driver dropping off some fresh (!) 7 days croissants, I imagined. He gave me a quizzical look, I waved and he went about his day. Being disturbed, I was reluctant to try to sleep more so figured I’d decamp and get rolling, aiming to get ahead of the heat wave before it kicked into the day. I also checked the tracker, now very interested where everyone around me was, with both 131 Robert … Continue reading Poprad to CP4: The Transfăgărășan Highway

Catch up with the last post here: https://mattonabike.com/2017/11/13/cp2-to-bratislava/  To read from the start of my TCR, start here: https://mattonabike.com/2017/09/23/tcr-no-5-the-start/ Recovering in Bratislava Having arrived at the hotel in Bratislava at around 4 pm, I had all afternoon and evening to relax before deciding my next move. The hotel was right next door to a McDonald’s and a shopping centre with a food court. I had a long bath, washed my bibs and base layer and headed downstairs to explore in my hotel slippers, off bike shorts and t-shirt. It was a scorching afternoon, and was quite glad at my decision to stop for the afternoon and night, but … Continue reading Bratislava to CP3: High Tatras

I had a relatively good night sleep at the checkpoint in Honau at the foot of the Schloss Lichtenstein Castle, albeit only about 4 hours. There were a few comings and goings in the night, but I needed some sleep and was happy to wait until dawn to get moving. It was chilly when I woke up, but it was a really nice morning with the stream bubbling away next to the hotel garden where I’d bivvied up. I ate what was left of the pizza and packed up my gear, being careful not to wake the fabulous volunteers snoozing in the gazebo. I was still half … Continue reading CP1 Schloss Lichtenstein to CP 2 Monte Grappa

If you’ve not seen the earlier posts, you can catch up from the start of my TCR No 5 journey here: https://mattonabike.com/2017/09/23/tcr-no-5-the-start/ Heading into the Po Valley I was super hungry after the long climb up Monte Grappa, light was fading and was getting a little chilly. After a short chat with the Pedal Ed guys & Stephane, I layered up, said goodbyes then headed down the hill. It was super steep, and wasn’t all down hill. In fact, a considerable ‘reverse’ got in the way of speeding down the hill and left me peeling off a number of the layers as the hard work climbing again … Continue reading CP2 to Bratislava