Introduction Round
First stop was under a tree. It slowly started raining and I thought I would put the rain jacket on and also wait for Emil a little bit.
However, seeing people pass was hard to witness in my Leo nature.
Stopping is usually not my thing, especially in something that is a “race”.
Emil arrived, he also put his rain jacket on, and we took off again.
The pace was slow and something inside me was burning so without many words I left Emil behind.
We were now both riding our own race.
For some kilometers on tarmac I was hiding behind a big guy, following my rule to save energy and staying low on the handlebars.

The wind is your biggest enemy and your body is your biggest friend.
So, treat them both accordingly, I said to myself while putting a pair of dried dates in my mouth.
It was a tip that a friend of my dad who had raced bikes in the former Soviet Union told to him. Back then they had no energy gels whatsoever, so when supplying food, I bought two packs of dried dates thinking of my dad.
10/10 would recommend.

Climb 1 out of 19
Slowly but surely the first climbs approached. Steep and technical.
Luckily my trainings mainly consisted of climbing my local Vitosha mountain after work, so I did feel pretty at home.
Plus, my “1 x” gear set up forced me to pedal harder.

Somehow, I start passing people… left; right; in-between.
It is easy to fall in the “I am faster than you” trap, and I really try to avoid it, because I knew there’s still a long road ahead.

My bike computer shows climb 1 out of 19 and beeps saying “Go”.
I try to keep my own pace and stick to my own rules.
Eat and drink.
I try to be very strict with myself, but I do want to enjoy as well.
I send a few videos while riding to my friends and family whom I know are following my dot on the tracker.
We climb and climb and climb until we get over the tree line and onto a mountain ridge.
Suddenly there are no other riders around. It is very rocky, and I wish I am riding a mountain bike.

Halloween
It is so foggy that you feel a bit like in a horror movie. Yet so beautiful.
I have no idea whether I am in Italy, Slovenia or Croatia.
But I know that I am loving it.
The scenery, the riding, the feeling it gives.
I stop on the side of the road and take a piss.
Then I take a video.
Then I continue because some people already passed me.

After the climb comes the descent. Very rocky as well.
I feel like I am in a video game. I grab the drop bars, lower my dropper post and go in descending position. Full send like there is no tomorrow.
I scream to other riders “Coming from the left, Coming from the right”.
Of course, at one point the road turns and I miss the turn because I am too focused on being in my videogame mode.
But luckily, I realize it shortly after.

I have just put brand new tires before the race, so I feel like nothing could really go wrong.

Attention! Bears!
I enter the Ućka National Park, and continue the ride alone.
Before the race someone had sent a heat map with the bear population along the track and this area was all red.
Of course, I showed it to my mom just to see her reaction.
In fact, the fog and rain were now gone, and the sun was starting to shine through.
I took out my phone and recorded a quick video for my mom saying:
“Hey Mom, I am in Ućka National Park. That’s where the bears are so I try to go fast though here”
It is all good vibes so far.

Social Climbing Theory
Some more kilometers up and down on the black roads of the National Park until we set for the big climb towards Checkpoint 1.
I try to eat something bigger like an energy bar, a few dates and some more sugary things, since I will have to climb constantly for at least an hour.
I see a few riders ahead and just start a conversation with Hristos when his sunglasses hit the floor and he needs to stop for them.
I am not stopping, tho.
Already full of my mid ride snack, I take a few sips of sugar water and continue to tackle the climb.
During climbing I like to keep my mind busy, especially if I know it will take some time, so I call my sister on the phone.
We speak for a few minutes, so time passes fast.
A few more hair pins and I am on the phone with Lou for another couple of minutes.
Recharged with social interactions I keep spinning — left and right; left and right.

Checkpoint 1
I pass some more riders on the way up and feel pretty good approaching Checkpoint 1 which is located on Mount Vojak 1396m.
There is only one way up so I can already see the faster riders descending against me.
I cheer for them screaming “Lets Gooooo!” while they speed past me.
Mt. Vojak is finally in my sight, up there is supposed to be a nice view of the whole peninsula and the sea but it is foggy and cold.
First thing first, I peel off a Drag sticker and put it on the info sign.
I put on a jacket and take out my brevet card so that I can stamp it, proving that I have reached Checkpoint 1.

Looking for Emil
Off we go for the way down and my chain falls on the first pedal spin.
I stop on the side to put it back on and start descending.
I can’t really stop thinking about Emil and how bad of a friend I am for leaving him behind without saying a word, so I am constantly looking for him among the people I pass on the way down.
I look for the blue Drag jersey but with the speed it is a bit hard to focus.
At one point I see some that fits my criteria, so I hit the brakes.
“Emiiiiiiiil!”
The guy stops as well and looks down towards me.
Awkward silence.
There are at least 20 meters that separate us.
The forest is dark and misty, so I am still not sure it is him.
“Is it you”, I ask.
The guy mumbled something, and I recognized it wasn’t him, so I set off again.

The Lonely Road
A few kilometers on tarmac and the computer beeps.
I need to take a turn into a rocky gravel road.
There is no one around so I hope the navigation isn’t lying to me.
I try to find peace in my mind in situations like this.
Uncertain, yet confident that it will all be all right.
I cycle alone through a mountain ridge and try to absorb all it’s beauty.
At that moment I do not care about how many kilometers are left, how many riders are in front or even the fact that this is supposed to be a race.
I feel like I am on vacation and it’s beautiful.

After some more kilometers of daydreaming and some energy gels later I hit the tarmac road again and appreciate every bit of it.
I meet an older Italian guy, and we try to exchange a few words in English.
He asks me about Bulgaria and if we ride bikes a lot here.
At one point he stops at a bus stop, so I am all alone again.
The sun is shining so I can finally put my sunglasses on for the first time.
I am committed to make the best out of the tarmac road, so I push hard.
This is where I save energy.
I think about all the tips that my dad is giving me when riding bikes.
The pedaling technique, being aero; etc.

Drafting
Finally, I can hear someone catching me from behind.
He overtakes me and I stick myself to his wheel.
A few kilometers like that and I give him a change.
It is weird. I am not sure if drafting is allowed on these events, so I am not sure if the guy is fine with me sticking to his wheel.
But once I give him a change he sticks to my wheel as well, so we are all good.
We continue like that for another couple of kilometers until we see a gas station.
We don’t exchange any words but we both take a turn and stop.

1 Coca-Cola; 1 Chocolate Croissant and a pack of Bruschetti.

Pretty amateur list compared to my second stop.
I opened my frame bag to put my food there and see that an energy gel had leaked everywhere.
Everything is sticky and gross.
I just hope that the power bank is still intact.
The guy is fixing his electronic SRAM derailleur while I clean my sticky stuff.
He is faster than me and he sets off first.
I decide to take it a bit more chill and separate from the idea of chasing him.
My Coca-Cola is in the pouch on my handlebar, and I try to eat the very dry Bruschetti.
A left turn, a descent and I can already hear someone going full send behind me.
A very big Italian guy and a very small Italian guy.
We take a turn and enter a gravel road that goes along a river.
It is very flat and the headwind is brutal so I think that it will be a good idea to apply my rule and save energy.
But they are clearly riding with a faster pace.
I must push hard.
At the first pothole my almost full Coca-Cola flies off and I say goodbye to my comfortable break.
It is time to keep up with Italians.
We are flying.
I am blessed to be with them but at the same time can see it is not a sustainable tempo for me.
I really need to take a piss as well.
But if I stop, I will lose them and will have to fight the wind by myself.
Our Bulgaro-Italian train overtakes a couple of other riders as if they are stopped.
I try to hang on for as long as possible but really really need to piss.
We catch the guy from the gas station, and he joins the train as well.
The tempo is going even harder.
But oh boy, it is so beautiful.
The river on your right.
Green grass everywhere around.
And it never ends.

Sustainable Cycling
If I want to continue, I must stop.
It is hard to get off a fast train, but I had to.
With 250km to go, it just wasn’t sustainable.
And luckily, I was right, since I ended up overtaking the Italian train again later on in the race.
I stopped and took the much-needed piss.
From then on it was smooth sailing along the river until it reached the sea.
Beautiful area. Too bad I couldn’t allow myself to stop and enjoy the views.
A super steep and short climb followed.
It was painful.
Another Italian trio catched up with me at a water fountain in a small village.
So, I sticked with them for a bit. Just to exchange a few words and get out of my head.
We rode together until they stopped to take pictures in a burned forest area. Then I said “arrivederci amici” and continued my own.

Power Saving Mode
The darkness was slowly approaching, and I hadn’t really set up my light situation.
In fact, I had enough lights to ride three nights in a row but was still not confident about battery life and stuff so I thought I would stay conservative and only use 1 of my lights on “power save” mode.
The track was going through some pretty rough single track with loads of branches coming from the sides, ponds in the middle of it and of course a lot of roots and rocks.
I was feeling pretty comfortable with the situation apart from the fact that I almost couldn’t see shit.
But I didn’t want to stop and put my headlamp on so I was determined that I will continue riding like this until further notice.

The start of a duet
At some point there was a big pond in the middle of the track.
I was still pretty clean and dry, so I didn’t want to go through it.
One foot off the pedal and I took a conservative line on the left.
Splaaaaash! Boooom! — I hear from behind

Well at least I tried. — said Zan with his foot in the under the muddy water.
And then continuing his reckless riding style through the dark path.

I saw a source of light and was determined to follow.
It wasn’t always easy since he had the advantage of a mountain bike but I somehow managed to keep up.
Some kilometers after we were cycling along the Croatian coast.
It was pitch dark, so you could only know it was the coast because you could hear the waves crashing into the rocks.

I was still riding with Zan and wanted to make a conversation.
“I would like to have your bike” — I said.
“Haha” — or something like that he responded.
So, it didn’t really work out my conversation starter.
But anyway, our pace was very similar so riding next to each other was enough.

Mechanicals
Riding with Zan meant that I need to go a bit harder on the technical off road sections where he benefitted from his mountain bike. Going hard wasn’t an issue for me, but Sterrato with his thin tires wanted some attention as well.
A short but intense rocky section in which I went a bit faster and choose the wrong line made me hear the “psssssssssssssst” sound of my exploded tire.
White tubeless sealant flying everywhere.
I knew I was fucked.
But then Zan stopped as well.
I was a bit relieved knowing I am not alone in this.
We took out tools and lights.
The hole wasn’t too small but wasn’t too big either.
He handed me a weird tire plug that you would shoot in, but it didn’t work at all.
Then a small size plug. It was too small.
Then a big size plug. It was too big.
Riders were passing by, and it was a bit discouraging, but in order to continue the tire had to be fixed.
A few attempts later we were on the road again.

Strategy & Resupply
At this point I was still dreaming of a warm pasta or maybe a pizza and a bed to sleep in for a couple of hours.
200km in, I had already outdone my longest ride ever on a bike. And there were 200km more to go.
The idea of doing it in one shot was circling in my head but I was not sure how realistic it is.
We ride through small city streets, jump over a fence and I am getting hungry.
Zan mentions to me that he is planning to eat his tuna salad at CP 2 and I am jealous.
I have no tuna salad, nor any real food.
Just some energy gels and my beloved dates. My hands and bar tape are sticky from all of the sugar, and I feel like one big energy gel.

A supermarket on the left!
It is the simple pleasures like finding an open one at 22:00 pm.
Zan said that he will ride a bit further to see if the bakery is still opened.
He comes back and says: “There is a really nice bakery around the corner…… but it is closed”
With a bunch of riders and bikes in front of the supermarket, I lean my bike against the wall and rush inside as if I will do an armed robbery.

2 Tuna salads
1 Pack of cheese
1 Pack of salami
1 Pack of melted cheese
1 Pepsi Cola
1 Pack of bread
1 Yoghurt
1 Donut
1 Ice cream
1 Knoppers
1 Bottle of water

Not as appealing as a warm pasta or a pizza but that should be enough for a small dinner on the go. On the concrete I see the big and small Italian guys who I struggled to keep up with, so that makes me feel good.
I sit on the floor and start to consume everything.
Cockroaches walk past me and the only thing I care about is that they don’t go on my food.
We spend no more than 15 minutes there and it already feels like a long time.

18 min of sleep and a stamp at CP2
Full of energy and happy to have had my tuna salad we were already cycling along the coast again. Not that I could see it but I bet it was beautiful.
Unexpectedly we were at Safari Bar which was Checkpoint 2.
My initial agreement with Emil was to invite him for a drink once we reach it.
Of course, the bar was closed but already feeling guilty for 12 hours I tried calling him on his cell phone. Little did I know that he was already sleeping in a comfy bed couple of hours behind me.
We stamp the brevet cards and I go to the toilet.
I look at my phone at it shows 22:22, I think that’s a cool coincidence but forget to make a wish.
Zan says that he wants to wait for his friends who are a couple of kilometers behind.
I debate whether I should continue alone through the night or wait for them as well.
A decision was made and I was already laying on one of the tables of the bar enjoying a little nap.
“Victor, they are here”, Zan woke me up.
I had no idea if I had slept 5 minutes of 1 hour, but it felt OK.
Quickly packed the bike and we were rolling. Now in a group of five.

The Night Ride
We try to ride as a group, but it isn’t working.
The pace is weird, we keep getting lost in the woods and we constantly must wait for someone.
At one point me an Zan separate from the others and continue our way.
The conversations get a bit more personal, and we build a nice dynamic between each other. It is pitch dark now. You don’t see much apart from where your light is pointing at.
A couple of hours pass by looking at the GPS for directions. Taking a wrong turn every now and then and rerouting back to the original track. There is no good or bad mood.
It is what it is. Without many emotions. We are just working our way forward, in a good pace. It somehow feels nice to know that you are putting work while others are sleeping.
My sister sends me an update from the live tracker, and we are in the top 30.
Zan doesn’t seem to care too much about it, but it gets me enthusiastic.

Catching Up
We keep going through the night. It is so peaceful.
Until we spot a group of riders in front of us.
I feel like Zan sees someone in front and perceives it as a prey.
I didn’t ask about his zodiac sign because I didn’t want to seem like an obsessed “astrology girlie” but chances are high that he’s a Leo as well.
We ride with them for around 20km and you can feel the pressure of the group.
People are pushing on the climbs, there’s an intersection and everyone takes a different way. You need to push to catch up again. It feels like their spirits are lower than ours.
We manage to break away on a climb and suddenly the vibe is peaceful again.
We enter a gravel road and know that the gap between us and the group will grow even bigger.

Camping
I was slowly getting nervous about my water supply. Obviously at night you don’t find any open shops and all the fountains I had spotted with my limited visibility weren’t working. Luckily, we passed a camping place and without any doubt we rushed into it.
Quickly found the toilets where we refilled our water. After the bidons are full there is a certain pressure in them that goes out of the mouthpiece. I could hear a slight “pssssssst” sound and knew it was the water bidons. So, without concern I went further with my camping experience and used the toilets.
Finally ready (or at least that’s what I thought) we are ready to leave.
Yes, but no.
It wasn’t the bidon, it was my front tire that I had punctured 80km earlier.
Another repair, this time done properly! The Balkan way.
With duct tape and zip tie. Added a full bottle of tubeless sealant as well and we were finally ready to go.

Tunnel vision and the River Monster
It’s around 3am and I feel like I am having insomnia which is great.
Fatigue and sleep are out of question, the tire is fixed, the mood is good.
Don’t forget to eat and drink.
Zan knew that a long stretch of gravel road along a river is coming, and we knew that the group of roadies is still behind us, so we had the idea of waiting for them so that we can save some energy.
However, the pace was good, and we felt like we are flying again.
The GPS shows me that I am riding on water, in fact I am. It’s not a bridge but it’s above the water. My brain is shut off. I am singing a song that doesn’t even exist. “I’m walkin on waaaater, ooohh ohhhh.”
We stop for a piss before tackling the long gravel stretch.
We don’t say it to each other, but it is obvious that we are not going to wait for the group.
The next 10km felt like an eternity.
Zan said that he felt like we are flying, but I was just wondering when we will pass this River Monster. Extremely bumpy, 25km/h speed, dust flying from everywhere, and there is no end. You are in a tunnel and there is no light at the end of it. Just darkness.
Maybe the first time that my mind cracked.

Music Please
After the River Monster, we had some peaceful kilometers on tarmac and 1 chewing gum to keep the mind busy. The night was towards its end which was a funny feeling.
What wasn’t funny, tho was the Climbing Monster that was ahead of us.
Supposedly, the last big climb of the ride. But oh boy, 20km long.
I try to keep my mind positive about it, but my right knee is already killing me since at least 5 hours. So, I constantly need to change positions. Anyway, it doesn’t work so I bare with the pain.
Here I make the reference again that cycling is in fact not about pleasure, but about pain.
And if the pain gives you pleasure, then at least you know that you are a masochist.
It was time for the Joker Card.
Music in the headphones.
Actually, I had put my headphones in a pocket so hidden that even I forgot about it.
But since my food pouch was empty, I put my phone in there with the speakers pointing up in the air, I played my “Homebound” playlist on Spotify that I had specifically created for this occasion.
It was terrible, none of the songs really resonated but at least it was something.

We give up on giving up
The sun is coming up and this place becomes a lot more enjoyable. Picturesque landscapes, crossing borders somewhere along Croatia and Slovenia.
My sister sends a live update, and we might qualify in the first 20 people.
It’s cool news but at that time I have another fight in my head.
The pain becomes unbearable, especially once you stop pedaling for a few meters and then continue again.
I haven’t really eaten much but there are still at least 30km to go.
Zan had told me that the last 100km are like a walk in the park.
But damn, this is a long walk.
He also said that it will be 80% mind and 20% legs.
That’s good because my knees really hurt, but my mind starts cracking as well.
I try to keep good spirits and must think of my yogi guru Prakash.
He says: “We give up on the idea of giving up”
And so we go on, left and right, push and pull.
We see another “victim” up front, and we attack.
And then another one, and then another one.
There is both pleasure and pain.
And the mind is plain.

This is the story of my 2024 Istraland Bike aventure.
408km across Croatia, Slovenia and Italy with 6000m of elevation gain.
24h 34 minutes to cover it all resulting in 24th place overall.