I gave up on August 4 after doing 2098km in 13 days. And I was ok with that. I was ready to push my limits, which I did. And on top of that, I did quite a few things for the first time. I did a wild bivouac in the mountains. I climbed three passes at an altitude of over 1000m, including the Saint Bernard at over 2000m. If someone had told me that I was going to cross the Alps on my bike, I would have laughed! And yet! I had never been to Italy and Denmark. I had never taken my bike apart. I hated that. I had never been on my bike this long. I had never been alone so far from home. I met extraordinary people.
But… yes, there is a but: my goal was not achieved. I really want to bike to the North Cape. Looking back, I tell myself that I should have waited until 2024 for this. 2023 was a little early. It doesn’t matter, I learned a lot of things and I know what I need to improve for 2025. Because yes, I decided to take 2024 to train and finish the North Cape in 2025. And when I’m talking about training, I’m also talking about rediscovering the joy of simple days on the bike. Don’t do everything in ultra cycling mode, don’t always chase time. I can go out for only 50 km, it’s not prohibited. I can stop to stroll along the way. I also want to do that. And with being in the office at work a lot more than before, I have to rebuild some stamina and maintain it. Which I absolutely did not do in 2023.
At the same time as finishing these blog articles, I am writing those about my Race Around The Netherlands 2022. And in them, I found lessons that I had completely forgotten. Of course, taking the tent means having more freedom, but it also means having to endure the weather and not resting. When I do ultra cycling, I need to go to hotels. I understand it well now. This will also allow me to lighten up on the bike. And on a race like the North Cape, this matters even more than on a RATN.
I also have to decide how I share my adventure. As with my RATN 2021, sharing on social media was time-consuming. I set limits for myself during RATN 2022 and it worked well. I need to do this on the NC4K. The day I set limits in 2023, I did 225km. I was focused on the road all day. Of course, I took photos while riding, but I kept them to myself. And that’s still more effective than sharing everything within the next 2-3 hours.
Mentally, I need to evolve. I have to tame fatigue and not let it guide me. I was very unsuccessful in creating a bubble for myself as I had done during the RATN. I need to work on this.
I have a few physical points to watch out for, but on that side, there isn’t much to change.
For the moment, I have two events planned for 2024: Liège – Bouillon – Liège (500km in 3 days) and the Diagonale (360km in 24 hours). I’m going to force myself to ride these races as light as possible to see if I’m really missing something.
Do not hesitate to ask me questions. I will be happy to share my experience with you.
