A week of training … really ?

At the end of May, I took advantage of the public holiday to take 4 days off and go riding. The idea was to go into ultra cycling mode and pretend I was at the Norht Cape 4000. This means that I took all my belongins, including what will be used for the Far North. The scorching weather announced for the week meant that I knew very well that I would not be using these clothes, but the weight on the bike had to be correctly simulated. In addition to these equipment tests, I also wanted to test myself on elevation, and not on 10 min climbs! But, Belgium does not have real passes. So I prepared a loop starting and finishing in Arlon (Belgium) which went towards the Vosges and Alsace (France). The idea was to do 850 km in 5 days with 13,000 D+. I didn’t have a clue what that D+ meant but everyone I told about was screaming. I figured it was a lot. I also set myself the usual timings that I use in ultra: wake up at 5 a.m., departure at 6 a.m. 3 minute break per hour, 1 hour to set up/tidy up the camp + eat in the evening and in the morning. And 30 minutes break at noon. I also have the « right » to 1 hour during the day to do grocery shopping. A fairly strict schedule, but necessary to go far. The idea was also to bivy and end the day around 10 p.m.

Let’s go !

First little problem of the trip: the train. I took the second train in the morning (7am in Brussels) which brought me to Arlon at 10.30am. So I started already with 25° and the sun high in the sky. Not ideal. To my surprise, I have a very nice bike path to leave the city when I was expecting a very despicable national. The ten short kilometers in Belgium are quickly ridden and here I am in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. I do not see the first sixty kilometers pass. I ride roller coasters hills (up and down) and I will even do 100m ON THE BIKE at 12%! It may seem harmless to you, but each climb climbed with more or less ease is a victory for me! Casually, the rollerblade training continued to pay off and I feel that I have more energy in my legs. It’s fun! After a small commemorative visit to Shengen, I continue my journey to France. For the record, Shengen was on the route of my first Dynamobile, in 2002. Let’s just say that y riding life was still quite influenced by Dynamobile! And by my father of course.

The GPS tells me it’s 32° in direct sunlight. And it’s still going up! I’m starting to think that the plan to ride at night and avoid the hot hours might not be a bad idea… I find a path in a wood and I stop for 45 minutes to cool down and think. But, very quickly, I find it strange not to move when it’s daytime. I try to hold myself back but I end up getting back on the bike faster than expected. I can’t get used to the idea of ​​not moving and watching the time pass. In addition, I started already very late so I haven’t even done 100km yet in the middle of the afternoon. I’m starting to think that doing 200km in these conditions is going to be very complicated.

I take the road again and end up going to Germany. Four countries on the same day! A first for me! The roads are better than in France and I don’t see many cars. The clock is ticking and the kilometers do not advance. I want to stop for the night. I find a bench along the Saar and look at my options. There is a campsite in Saarlouis. Perfect ! It will make me 100km for the day. It’s good. Half less than expected but it’s already 100km. I hadn’t done any since… the failed BRM in February. I find the campsite and settle down alongside other cyclists. The minimalist tent raises eyebrows but no one comes to talk to me. Good, I’m hardly sociable in ultra mode. I take advantage of being close to the city center to walk there and find something to eat. It will be a durum that evening, the first of many. Returning to the campsite, I look for a bakery for the next morning. There is one but it opens at 6:30. So I already have to shift my usual schedule by 30 minutes.

Bank holiday = everything is closes !

Big unpleasant surprise on May 29… the bakery I was aiming for is closed. It is also a public holiday in Germany. So I swallow what I have left of biscuits for breakfast and set off after losing 20 minutes waiting for the bakery to open. I tell myself that I will have better luck in Saarbrücken. Not really. I’m going to go around the city and have 3 bakeries closed before meeting garbage collectors. They don’t speak English and I don’t speak German so we manage to understand each other in Dutch and sign language. They will direct me to an open bakery. Ouf ! And not just any, there are also sandwiches, drinks and tables. Perfect ! Well, there will be a drunk guy who will pass and make me uncomfortable but he will be chased away by the baker so that’s fine. But, there is nothing to do, passing through big cities after miles alone always makes me feel weird. I buy more croissants than I need, telling myself that I won’t have much else today. The route is nice. The landscapes are varied but there are good steep hills to cross into France! I’m going to push the bike for the first time.

Luckily, my trip takes me past a pizza robot from Tibaldo’s google map so I can have a hot meal in the middle of the day. There really is nothing open in France on a public holiday! At least in Belgium, there are a multitude of small supermarkets that are open. But there, I can’t find anything anywhere.

Speaking of travel, I will discover the dark side of Komoot that day. He is connected to leisure cycling and suddenly, he takes small paths. Very nice, you might say, except when he makes me leave the main street of a village to take me along forbidden paths instead of staying on the main road. He’s gotten me so fed up that at some point I’m just going to follow the map on the GPS and not follow the Komoot route.

The weather remains warm and I have an almost constant headwind. Not very strong, but exhausting. The GPS tells me again that I am beyond 30°. I would repeatedly ask people in their gardens for water. I would drink 3L of water that day.

I make the decision to stop the planned training and switch to holidays mode. I don’t want to follow the rules that I put myself on. I want to enjoy the trip. I tell myself that doing 100km a day with at least 1000 D+ is already training for me. I decide to sting faster towards Metz. I would go back to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, this country is so beautifull that I want to explore it more.

This is not a bike path

I haven’t packed my things well for the night and my bib short is damp when I put it on in the morning. It’s not great. Here is a new lesson learned! Another lesson will be to buy myself two meals the night before and eat one in the morning. I set off with an almost empty stomach, again. I realize very quickly that I am on a local cycle route indicated by signs. Except that in the forest, it’s going to be like mountain biking… I would never go there with children! And we wonder why there are few cyclists in rural areas ? Well, of course, with “itineraries” like that, you don’t push for practice. On top of that, Komoot and then Google will persist in sending me on paths that are more forested than each other. I’ll end up, again, just following the lines on the basemap. It wasn’t until around 11am that I finally got to a bakery. Luckily, it is attached to a convenience store, which also allows me to buy drinks and biscuits. The apple pie was the wrong choice. It’s good but will leave me with stomach issue all day.

I will continue to experiment with the different French national roads and will find myself twice on some with two lanes with a central berm where cars go quite fast. But the worse one lasted only two kilometers so it was ok. I will pass by the village of Many and I take myself a giggle all alone while thinking of “Ice age”.

After 40 km of denial, I finally decided to change my inner tube. I pumped it up three times in 40 km so I tell myself that I have a slow puncture. So I record my first puncture on the Genesis after 8000 km. It’s reasonable. However, I can’t find anything in the inner tube and the tire so I don’t know why I punctured. And that bores me. With my small pump, I can’t reinflate fully and the rear wheel pitches a little. It’s not crazy downhill. Still happy that I am no longer very far from Metz. I’m starting to have a to do list when I arrive in town because I lost my sunglasses in the morning. And I will also have to eat.

Play to get lost

I put on wet clothes in the morning. It’s not pleasant, but it’ll finish drying in an hour, it’s so hot. Leaving Thionville is via a secure bike patch but which passes twice in front of motorway exits… It’s already not crazy, but on top of that, the vegetation makes me almost invisible. I will come close to disaster twice. I’m borderline relieved to begin a climb of several kilometers on a small quiet road in the shade. I would do all of it on the bike and I’m pretty proud of it!

Subtlety of the day, I finish in the evening at my sister’s and must not arrive too early because she is working. So I have many hours for few kilometers. I therefore take all my time to go back to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Belgium. I find a nice bench in Ottange and sit down for my second breakfast. I see a little grandma arriving pushing a wheelbarrow. She heads straight for me and I wonder what’s going to happen. She decides to sit on the bench next to me and questions me. Once she finds out that I am traveling alone, she tells me about all the crimes in the area and concludes by telling me to be careful. I laugh in my head but I thank her. She’ll take her wheelbarrow back and cross the main road in no-fuck mode and force the cars to stop. What a number !

A few minutes after my break, I’ go’m in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and I come across a quality pee break aka a petrol station! In Rumelange, I decide to take a Luxembourg bike path which looks pretty good. I’ll have a hard time finding it but the view will be worth it! The only problem is that it stops at Belval. So I decide to follow the route planned but not yet created. I will therefore « lose myself » voluntarily and will end up passing on a gigantic road in the middle of the forest. I am alone on concrete that is 30 m wide. It’s surreal.

After two hours of « getting lost », I decide to take a national to move faster. WOW, what a descent on Niederkorn! I’ll be a bit overspeeding when I get to the village, but I swear I was fully on the brakes! The 7 and then 10% downhill, gives me quite some speed… The arrival at Pétange is a little slower but still fast. I find a durum then a store with toilets and treats myself with an ice cream and a cold drink. I still have 20 km to go but I am 4 hours too early. I decide to see to extend my course. Except that I don’t get internet and that making a trip in Komoot for after having it on the Wahoo requires a connection. So, I tell myself that I will test the route function directly in the Wahoo app. I cross the border then leave the main road directly on what seems to be a calmer path. Quiet but for mountain biking… It’s not long so it’s ok but it’s not pleasant. I go up a short but very steep hill to be sent again in an ignoble dirt road. I then decide to follow the signs while waiting to have some internet again. I find myself on Belgian national roads which have just been redone. Smooth roads ! But very popular. I seem to be on an alternative route to the motorway as I see Belgian, Luxembourg and French plates on the cars all the time. I’m very close to my final ddestination and I’m starting to get fed up of the close passes. I am happy to arrive and see the family. On the other hand, it’s a bit surreal to be with them at night, to do the shopping, see the cat,… I’m used to being alone. But it’s nice.

Back in the Grand Duchy

As the weather improved during the week, I decided to return to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and explore it more. I asked Tristan, whom I know via Twitter, to prepare a route for me that goes up to Clervaux. There is a campsite there and it is close to the Belgian border to get a train the next day. I must admit that I was spoiled! The track is magnificent and I have a BIG crush on the Haute Sûre lake. They have very few roads with holes and so even uphill, it “rolls by itself”.

However, the day had not started very well. After dropping my sister off at her bus, I set off on charming little roads then through the forest towards Martelange. I am frozen in the descent towards the city and will take a five-minute break in the sun in front of the sign indicating the border. Lesson learned: put on the jacket before the descent even if you think it’s going to be fine. I then pass in a path of very ravishing smugglers. But, I tell myself that I am not moving forward. I feel like I’m not moving forward. And yet, my average speed is still 15km/h. It’s reasonable given the elevation. Because yes, it goes up! I had told Tristan not to skimp on the climbs just to put more in my legs. Despite my struggles, which are more mental than physical, I arrive at 10:30 am at the Haute Sûre lake. I soak my feet, I eat and I take a 2 hour nap. It is much better!

I do well to refuel in water before the climb because I will empty a 500ml bottle just on the climb! 4km of climb later, I tell myself that it’s not that bad. We’ll see if I think the same during the NC4K.

That evening, I tumbled into Clervaux with a nice view of the castle. I let myself down to the campsite and would be installed near the river. Great luxury: there are tables and chairs. After yet another durum, I fall asleep when it’s only 8 p.m. Me who has trouble falling asleep with light, I have no problem there.

The alarm clock will be a little harsher and it will take me two minutes to understand why: I’m cold. The sky is gray and there are 12° instead of the 20 of the previous days. I put on warm tights and the jacket. It was when I heard a bus passing that I had a flash: there is a train station in Clervaux! I don’t feel like going to Gouvy by bike at all, so I decide to take a train. Easier said than done. There are works on the line so there are replacement buses. I don’t know if the bike will be accepted. It is ! So that’s how I put my bike for the first time in the hold of a bus. Ha bah, that too will have to be done to return from the NC4K! Suddenly, I note in a corner of my head that I must have my food on me and everything I want to have on the bus. The rest of the journey is “typical SNCB”, that is to say that my first train will be delayed and I will miss my connection for Brussels. The next train will also be late… I thus lost an hour… But I will end up going home.

What did I learned ?

Although this week of training was not what was I expected, I still learned a lot of things.

First of all, all the equipment I want to take fits in my bags! And that is really great. I didn’t want to have bags on the forks.

I found I was drinking and eating twice as much because of the elevation and the heat. So I can dpulicate all my meals, it won’t be a problem. For water on the other hand, I think I’ll leave with two more bottles because I was, on several occasions, at the verge of issues. And, if I have too much, I can use what I have left to wash myself.

I found that in fact, with one pedal stroke after another, I can climb for several kilometers on percentages of 4-5%. You just have to find your rhythm and then ride !

The setup with the small tent is perfect and I’m not claustrophobic in it. My sleeping bag is perfect and I really need two pillows under my head.

I just need a jacket less thick than the winter one because I need it to protect me from the sun and downhill but the fur inside made me sweat for nothing.

Sometimes I’ll be a little hot with the snickers and socks, but I’m not going to leave with a pair of sandals that will only be used for half the trip.

I have to take smaller containers for my sunscreen and after-sun. It takes up too much space and I’m not going to use it all.

I still love being on my bike and going off to discover countries is something I am very excited about!