The first days #RATN2021

After telling you about my preparation for the RATN, let’s get to the heart of the matter: the race itself. I am writing these notes many months after traveling the Dutch roads and I know that I have forgotten some things. But, thanks to the wonderful technology that we have today, I was able to write down a lot of things as I pedaled. First of all, Twitter allowed me to leave beautiful traces online, as well as all the voice notes I sent to my boyfriend. It’s quite disturbing to hear them now. I was always full of motivation in the mornings then it got complicated and you can hear it in my voice.

Overall I want to say that the race went well. Yes, I know that I had hard times and I also lost it but in my head, I have beautiful / good memories and I cannot wait to be in May 2022. I am convinced that I can do better next year and I want to do better, so I will do everything to succeed. I can’t wait to see the comparisons that Strava will give me between the two trips. I cannot wait to do this with MY bike equipped the way I want. In short, you will understand, I took a liking to the RATN ^^

Day D-1, Thursday April 29, 2021

My journey began the day before the race. Listening to the news in the morning, I hear that there is a strike on the Dutch rail network… Ha. Well, I’m going to go to the border and then finish by bike. And voilà, already 100km in the legs before having even started. Looking back, I don’t recommend it at all. It was better for me to waste time on public transport than to ride for so long in bad weather. On the other hand, the night in a tent the day before, I could not have cut it since the accommodation provided by the organization had been canceled (thank you COVIDL). But I don’t recommend it either. Well, on top of that, the strike at the NS diluted as I reached the border. But no other way to change the route because there was no train lines that went there. If I wanted to take a train during I the day it meant that I would have to head back to Antwerpen then go to Utrecht before I still have to finish by bike. Not worth it.

So I drove towards Eck en Wil under a gray sky and sometimes with a few drops. A headwind had also invited itself as the day progresses. The weather forecast told me it’s going to last two days and then get better… the weather forecast really missed it! I did these first 100 kilometers with ease and arrived in the early evening at the campsite. I remember seeing an “Auto Food” gas pump which made me laugh and I also saw a small statue of liberty. But I am unable to locate them on a map. I had 20 minutes of cycling to do for Amerongen. There was nothing closer. I set up the tent under light rain, which would stop and then resume again during the night. Fun fact: the campsite owner knows the race and tells me he will follow me. He also offers me an apple, a hard-boiled egg and a ticket for the ferry the next day. It’s nice and it puts you in a good mood.

The statistics of the day : 100.2km in 5h10

Strava link & Twitter feed of the day

Finally the D-Day! , Friday April 30, 2021

Because of Covid, there was no massive start event and everyone has chosen a time slot. I asked for the 6.30-6.45am. The ferry opens at 6 am so it’s perfect. I got up at 5 a.m. and packed up the wet tent (but not in the rain). I slept 5 hours it seems to me that it will do. I was not cold, that’s it already. I am wide awake, I stress. I arrive in Amerongen and find the start easily. The atmosphere is weird. We receive our tracker, the gapette, we take the official photo… and that’s it. “Off you go”, like Michael said. It doesn’t help relieve my stress. I set off and it starts with a bit of elevation but nothing too bad, we are in the Netherlands after all. In 4 hours of road, I am overtaken by 1 pair and 4 solo riders.

I arrive very quickly in Flevoland, near a « small river » as I say. It must still be 50m wide, I can’t see the other side all the time. I suffered a huge attack of weird flies that make a lot of “poc poc” on the helmet and slip between the reflective jacket and the jacket. I push hard on my pedals and I hold a good 22km / h average for 45km then I tell myself that I am doing the opposite of what I said I will do: ride at my own pace. I’m getting back to my normal pace (average 17-18km / h) because there’s no point in burning yourself out from the first day. I have already done 80km at 11am. I’m happy. Good on the other hand, the dikes are nice but to take the wee breaks, there is nothing to hide. I find a gas pump in Elburg. Double combo: toilet and small hot burger. Except that it’s a burger whose meat looks like a garnalenkroket… it’s surprising. I also stock up on salt chips and cola for later. I manage to keep the pace that I had imposed on myself to eat and drink: at least one snack and three sips of water every 40 minutes. I will have to put juice in the machine for ten days!

The slap of the day will be the discovery of the Hoge Veluwe Park

The slap of the day will be the discovery of the Hoge Veluwe Park. It’s like in Belgian Campine except that at the time I did not know and these desert landscapes in the middle of the forest amaze me. I am in love. Well, the big hill after 150km will kill me in it and give a blow to my morale. But I’m still enjoying the landscape a lot. I arrive at the top and I think I am in a Scrameustache album. An impromptu milkshake after the descent will boost my morale. And French fries will help me restart. The rain is going to invite itself as I pass Arnhem but this will only be the beginning. From memory, it’s going to rain for an hour and not that hard so it’s actually okay. I have this memory of riding on the bike path under the trees and then arriving at the campsite. There are 75km between the two… I was aiming for a campsite after 230km but I found one before the one I was aiming for. I have 227km in the legs. I tell myself its good for this first day. I unpack the wet tent. Its small size + the loaded bike and the fact that I say leave at 6am will attract questions from the owner. She doesn’t speak English so I take out my best Dutch to explain what I’m doing. She is impressed. When she returns with the papers, she tells me that her husband suggests that I stay in the greenhouse. Ha, I’m not against it even if the little hut I’m near is already good. I’m not going to regret having said yes when rain goes all out at 10:30 p.m.

I close my eyes satisfied with this first day even if I have not done the km I wanted to do.

The statistics of the day : 227.61 km in 12:01

Strava link & Twitter feed of the day

And we start again, Saturday May 1, 2021

I open my eyes at 5 am with the sound of the rain hitting the roof. Great… But at least most of the tent is dry. I know that tonight I will not fall asleep in a wet atmosphere. I slept 7 hours, I feel invigorated. And, luckily, the rain will stop when I start. I have a big city to pass from the first kilometers. And there, I am happy not to have pushed further the day before. There are monstrous road works and I have to follow a long detour. I would have hated doing that after dark. On the other hand, it is too early to have anything to eat. I’ll have to be more careful to have something substantial for the morning because just granola bars are not enougth.

I’m making good progress, I’ve already done 76km at 10:35 am. I have a slight headwind but nothing too annoying. The roads are fucking awesome. But as soon as there is a little damaged surface, I complain. Except that in Belgium, even having the damaged road, we would be happy to have it. We can quickly have our standards change when we have quality ^^

I manage to refuel and I fall for a bag of meatballs, half of which will disappear almost as soon as I left the shop … For my midafternoon snacks, I want to have a hot meatloaf and pastries. I wait for them to reheat the bread to discover after 5 minutes that in fact it is not hot at all … Still happy that the pastries are good. Around 1:30 pm, I want to take a nap on the side of the road but a cyclist lying on the grass attracts attention… I will only manage to sleep 25 minutes between two interruptions.

Around 4 p.m., I found another gas pump and I took the opportunity to have something to eat until the evening. I still have 80km to reach my city stage of the day and I decide to continue. As I leave the pump, I see a cyclist arrive with a RATN gapette. He walks past me. I’ll pass him further as he puts his shoes back on. He will try to overtake me a little further but as I do not yet have a good command of the aero bars, I almost knock him down. So we’re going to chat. We start to gibber in Dutch before realizing that we are two French-speaking Belgians… He reacts directly to my name. And there, he tells me that he is the son of a lady with whom I made Dynamobile… How small the world is! We are going to ride 20 kilometers together even if I tell him to let go of me because I am not moving fast enough. He tells me that it is also good for him to go slower because he already has sore tendons. Over the course of our discussions, he will teach me that we have one more day than I expected to do the RATN. We may have delayed departures, we all have the same day of arrival. Which means that I have one more day. How could I have skipped this info? !!! This is good news but I still wonder how it is that I did not catch this.

In the morning, I changed the angle of the saddle because it was not suitable for when I am on the aero bars. And I realize that the saddle moves, the screw no longer tightens. I have to tighten it several times during the day. No luck, it is May 1st so everything is closed. I make an assembly of plastic links but it does not hold either. I hope to find a bike shop open on Monday to help me but I’m starting to doubt.

I finished the day at the Bourtange campsite and I slept again under intermittent light rain. I feel the cold coming where my hip touches the canvas of the tent. No double sheets so I’m directly in the rain. This is the limit of my bivy.

It is also the day when I start to have roadwork’s, which adds kilometers. Already 7km more than expected. Hope it won’t last. Because, we already have enough kilometers to do so 5-6 km here and there I don’t want.

I again drove fewer kilometers than I wanted but it is what it is. I’m just telling myself that I have to finish on time. But the weather for the next few days will decide otherwise.

The statistics of the day : 214.63 km in 11:39

Strava link & Twitter feed of the day