13/08/2026
Never actually got around to writing a Pöörirando post.
Two months ago it was pretty much peak season at the workshop with a few dozen bikes in service that needed a fast turnover which prompted me to ride the 24h race without getting any proper sleep in the duration of 72hrs. Why 72hrs you ask?
Because our duo of rookies decided to head to listen to some ultra talks the night prior, which was cool to get an idea of the main participants but no discussion could really give an impression of the experience itself.
With an allnighter behind me, provided with a tiny 1.5 person tent, we had also failed to book accommodation ahead in the local housing. BAD idea.
With the epic snores of my partner in crime echoing in the night, I spent the majority of the night leading into the race without getting any shuteye in a tent under the bridge (first photo), intermittently cursing the local birds into oblivion or attempting to dissolve myself into the sound of the cuckoos and larks singing.
There was a point in the race around midnight for a desperate nap laying down on the still-warm asphalt road and had to be woken so as not to get splattered like the multitude of toads that already had while crossing the road.
Seeing as this was my first year of panepanepane definitely some lessons to be learned. All in all we made our goal of 270km’s and kept the promise of not going back into base.
I think the low point was us deciding to change our original route and throwing a curve ball by going further out east than planned to stop at Rakvere, the longest time between checkpoints and definitely the dreariest pedal between endless fields into a completely empty city at the God-forsaken hour of 4am.
After one of us passing out on the table of the local Olerex and pressing warm food into bellies already rendered non-capable of digesting, we thanked the heavy duty blow drier of the gas station restroom.
All in all, as many pointed out, spirits were not in ordinance with the weather. Anyone met on the road, especially the following morning, were all super stoked.
Also, meeting up with troopers on the road who were hitting their +350 target was wild.
🙋♂️onto the next.