08/08/2026
I didn’t take many photos during my Transcontinental No.12, but some of these somehow reflect the story I’ve lived over the past two or three weeks.
Some time has already passed, and when I try to reflect on what happened, there’s not really much I can put into words. For me, everything happened right there on the spot in Norway, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, the Balkans, and all the other countries and places I passed through.
The race was so pure and perfectly authentic. With each new obstacle, it reinforced the assurance that this was a true comeback to the roots of ultra cycling, as I knew it and as I entered it nine years ago. A pure bikepacking adventure race, where my expectations were drowned deep in the Baltic Sea, and my confidence was dug deep under the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula.
This state made me realise something new. Or maybe not even something new, but something I think I had lost somewhere along the way. It’s hard to describe now, but while sitting on the pavement outside a random shop in Albania, without either the power or the motivation to stand up and ride, where I did cry from both the happiness of being there and the disappointment of not being able to ride, it hit me hard.
I’ve been there before, broken, happy, and scared altogether, but always focused on the goal, always privileged to have a chance to break through, no matter what happened. Only back then, the goal was different. And that's fine.
I am thrilled to think that this could be one of the best ultra-cycling races I have ever had. But there were so many others that this could also be an overstatement.
Some stats for nerds 😂
4511km / 45113m
11D 18H 14M
-
278km / 5149m missing
Restrap
Pan od rowerów
The Transcontinental
