04 TCR06 – Finished!

You are now at post 04 of my TCR series. If you wish to read them in order and/or first want to find out what this is all about.., voilà:
01 Next BIG thing: The Transcontinental Race – I’m Cap 36
02 TCR06 – Preparation
03 TCR06 – Hopes, Motivation & Fears (3 lists)
04 TCR06 – Finished!
05a TCR06 – Visual Race Report – 1. Introduction
05b TCR06 – Visual Race Report – 2. Timeline Overview
05c TCR06 – Visual Race Report – 3. Interactive Map

A somewhat belated newsflash! For more little and random posts from throughout the race, check my, Instagram, Facebook or Strava.

This past Monday (13th of Aug 2018) around 17.30h CET I finished my Transcontinental Race #TCRNo6 in Meteora/Greece, after 14d19h18min, 16 countries passed over 4029km and 32030m of altitude gained. (I will probably be listed around Position 65 out of ca. 280 starters)

A BIG shoutout and thank you to all of YOU who watched my GPS dot, sent me messages and comments of encouragement and interest. You can‘t imagine what an incredibly important force you were to me – who knows how/if/when I would have arrived without you..?

My arrival was extremely overwhelming to me as I flew down the mind blowing descent of the final parcours to then fall into the arms of my parents and brother who came all the way to the finish line (by plane though 😜). That was after a final stretch from close to Sarajevo to the finish line in Meteora/Greece: ca. 60 hours (303+520km) with just 3h of sleep including a feverish nightmare trip through the Albanian heat and night, chased by stray-dogs and starting hallucinations. I just wanted to finish this.

I am incredibly happy and a bit proud – it was a crazy journey that will accompany me for all of my life. Many ups, downs, beauty, ugliness, happiness, comfort, love, anger, fear, ecstasy, physical pain…

I will certainly publish various notes/articles on this blog some point. If you wish, you can enter your email address (see column on the right) to find out when I posted something (no spamming of course).

Yours, Malte / Cap36

#TCRNo6cap36 @Meteora

Here are some visual impressions as I had also shared them on my social media channels for this “finished” post:

Family reunion at the finish line
Family reunion at the finish line

Summing up my stages. With a slight tremor in my hand..

Summing up my stages. With a slight tremor in my hand..

Tan lines...

Tan lines…

Leg comparison (and showing of the ATPS logo on my bib shorts)

Leg comparison (and showing of the ATPS logo on my bib shorts)

Amy and Anton - a rider pair that lifted my spirits in a moment I very much needed it

Amy and Anton – on the last morning before my finish they approached me from behind in the flatlands of Albania. I was mentally not in a good place so their unexpected company meant the world to me

Selfie attempt on the final parcours down to Meteora

Selfie attempt on the final parcours down to Meteora

Author: Malte Cyclingtourist

Hi, I'm Malte, cyclo-hedonist, endurance traveller, occasional bikepacking-racer (mostly road) – www.cyclingtourist.com – Strava: Malte Cyclingtourist – Instagram: @maltecyclingtourist

4 thoughts on “04 TCR06 – Finished!”

    1. Hi Sascha.
      Danke dir, freut mich, dass du was davon hattest! Ein richtiger Artikel zum Rennen fehlt ja leider noch (irgendwann mache ich das noch : D ), ich nehme an du beziehst dich auf den Artikel zur Vorbereitung.
      34-36 war perfekt! An einigen Anstiegen bin ich durch hochfrequentes kurbeln in relaxter Sitzposition oft relativ entspannt an anderen Fahrer/innen vorbeigezogen, die nur schwerere Übersetzungen hatten.
      Allerdings kam ich damit auch an Grenzen: Der Parcours zum CP3 in Polen war so steil, dass ich mich sehr hochgequält habe und das letzte Viertel (deutlich über 20% steil) schieben musste; und am Mangart Sedlo (Parcours zu CP2) war es auch kein lockeres kurbeln mehr (aber musste nicht absteigen).
      Nur: allein wegen der paar Meter in denen ich an und über die Grenzen kam hätte ich keine niedrigere Übersetzung haben wollen; denn dann hätte ich in anderen Punkten Abstriche machen müssen.

      Viele Grüße und frohes Radeln,
      Malte

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Danke für die Rückmeldung. Ich hab mir jetzt eine Kassette gebastelt aus einer xt 11-40 und einer ultegra 14-28. Das kombiniert mit der neuen GRX Kurbel(48/31), ein Traum! Ich fahre aber auch 2 LRS auf dem Rad und der eine hat halt 45er Reifen, da ist 31-40 echt entspannt, auch mit “viel” Gepäck. Lieben Dank nochmal und ebenfalls frohes radeln ✌🏼.

        Like

Leave a comment