TARNo2 // 12th May: Tomorrow We Race
May 13, 2025
Words by Andrew Phillips
Photos by Matt Grayson and Sam Dugon
It was past 1am, and the streets of Shkoder had finally fallen silent. McCavity, the neighbourhood tomcat, kept a silent watch from his flat roof next to the Traveler Hostel, and Xhulio, the night manager, sat chain smoking outside on a cheap wooden garden chair. The faintest breeze wafted his fumes skywards as he waited patiently for his guests to arrive.
The rumble was faint at first, a hint of a noise from the north, but growing inexorably until it became the steady rumble of an engine, the rub of huge brakes, and the hiss of pneumatics as the coach door opened on The Accursed Express.
Bleary eyed and stiff limbed, riders, volunteers, photographers, and podcasters stumbled off the bus and into the cool Albanian night, pausing to step carefully over the ever flowing stream of water sweeping down the street from the fishmongers to the storm drain, as the passengers unloaded their precious bikes and cameras, and made their way to the hostel’s sleepless reception.
The Accursed Express is a Lost Dot coach service running directly from Zagreb station to the startline in Shkodër, allowing riders to transit seamlessly from the Central European rail network straight onto the coach and into the turquoise heart of the Balkans, flight-free. On the bus, riders swap tales of races past, compare tyre widths for the race ahead, and get a little sleep safe in the knowledge that Ilir, their Kosovan driver, has them in safe hands.
The Lost Dot team have been in Shkodër for a few days already, and I awoke this morning blissfully unaware of last night’s scene, able to get up and first in line for a shower then a coffee before last night’s passengers started stumbling downstairs to assemble bikes so that they can become tomorrow’s racers.
The rest of the morning passed with the sound of freehubs, allen keys, and bike pumps before a 14:00CEST start for bike checks and registration, where veteran race volunteer Peter ‘Larry’ Lawrence was waiting to sign people on, before handing them over to similarly veteran (in races, if not years) rider Adrien Liechti for a bike check: “Honestly, they’re all perfect, freshly serviced, with new tyres and brake pads” he marvelled.
Registration days can be nervy at times, but at The Accursed it’s hard to stay anxious for long as everyday Shkodran life goes on around you. Fishmongers gutting carp, fruit sellers weighing apples, mechanics hammering and tweaking, all remind us what a privilege it is for us to take the time to ride our bikes and enjoy the luxury of travel (even if luxury might seem a distant concept after a day or two out on the route).
I spent the day getting to know the riders: Michael Niven (cap 30), who has travelled from Birmingham, bringing with him a precious cargo of caps from race partner Albion. Alain Rumpf (cap 08) who told me that he’s been yearning to return to the Balkans after racing TCRNo3 back in 2015, and Annie Dunlap and Hannah Vet, an infectiously happy pair of Americans looking forward to having the most fun they can possibly fit into 10 glorious days of freedom.
In the beating afternoon sun, the conversation amongst some riders turned to the weather. Hard to imagine anything other than glorious blue skies. But as the clocked ticked closer to 17:00CEST and the alfresco rider briefing, followed by our Shkodra Critical Mass ride, a ripple of thunder rent the air and within seconds aubergines, peppers, and ice cream machines were being pulled under shelter as the rain began to bounce from brolleys, bonnets, and bicycles.
As all optimists know however, rain that hard cannot last for long, and soon the sun won out so that normal service could resume, and the vegetables and ice cream machines could be restored to the street ahead of the afternoon rider briefing. Race Director Hannah Larbalestier ran through route notes (snow patch on Biogradska Gora), Race Coordinator David Ayre ran through rules (don’t ride through snow patch on Biogradska Gora), and then it came to the important bit: supervolunteer Larry’s 72nd birthday. Happy Birthday was sung with both spirit and gusto, and then it was down to your correspondent to introduce Shkodra Critical Mass.
For the uninitiated, Critical Mass is a decentralised protest-ride movement intended to highlight cycle safety issues, and demonstrate the power of the bicycle as a tool for positive change in cities. Shkodra Critical Mass was organised in conjunction with the local cycling club Shkodra MTB, and Traveler Hostel (Accursed Race HQ).
Shkodër is Albania’s foremost cycling city, so a natural home for The Accursed. But here the bicycle is a means of transport for strapping goats, gas canisters, or hay bales to the back of, rarely a sport, and often disregarded or misunderstood by drivers. By riding en mass(e) through the city we hoped to highlight the lack of proper space or infrastructure given to bicycles (there are some bike lanes here, but they often end, or end up as car parks), we hoped to unite local riders and international racers, bound together by a love of bikes.
Unfortunately the local football team, Vllaznia Shkodër, got through to the Albanian playoff finals and Shkodra MTB decided that the power of the bicycle was dwarfed by the power of traveling to Tirana to watch their side get hammered 4-0 by Egnatia Rrogozhinë.
Nevertheless, those of us in attendance enjoyed the ride through the centre of the city, and along Lake Shkodra to the small waterside village of Shiroka where a beer and a swim in the golden evening light provided a final flourish to the day.
From there riders went off in small groups for a final portion of Father’s Rice (a local speciality), or a last load of their carbohydrate of choice before the inevitable diet of bureks and 7Days (other croissants aren’t available) put a stop to any meaningful variety in diet.
Tomorrow we race.