TARNo2 // May 15th: No Sleep Till Berane
May 16, 2025
Words by Andrew Phillips
Photos by Matt Grayson, Tom Gibbs, and Sam Dugon
My morning started, as all great ones do, weighing up whether to get breakfast in Bosnia’s premier 24-hour petrol station. It’s a place I know well, having previously slept in the 4* all-night toilets. Sitting at a crucial junction on the ultra-racing map where the Drina river meets the Bistrica, the discerning rider may cross the river bridge, head for the Montenegrin border, wake up a border guard for a passport stamp, and continue up the Piva canyon to Plužine and the foot of Durmitor. Having eaten dinner in the petrol station the night before, we decided unanimously that we couldn’t stomach any more breakfast cigarettes, passive-aggressively smoked at us by the sultry waiter leaning on the counter.
Instead we headed up the valley to Miljevina, best known as the first resupply after the 120km Sutjeska off-road sector. A strong coffee and a doughy cherry pastry in the morning sun emphasised the temperature differential between the chilly shade and overnight mountain air, and the powerful daytime sun. The kind of day which has you constantly feeling like you’re wearing slightly the wrong thing, and made even harder for riders working hard uphill and then chilling themselves on the descents.
After second helpings of warm cherry doughballs, we jumped back in the car and headed back up into Sutjeska. Christophe Dijkmans (14) and Pierre Bischoff (32) had passed us early, and before us lay Andy Dodd (06), Christian Dupraz (12), and Daniel Perotti (15). We pushed back up the track into Sutjeska with the aim of getting some covert photography of the three riders. But as so often when you need it most, we lost signal and were flying blind. We worked conservatively, so as not to risk intruding into the riders’ experience of this remote area, and took up positions in the treeline. Lying in wait for ~30 minutes before each rider hove into view, then moving as far up the track as we dared before camouflaging up and waiting for the next one.
Just a couple of kilometers up the track from where we hid was the spot where I’d spent five minutes in mutual admiration with a bear on the Trans Balkan Race a few years ago. It was with some disconsolation then, that I heard the distant whine of a chainsaw felling another part of this almost perfect wild habitat.
By the time all three riders had passed, it was late morning and a glance at the tracking map showed that Justinas had made unexpectedly good progress towards CP1. It became clear that we wouldn’t make it there before him as planned, so spoke to our CP volunteers Paul and Kim (also known as my parents) to brief them. Unfortunately, when he arrived, Justinas was bruised and shaken having collided with a vehicle whilst descending from Biogradska Gora. He rested a while at the CP, charged his things, and had some food: a jar of pickles, a litre of Kombucha, and some four packs of a particularly suspicious looking meat cylinder. After a final assessment that his injuries weren’t too serious, he continued on his way with a smile, tossing a piece of remaining meat in the direction of one of the local dogs as he went.
Next in was Christophe, some five hours later. He was in good spirits despite finding the Durmitor highlands tougher and slower than expected. Having planned to push on, it had taken enough out of him that he decided to call it a night, and get three hours sleep in a bed at the Hotel Berane. On one condition: that they allow him to take his bike into his room. After a short discussion with staff, the deal was done.
Further back in the race Tom Probert caught up with our only pair, Hannah Vet and Annie Dunlap (37a & 37b). They were feeling rattled and beaten up after the rigours of the Ciro Trail, an old Austro-Hungarian freight line which closed in the 1970s. Those with an eye on their history will know that underestimating the Austro-Hungarian empire's ability to cause trouble comes at a cost, and Annie and Hannah described themselves as feeling old and withered in the aftermath. Let’s hope they regain their spark tomorrow.
As the day drew to a close, the weather was on everyone’s mind. Christian ‘the weatherman’ Dupraz had been promising rain on Friday since day one, and it soon became clear that he knew his meteorology as the rain clouds began to gather ominously overhead.
Scratch Report:
Michael Niven (30)