TARNo2 // May 18th: Making It Rain

Words by Andrew Phillips

Photos by Matt Grayson, Andrew Phillips, Michael Drummond, and Sam Dugon

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By now, it’s clear that this race report is shaped heavily by the first coffee of the day. This morning, a cappuccino in Fushë-Krujë’s George W Bush cafe, followed by a pistachio croissant at the George W Bush bakery, eaten on a park bench in front of the George W Bush statue, really set the tone. Today will be a good day.

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Riders will have less presidential reasons for enjoyment, but the rain has stopped and the sun is out, so the sentiment will no doubt be the same.

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I caught up with Justinas Leveika (02) in Laç, and once more he was desperate to chat after another night with no contact. Grinning from ear to ear, he waxed lyrical about the beauty of Albania, the endless lines of mountains, the river, the light, the people, and the coffee. The one thing he was less complimentary about was the surfaces. Having given both bike and body a real beating over the last four days, both look in need of a good service. Brake pads are a distant memory, and his fork looked to have closer to 6mm of travel remaining, rather than the 60 it had started with. 

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When I asked about sleep, he told me that he’d slept briefly in a cold ditch last night. Leaving his sleeping bag in his Tailfin aeropack as he didn’t want to get too comfortable, and oversleep with no alarm. 

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Right at the other end of the pack, Michael Fidorra (29) made the first CP cut-off with around three hours to spare, at 20:55CEST. For a man who has slept outside every night, he’s managed to look after himself well, and enters the second half of the race with no major issues. Earlier that day, and just up the road from Michael, Andrew Hatton (4) had reached the Hotel Tara, where he scratched at TARNo1. Stopping just long enough to vanquish the ghost of Accurseds past, Andrew continued to CP1 and validated at 16:23.

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At CP2, it was another quiet day for volunteers Adrien Liechti and Carlotta Schumacher, with only Christian Dupraz (12) and Andy Dodd (6) coming through all day. Andy had experienced a mind-blowing cloud inversion over the Lurë-Dejë mountains, and was in good spirits despite a niggling achilles issue troubling him slightly. No doubt his fully rigid touring setup is not making life any easier for his body on the rough trails. He stayed just five minutes at the CP before buying two pizzas, one for now, one for later and getting back on the road towards the Mali me Gropa-Bizë-Martanesh Nature Park. Christian meanwhile managed to look fresh and was as organised as usual, stopping a short time before continuing on his way, relentlessly unphased.

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Further up the road Control Team 2 got ahead of Christophe Dijkmans (14) and lay in wait on the trail below the village of Nojë. A remote trigger set up from a rock-like camera, a drone out of sight and earshot in the air for the bridge photo, and me lying prone under a ghillie net with the long-lens. Waiting for over half an hour, photographer Matt Grayson had to bring the drone back down to change the batteries, and the stress position I was lying in on the rocks was starting to bite. Eventually Christophe hove into view, and the reason for the long wait became clear. He was moving slowly and looking exhausted after what had no doubt been a tough 22 hours on the bike.

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After that we headed for Shkodër. Justinas had continued on his unstoppable march, and looked set to finish that evening. Sweepstakes were made and we sat waiting outside Race HQ (Traveler Hostel) as the atmosphere began to build, both literally and metaphorically. 

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That eerie stillness which precedes a monumental storm engulfed the city. The Sunday evening streets had emptied out and were almost as deserted as the mountains through which the race has passed. A lone Mercedes drifted by, its headlights a false alarm for Justinas’ Supernovas. The sky flashed white-purple, and was followed seconds later by a rumble of thunder so deep that the bass reverberated through my ribcage. 

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Amongst the small band gathered to await Justinas’ arrival, a tense excitement rippled through. Finally, after 5 days, 13 hours, and 45 minutes, he rolled down the small cul-de-sac to applause, and a few whoops. With the weather threatening, there was another loud bang, followed by droplets descending from the air. He had beaten the storm, but couldn’t outrun the off-brand Albanian champagne, sprayed all over him by the waiting Sami Sauri.

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Pulling him into a close hug, whilst others pulled bikes under cover, huge raindrops started to fall, washing the fresh champagne spray into the gutters. The storm broke, just as Justinas felt his own relief burst. It was hard to ignore the parallels with the legend of The Accursed. 

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Unfortunately for Christophe, and the others back down the trail, the rain would bring not relief, but another tough night in the Albanian mountains.

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Scratch Report:

No scratches

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